Born George Alexander Aberle in 1908 and later adopted and raised under the name George McGrew, eden ahbez is regarded as a precursor to the hippie generation. ahbez, who spell his name in lower-case letters, claiming that only the words God and Infinity were worthy of capitalization, approached Nat King Cole in 1947 and offered him his composition "Nature Boy". The song was a big hit for Cole and was also covered by many artists. It became the best known song by the man who lived in communion with nature under the Hollywood sign in L.A.: he wore sandals, long hair and was a vegetarian. Ahbez would supply more material to Cole, but he also recorded this amazing album in 1960, the missing link between beatnik poetry and exotica sounds.
