- John Herald
John Herald (
September 6 ,1939 -July 18 ,2005 ) was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo andstudio musician , and one-time member ofThe Greenbriar Boys trio.Herald was born in
Manhattan in 1939, to anArmenia n born poet father. It was through him that Herald was first exposed to live performances by blues and folk legendsLeadbelly andWoody Guthrie . While at a summer camp in 1954, Herald was inspired by a performance byPete Seeger . During hisManumit School days, he became a regular listener ofDon Larkin 's bluegrassradio show, and began attending open guitar jams with the likes ofBob Dylan andRory Block .In 1959, Herald formed The Greenbriar Boys, along with
Bob Yellin (banjo) andEric Weissberg (mandolin ). Weissberg was soon replaced byRalph Rinzler (mandolin) to form their most successful combination. Herald waslead guitarist andvocalist . The trio often played theGreenwich Village scene, but were notable enough to be the first Northern group to win the likes of theUnion Grove Fiddlers Convention competition, where Yellin also took top honors for banjo. Shortly after backingJoan Baez on her second LP, The Greenbriar Boys were signed toVanguard Records , for whom they released three records. In 1969,Linda Ronstadt recorded Herald's "High Muddy Water." Two years previously, she had recreated his vocal of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum," which became a hit for her band theStone Poneys .After the trio split up, Herald played sessions for Vanguard. In 1972, he recorded a solo album for Paramount Records, then went "electric country bluegrass" on a 1978 disc featuring the John Herald Band (a group he'd formed while living in
Philadelphia in 1976).Herald's last recording was "Roll On John" in 2000. He was working on new material in 2005 when, on July 19th, his body was found in his home in
West Hurley ,New York . The state police suspected suicide, although no official cause was released (as of July 26, 2005).External links
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/arts/music/23herald.html New York Times obituary]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:9qfm964o3epc~T1 All Music Guide biography]
* [http://johnherald.com/ The Official John Herald website]
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