How about a refreshing dish of trendsetting hippie beatnik hermit? Alright then.
Eden Ahbez' (born George Aberle) biggest claim to fame was writing the hit song Nature Boy, loosely based the old Yiddish ditty Schwieg Mein Hertz, for Nat King Cole in 1948. Frank Sinatra later recorded a more well-known verison.
He was ahead of his time in terms of both appearance and lifestyle, he beat the hippies to the punch by at least 20 years. As early as the prim & proper 1940s when most people couldn't even imagine showing themselves in public without a hat and tie, Ahbez practiced Eastern philosophies, stood on street corners and preached Oriental mysticicsm and sported a look that can only be described as Jesus-like.
At the time Ahbez was living a self-chosen barebones lifestyle in southern California. For a time he slept by the Hollywood sign with his family (under one of the L's apparently), lived on virtually no money at all, had very few material possessions and adhered to a strict vegetarian diet.
Nature Boy made him a bit of a celebrity and everyone from Time Magazine to Newsweek covered him and his story. Life Magazine gave their article the intriguing headline "Nature Boy Eden Ahbez Lived On Nuts In A Canyon, Wrote Hit Song".
Throughout the 40s and 50s he kept writing music for people like Eartha Kitt and Frank Sinatra, until he finally made his first and last album, Eden's Island in 1960. A very peculiar mix of exotica (which was quite hip at the time and remains one of my all time favorite styles of music - check out Martin Denny, people. He'll change your life) and spoken word elements in the form of beatnik poetry, no one has recorded anything like before or since. An absolutely brilliant album, a one of a kind masterpiece.
After that album he pretty much disappeared off the radar. He kept in touch with some of his musician friends and released a single or two, but he more or less turned away modern society. He lived a nomadic life with his wife and their son under the stars and apparently they spent most of their time just chillin'.
Sounds pretty sweet to me, wouldn't mind living that way myself. I just need to move to a warmer country first.
Eden Ahbez died in 1995, at the age of 86, due to injuries sustained from a car accident.
(mp3) Eden Ahbez - Full moon (highly recommended!)
(mp3) Eden Ahbez - Mongoose
Availabe on Eden's Island (1960) or DOWNLOAD
The Outsider Odyssey presents: Eden Ahbez
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