INTERVIEW: Re-Considering the Source (Gordon Kennedy Talks More About Eden Ahbez and the California Nature Boys)

The last time I spoke to author Gordon Kennedy, his book Children of the Sun was out of print. To date, it remains the authoritative text on the California Nature Boys and the transference of alternative culture from Germany to the deserts and shores of California during the early 20th century. Recently, Kennedy’s book was reissued.…

INTERVIEW: Raising the Spirit of Peace and Love (A Chat with Dale Ockerman)

Keyboardist Dale Ockerman recorded with Eden Ahbez during the early 1980s—a notably dormant time for the pioneering counter-culture composer. In the aftermath of George Benson’s 1977 hit version of “Nature Boy,” Ahbez recorded a lone single: 1982’s “Divine Melody,” a flexi-disc on Elefunt Records. In between the Benson hit and the flex-disc, Ahbez recorded briefly…