Eden Ahbez was an American songwriter and recording artist who gained fame in the 1940s and sustained in his career until the 1990s when he died. Born on April 15, 1908, he was named George Alexander Aberle at birth, in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
He was known simply as Ahbe to his friends, and as time went on he changed his name to eden ahbez – choosing to write them in small letters, as he believed only God and Infinite were worthy of the conventional capitalization.
Unknown Facts About Eden Ahbez
Eden Ahbez was not just all about writing and making music, here are 10 things you probably did not know about him:
1. Parental Heritage
Ahbez was of mixed parental heritage, as he was born to a mother who was half Scottish and English, and a father who was of Jewish descent. He seemed to find a way to blend all his heritage together as the life he lived as a grown-up reflected all three – particularly his Jewish heritage.
2. Early years as an orphan
He did not get to enjoy the protection, provision, and warm, comforting embrace of his parents for a long time like most children do, as he lost his parents quite early and was taken in by the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum in his hometown of New York. When he turned 9, a family living in Chanute, Kansas adopted him as one of their own and changed his name to George McGrew.
3. Songwriting Credits
Ahbez is a very good songwriter and has written top songs for A-list artists. He wrote the songs Nature Boy and Land of Love for Nat “King” Cole; he has also written songs for artists such as Frankie Laine and Eartha Kitt, just to mention a few. He also wrote a song titled Lonely Island which was recorded by Sam Cooke.
4. Marriage and Children
In 1947, Ahbez met a young lady called Annette Jacobson – who took his breath away, and about a month after meeting each other they got married. On October 9, 1948, their union produced a son they named Tatha Om Ahbez, who turned out to the only fruit of their union from all records of him.
5. His family’s tragic demise
He enjoyed the companionship of his family for about 16 years until his wife, Anna, sadly passed away on August 9, 1963, after succumbing to Leukemia. About 8 years later in 1971, he lost his son also, as he died as a result of drowning.
6. He lived a Bucolic lifestyle
Ahbez chose to live the pastoral life of his Jewish ancestors in his adult life. He wore white robes, had shoulder-length hair and beard, and only traveled in sandals from sometime around the early/mid-1940s.
He got the attention of the media when it was discovered that he was “camping out” right under the first L alphabet of the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles. He was also known to have slept outdoors with his family – eating only what nature provided such as fruits, vegetables, and different types of nuts.
7. Songs and Musical Orientation
Eden recorded a few singles as a solo musician and also made an album in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, he began recording instrumental music which had his very unique signature tune and rhythms.
He was also a very talented multi-instrumentalist, who played the bongos, guitar, and flute very well.
8. Legal Suit against him
Ahbez has written a few hit songs for very notable singers, and one, in particular, got him into some sort of legal trouble. Herman Yablokoff, a Yiddish music composer, once instituted a legal suit against Ahbez for “stealing’ the melody of one of his songs titled Shayq Mayn Hart’s (meaning, Be Still My Heart) which he used for the chart-topping song he wrote for Nat “King” Cole titled Nature Boy. Ahbez initially denied stealing the song’s melody but rather claimed that he heard the melody of the song from within the mist of the Californian mountains. The suit was later settled out of court, with Ahbez paying $ 25,000 to his accuser.
See Also: Ricardo Montaner: 10 Interesting Facts To Know About Musician
9. Cover Spotlight
After Eden was credited with writing the Nature Boy song, he enjoyed his own fair share of spotlight by notable magazines such as Newsweek, Time, and Life. As more artistes released more covers of the song, his popularity also soared as well.
10. His death
Having lived to an advanced age of 86 years, Ahbez passed away on March 4, 1995, from complications sustained from an automobile accident he was involved in earlier on.
