Eden ahbez biography
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eden ahbez
American songwriter and recording artist (–)
eden ahbez | |
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| Birth name | George Alexander Aberle |
| Also known as | eden ahbez George McGrew |
| Born | ()April 15, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | March 4, () (aged&#;86) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Exotica |
| Years active | – |
Musical artist
George Alexander Aberle (April 15, – March 4, ), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the s to s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement. He was known to friends simply as ahbe.[1]
Ahbez composed the song "Nature Boy", which became a No. 1 hit for eight weeks in for Nat "King" Cole. Living a bucolic life from at least the s, he traveled in sandals and wore shoulder-length hair and beard, and white robes. He camped out below the first L in the Hollywood Sign above Los Angeles and studied Asian mysticism. He slept outdoors with his family and ate vegetables, fruit, and
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George Alexander Aberle McGrew, AKA eden ahbez
by Lori Halfhide, NOTC Head Researcher
[Note: This article has been corrected from its original published content.*]
“There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy. They say he wandered very far, very far, over land and sea. A little shy and sad of eye, but very wise was he…….” These are the opening lyrics to the song “Nature Boy,” released in May of by Nat King Cole. The song was an enormous hit, spending eight weeks in the number one spot on the charts. It was said to be autobiographical, written by a man calling himself eden ahbez, deliberately spelled with all lower case letters. After spending almost two weeks in search of details of the life of eden ahbez I want to share with you the story of the Nature Boy.
Born on the 15th of April, , in Brooklyn, New York, ahbez’s name at birth was George Alexander Aberle. The Aberles welcomed two babies that day – George had a twin sister, Editha Brewster Aberle. George and Ed
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Eden Ahbez was the assumed name of Alexander Aberle, born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. Little is known of his trek across the United States to California where he lived in public parks as a pre-‘60s, vegetarian hippie with long hair, long beard, and sandals. Even after he married Anna Jacobsen and had a child, he and his wife camped out in their sleeping bags on public property, and he often spent his days on street corners touting mystical faiths. He went by the nickname “ahbe,” spelled without a capital letter as he felt those were reserved for divinity.
In he collared Nat “King” Cole’s agent and gave him the handwritten music for “Nature Boy.” Although Cole recognized the similarity to a Yiddish tune, he recorded the song the following year and it became an immediate hit. The publishers of “Schwieg Mein Hertz” sued and settled out of court. Cole later recorded Ahbez’s “Land of Love” but without success. Then Ahbez seemed to just disappear, although there are suggestions that