In 1947, ahbez approached
Nat "King" Cole's manager backstage at the
Lincoln Theater in Los Angeles and handed him the music for his song, "
Nature Boy". Cole began playing the song for live audiences to much acclaim, but needed to track down its author before releasing his recording of it. Publicity material for Cole's single instead makes the claim that
Johnny Mercer recommended ahbez to Cole on behalf of Capitol Records. Jack Patton, in turn, is said to have advised ahbez to bring "Nature Boy" to Capitol after befriending him at the restaurant where ahbez worked. Ahbez was discovered living under the
Hollywood Sign and became the focus of a media frenzy during the summer of 1948, when Cole's version of "Nature Boy" shot to No. 1 on the
Billboard charts and remained there for eight consecutive weeks. In early 1948,
RKO Radio Pictures paid ahbez $10,000 for the rights to "Nature Boy" to use as the theme song for their film
The Boy with Green Hair, and he was credited as the song's composer on the film's opening titles. Ahbez was covered simultaneously in
Life,
Time, and
Newsweek magazines;
Frank Sinatra and
Sarah Vaughan later released versions of the song. Ahbez faced legal action from
Yiddish music composer Herman Yablokoff, who said the melody to "Nature Boy" came from one of his songs, "Shvayg mayn harts" ("Be Still My Heart"). Ahbez claimed to have "heard the tune in the midst of the California mountains". However, legal proceedings resulted in a payment to Yablokoff of $25,000 in an out-of-court settlement. Ahbez continued to supply Cole with songs, including "Land of Love (Come My Love and Live with Me)", which was also covered by
Doris Day and
The Ink Spots. In 1949, he gave
Burl Ives the idea to cover
Stan Jones' "
Ghost Riders in the Sky" after overhearing Jones recording his own version of the song. He worked closely with
jazz musician
Herb Jeffries; in 1954, the pair collaborated on an album,
The Singing Prophet, which included the only recording of ahbez's four-part "Nature Boy Suite". The album was later reissued as
Echoes of Eternity on Jeffries' United National label. In the mid-1950s, ahbez wrote songs for
Eartha Kitt,
Frankie Laine, and others, as well as writing some rock-and-roll novelty songs. In 1957, his song "Lonely Island" was recorded by
Sam Cooke, becoming the second and final ahbez composition to hit the
Top 40. In 1959, he began recording instrumental music, which combined his signature somber tones with exotic arrangements and (according to the record sleeve) "primitive rhythms". He often performed
bongo,
flute, and poetry gigs at beat coffeehouses in the Los Angeles area. In 1960, he recorded his only solo LP, ''Eden's Island,'' for
Del-Fi Records. This mixed
beatnik poetry with
exotica arrangements. Ahbez promoted the album through a coast-to-coast walking tour, making personal appearances, but it sold poorly. During the 1960s, ahbez released five singles.
Grace Slick's band,
the Great Society, recorded a version of "Nature Boy" in 1966 and ahbez was photographed in the studio with
Brian Wilson during a session for the
Smile album in early 1967. Later that year, British singer
Donovan sought ahbez in Palm Springs, California, and the two wanderers shared a reportedly "near-telepathic" conversation. In the 1970s,
Big Star's
Alex Chilton recorded a version of "Nature Boy" with the photographer
William Eggleston on piano. The song was finally released as a bonus track on the 1992
Rykodisc re-release of the album
Third/Sister Lovers. ==Personal life==