Died On This Date (August 3, 2008) Erik Darling / The Weavers, Rooftop Singers

By themusicsover August 3, 2010 #Alan Arkin, #Erik Darling, #Morgana Kennedy, #Pete Seeger, #Rooftop Singers, #Terriers, #Tunetellers, #Weavers

Erik Darling
September 25, 1933 – August 3, 2008

Erik Darling was a folk singer-songwriter who found success in two of the genres most influential groups, the Weavers and the Rooftop Singers. Prior to replacing Pete Seeger in the Weavers in 1958, Darling had a group with future film star, Alan Arkin. The group was first called the Tunetellers and later, the Terriers and they scored a Top 5 Billboard hit with their version of “Banana Boat Song (Day-O).” Darling was in the Weavers for four years after which he formed the Rooftop Singers, a hipper folk group whose “Walk Right In” landed at #1 on pop charts in 1963 and was certified gold for selling over 1 million copies for Vanguard Records. Darling died of lymphoma at the age of at the age of 74. Upon learning of Darling’s passing, Vanguard’s Morgana Kennedy said, “That’s sad.”