Erik Darling (September 25, 1933 – August 3, 2008) was an
American songwriter and a folk music artist. He was an important influence on
the folk scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Darling born in Baltimore, Maryland, actually spent his childhood in Canandaigua, NY, Darling decided not to join the family paint store business and instead came to New York in the early 1950s. By the time he was in his early twenties, he was a regular fixture in New York City's Washington Square folk scene. A superb banjo player and perhaps an even better 12-string guitarist, and possessing a clear, warm, and expressive tenor singing voice, Darling was an expert at bringing out the best in the musicians around him.
In April 1958 Darling replaced Pete Seeger in The
Weavers, although he continued working club dates with The Tarriers until
November 1959. Darling also recorded three solo albums. His second solo effort,
True Religion for Vanguard in 1961 was influential on younger folkies of the
day. Darling left the
Weavers in June 1962 to work as a soloist on the emerging coffeehouse circuit. Don McLean who became friends with Darling in 1961, looked back on Darling as “a genuine philosopher and perfectionist.” He said, “I appreciated the time he spent with me so long ago. Undivided mental attention to every aspect of music making and performing is a hallmark of Erik’s work, and I believe some of that rubbed off on me.”
The Weavers |
Weavers in June 1962 to work as a soloist on the emerging coffeehouse circuit. Don McLean who became friends with Darling in 1961, looked back on Darling as “a genuine philosopher and perfectionist.” He said, “I appreciated the time he spent with me so long ago. Undivided mental attention to every aspect of music making and performing is a hallmark of Erik’s work, and I believe some of that rubbed off on me.”
In 1975, Darling
issued a duet LP with Pat Street, a later member of The Rooftop Singers. Music
from this album was used in the film “Forrest Gump,” and Darling’s banjo
playing accompanies the Kossoy Sisters in the movie, “O Brother, Where Art
Thou.” Darling released a solo album, "The Possible Dream" on Elektra
in 1975, and thereafter dropped out of the music scene for a while,
occasionally surfacing as a fill-in for Weavers revivals and other folk
concerts. He moved to Santa Fe, N.M., where he pursued painting and performed
around town. He also taught banjo, numbering Béla Fleck among his students.
Never one to seek the limelight, Darling continued to
record and work in the folk and emerging Americana vein, even flirting with a
kind of desert country sound with his group Border Town (which also included
members Sid Hausman and Lynn Lucas), which released the solid Border Town at
Midnight album in 1994.
Always an elegant singer and instrumentalist, Darling
never lost his ability to rearrange traditional material into new forms that
carried the past even as they were subtly updated to handle the present.
Shortly before his death, he completed his autobiography, "I'd Give My
Life." Darling died on August 3, 2008, in Chapel Hill, NC, from
complications due to lymphoma.
(Info edited mainly from Wikipedia & All Music)
1 comment:
For “Erik Darling- True Religion & Train Time” go here:
http://www68.zippyshare.com/v/PFjOrchx/file.html
1 True Religion (1961)
2 St. John's River
3 Woody Knows Nothing
4 Virgin Mary
5 Diamond Ring
6 Blackeyed Susie
7 I'm On My Way
8 Cuckoo
9 Jumpin' Judy
10 Moanin' Dove
11 Frankie And Johnny
12 Everytime In Go To Town
13 Lonesome Valley
14 Hail John 2:08 (1963)
15 Charlie Green 2:02
16 You Don't Know 2:30
17 Banjo Tune 1:41
18 Fod 2:00
19 Guitar Blues 3:09
20 Train Time 5:01
21 Shady Grove 1:38
22 I Love My Love 2:48
23 Bones 2:48
24 Ragtime 2:04
25 Long John 2:54
26 Miss Otis Regrets 2:32
27 Children, Go 2:24
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