Fare-Thee-Well Michael Yonkers :: 1947-2026
Born Michael Regis Yunker on October 3, 1947, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in the Morningside section of Edina, Minnesota, a small farming and milling community along the Minnehaha Creek that formed in the 1860s, and eventually became one of Minneapolis's first incorporated suburbs in the late 1880s, the legendary American guitarist, composer, engineer, photographer, vocalist, producer, visual artist and songwriter prolifically pushed the boundaries of sound, and poetic production even for spiritual standards in mid to late 1960s, and 1970s. I mean, could you imagine if Hendrix, Wayne Kramer, Danny Kortchmar, Alex St. Clair Snouffer, and Zappa were all occupying the same artistic atmosphere on an alchemical afternoon, and in walks a young Yonkers, before breaking his back in 1971, with his infamous double-necked Fender Stratocaster, with a Telecaster sticking out from the side like some radical radiation limb hanging on for dear life? They’d all look at each other, their historical heads sharing the same set of shoulders like a harmonious hydra, and say, “Where the hell did you come from!?” That’s one of the most beautiful and fascinating things about the history of music and recording artists; just when you think you’ve heard something so revolutionary, so spontaneously sophisticated, someone like Yonkers appears on your radar, and absolutely shatters your unique understanding and intimate interest in the creative culture, and sonic system of sound.
Having recorded and released dozens of albums and cosmic collections of experimental folk rock, psychedelic pondering into the human psyche, and acoustic accolades such as “Goodby Sunball”, “Lovely Gold”, “Borders Of My Mind”, “Microminiature Love”, and the epic 1969 single “Psiship/Rising Sun” by the short-lived psychedelic project Cosmic Rock Show, to name a few, Yonkers’ yearning for free expression and unapologetic understanding of his craft has become something of a myth, while simultaneously studied by sonic students for decades. Like a mad scientist of mechanical meditation and late-night noodling, the late legend lifted the voluminous veil of the psychedelic period by displaying the DIY methods of artistic greatness, which would go on to inspire folks such as John Dwyer (OSEES) and The Black Lips, to name a few. It’s easy to forget, or take for granted, that we share the same timeline with people like Yonkers, and that in itself is a luxury no one can take away. Throughout his cosmic career with the Mumbles, MYB, CRS, his self-produced solo works, and many different collaborations, one thing is for certain: the man was inspired to inspire.
