Too, the pair sounded more out there as folkies, blending dulcimer and acoustic guitar to frequently striking effect. Listening to a track like the dirge-y "Bold Marauder" or the Middle Eastern-tinged "Morgan the Pirate," you can practically hear a whole generation of British folk-rockers jottin' down notes. As singers, neither Richard nor Mimi were as pristine as their Canadian compeers, though they frequently could be more expressive.
They also had no compunctions about leaping full-throttle into electric. After their largely acoustic debut, the duo quickly and confidently made electric guitar and piano inextricable parts of their music. Though this doesn't seem like a big deal in the aftermath of folk-rock, in 1965 it was still a commercial gamble. Dylan's notorious appearance at the July '65 Newport Folk Fest was still fresh, and many folk devotees were divided as to whether electric guitars even belonged in the music. Today, however, it's hard to imagine tracks like the bluesy "Reno Nevada" or the sexy/goofy "Hard-Loving Loser" without their plugged-in accompaniment.
Though occasionally his sense of outrage could make him righteously prolix (cf., the appropriately angry "Michael, Andrew and James," written to denounce the vicious murder of three civil rights activists), at his best, Richard's lyrics were cunning and well-aimed. Even his most-covered song, the deceptively sweet-sounding "Pack Up Your Sorrows," has a melancholy tinge to it that is frequently missed by its interpreters. Whether Fariña could've taken his considerable lyrical gifts further is one of those questions that'll be forever unanswered. My own suspicion is that the publication of his novel, the very of-its-time Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, would've most likely lured him away from recording altogether. But mebbe that's just my old English major bias coming into play.
In any case, Fariña's sudden death gives the duo an advantage in the folk pair comparison sweeps. It spared us the inevitable ups and downs – and fallible moments – that a longer career would've doubtless engendered (cf., Ian & Sylvia as a part of the country-rock band, The Great Speckled Bird). Still, the fact remains that while I feel perfectly satisfied to have the ten-track Visionaries set fulfill my listening needs whenever I wanna play the Tysons, the ten Fariña tracks have me wanting to hear the rest of their two studio releases, Celebrations for a Grey Day and Reflections in A Crystal Wind. Good job of interest piquing, Vanguard!
Article comments
1 - Nik
I've never heard any of the Farinas' music but was quite interested in doing so after reading "Positively 4th Street" (excellent book on the early Dylan/Baez/Farina years). Good review!