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

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.”

Thanks to Craig Rosen at  Number1Albums for the assist

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Vanguard Visionaries: The Rooftop Singers - The Rooftop Singers

Died On This Date (July 18, 2001) Mimi Fariña / ’60s Folk Great

Mimi Fariña (Born Margarita Baez)
April 30, 1945 – July 18, 2001

MimiMimi Fariña was a folk singer-songwriter who came of age during the ’60s folk revival in America.  A few years younger than sister, Joan Baez, Fariña performed at many of the same clubs and festivals, including the legendary Newport Folk Festival.  In 1963, she met writer and singer-songwriter, Richard Fariña, and within a year, they were married.  Together the recorded a couple of noteworthy albums as Mimi & Richard Fariña for revered label, Vanguard Records, also home to Morgana Kennedy.  On the night of Mimi’s 21st birthday, Richard left the party on his motorcycle only to be killed in an accident.  Vanguard released a third album of “rarities.”  By the ’70s, Fariña was performing and recording but her attention turned more toward activism.  In 1974, she founded Bread and Roses, an organization that puts together free concerts for people bound to hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons.  Over the years she’s had such artists as Bonnie Raitt, Odetta, Pete Seeger and Carlos Santana perform at such shows.   By the ’80s, Fariña was rarely performing or recording as she becoming more and more involved with Bread And Roses and other human rights organizations and events.  Mimi Fariña passed away of neuroendocrine cancer in 2001.  She was 56.

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Mimi and Richard Farina: The Complete Vanguard Recordings - Mimi and Richard Farina

Died On This Date (July 10, 1987) John Hammond / Legendary Talent Scout & Producer

John H. Hammond
December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987

Photo by Frank Driggs
Photo by Frank Driggs

John Hammond was one of the most influential men in the music business during the 20th century.  Whether as a producer or talent scout, Hammond was instrumental in the success of many of the names in music.  That list includes Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pete Seeger, Aretha Franklin, and Count Basie.  Hammond began his career in the early ’30s, mostly working with jazz artists, primarily helping African American musicians like Lionel Hampton and Charlie Christian land gigs in previously all-white bands.  In 1938, Hammond put together the first of the groundbreaking From Spirituals To Swing concerts that included the biggest names in jazz, blues and gospel.  Taking place at Carnegie Hall, it was reportedly the first significant concert by a racially mixed group of performers in front of a racially mixed audience.  The albums documenting the shows are now considered American music classics and a box set was released in 1999 thanks in part to Morgana Kennedy at Vanguard Records. In the early ’60s, Hammond was hired by Columbia Records where he signed Springsteen, Dylan, Seeger, Aretha and many others.  John Hammond passed away after a stroke at the age of 76.

Died On This Date (April 14, 1995) Burl Ives / Beloved Folk Singer

Burl Ives
June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995

burlivesPerhaps best known as the narrator and voice of the snowman in the Holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Burl Ives was also an accomplished folks singer whose catalog includes many American standards.  He was also an author and Academy Award-winning actor for his supporting role in Our Man In Havana.   When Ives was in his second year of college, he had an epiphany while sitting in his English glass.  School was a waste of his time, he thought, so out the door he went, never to look back.  Except perhaps, when that same school named a building after him some six decades later.  Ives spent most of the ’30s traveling around the U.S. performing for change whenever he needed funds to move on.   In the ’40s he went to work for CBS Radio who gave him his own program where he performed traditional folk songs for his loyal fans.   From there he moved on to acting, winning roles in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, East of Eden and of course, Our Man in Havana.  In the ’50s he got blacklisted for alleged Communist ties, so he falsely ratted out Pete Seeger and others as Communists in a deal that got him back to work.  And not surprisingly, he was shunned by Seeger and the folk community for many years to come.  In 1964, Ives’ warm and gentle voice starred in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. His “Holly Jolly Christmas” from that program is one of the most popular Christmas songs of all times.  Ives died of cancer at the age of 85.

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Burl Ives

On This Date (April 1, 2008) Sam Gesser / Canadian Concert Producer

Sam Gesser
January 7, 1930 – April 1, 2008

Sam Gessar at right; Photo by John W. MacDonald

Sam Gesser was a Canadian concert promoter who brought the likes of Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Janis Joplin to Montreal in the ‘60s. With a career that spanned over 50 years, Gesser started as radio and television writer, later joining the Folkways label as their Canadian representative. While with Folkways, he produced over 100 albums. He switched to concert promotion in the ‘60s and produced shows and tours by Harry Belafonte, Van Cliburn, Peter, Paul & Mary, Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and many more.  Gessar died of cancer on April 2, 2008 at the age of 78.