It’s been a little dry for news around here lately… So I am happy to announce a new book—titled Bohemian Highways: Art & Culture Abide Then Divide Along the California Coast (Guardian Stewardship Editions)—which features a 20-page chapter penned yours truly (Brian Chidester) on Eden Ahbez’s lost sheet music. The book will be available through…
It’s been a few months since poet Rod McKuen (1933-2015) passed away and it seems only fitting that the Eden’s Island Blog pay tribute to his influence on the world of spoken word recordings, of which Eden Ahbez also partook. A few days ago, I typed in a search box the words “rod mckuen” and “eden ahbez,” and…
For those inclined to 1950s proto-hippies, news of a documentary about Moondog—the great NYC composer, street busker and early counter-culture guru—is cause for celebration. See the link here. It is not known whether Eden and Moondog ever met, though Ahbez—during his stay in NYC in June 1948 to promote “Nature Boy”—wrote an unrecorded song titled “The…
EDEN’S ISLAND 