One of the most influential dulcimer players of all time
By Patricia Delich
I am one of the many dulcimer players sparked by Richard Fariña. His dulcimer playing was so different, so passionate and heartfelt – he tugged deeply at my heartstrings. Fariña captivated me when I was a teenager just starting to play dulcimer. I would lift the needle on my turntable to play his songs over and over again. I just could not get enough of Richard and Mimi Fariña’s music.
But I’m not the only one.
Through my travels and work as a filmmaker and podcaster, I have had the opportunity to meet many others who were influenced by Richard’s playing. Some were lucky enough to see him and his wife Mimi play in person.
I focus mostly on Richard and his dulcimer in this article, but I strongly believe that there would not have been “a Richard” without Mimi Fariña, née Baez. Her exquisite guitar playing and singing contributed to his success.
Origins
Richard was born in the Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, in 1937. I find this fascinating because it turns out that many dulcimer players were either born or grew up in Brooklyn, including Joellen Lapidus, Neal Hellman, Mark Gilston, Rob Brereton, Holly Tannen, and Doug Berch. Is it a coincidence that many dulcimer players used to live in Brooklyn?
Like many who lived in Brooklyn, Richard’s parents were immigrants. His father was born in Cuba; his mother in Northern Ireland. Brooklyn was (and still is) a cultural hotbed of innovation, fueled by the creative energy of immigrants from all over the world living in close proximity.
The cultures he grew up around, both in his house and in the streets of Brooklyn, surely must have impacted him musically. Richard seemed to draw from both sides of his ancestry – his passionate Cuban nature coupled with his European roots. These influences united in his unique musicality on the mountain dulcimer.
Timeline
- 1937: Born in Brooklyn.
- 1959: Dropped out of Cornell and moved to New York.
- 1960: Married folk singer and dulcimer player Carolyn Hester; divorced in 1962.
- 1963: Married Mimi Baez.
- 1965: Richard and Mimi released two albums: “Celebrations for a Grey Day” (March) and “Reflections in a Crystal Wind” (December)
- 1966: Richard and Mimi appeared on Pete Seeger’s television show “Rainbow Quest” (Episode 16).
- April 28, 1966: Novel “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me” published.
- April 30, 1966: Died in a motorcycle accident, aged 29.
- 1968: Album “Memories” released.
- 2001: “The Complete Vanguard Recordings” released.
Performance
When Richard started performing on his dulcimer in the early 1960s, he brought to the stage a fresh new sound on the dulcimer, one that captured the carefree excitement of the time. His songs were melodically and rhythmically complex, bent toward “world music,” which was not popular in folk music at that time. Those who played the mountain dulcimer in that era played traditional music, often from the Appalachian Mountains, most of which originated from the U.K.
What Richard composed and played on his dulcimer were topical songs, sometimes following the well-traveled folk music tradition of writing your own lyrics to traditional melodies. One example is “A Swallow Song.” The melody was from a popular traditional Sephardic song, and Richard wrote contemporary lyrics.
He also composed original dulcimer instrumentals. A few of my favorites are “Dopico,” “Tuileries,” and “Dandelion River Run.” He ventured into rock and roll with “Hard-Loving Loser” and “House Un-American Blues Activity Dream.” In “Mainline Prosperity Blues,” you hear a heavy blues influence.
At that time, no one was playing a mountain dulcimer the way he did. Richard sparked a generation of dulcimer players who wanted to follow in his musical footsteps.
Intermission influence
The extensive public transportation expedition that I undertook on that cold winter night in 1964 quickly transformed from an impending disappointment to a life-changing epiphany at the Unicorn Coffee House in Boston – Judy Collins, who I traveled to see, had played there the night before. Reluctantly I decided to stay to hear the unknown (to me) musical couple who were playing that night. They turned out to be Richard and Mimi Fariña.
Don Pedi
Richard played the dulcimer. He was a poet who had one foot in the beat generation and the other in the emerging folk music scene. Mimi was a lovely singer and an excellent guitar player. She was Joan Baez’s sister.
The combination of his innovative dulcimer playing and her guitar style created a sound at once ancient and cutting edge for that time. Their instrumental accompaniment blending with his insightful lyrics produced a musical experience both visceral and thought-provoking. Their instrumental pieces were otherworldly.
Before that night, I had never seen a dulcimer. During the intermission, I approached Richard and enquired about the name, history, and details of playing the dulcimer. He was most gracious. Seeing my fascination with the dulcimer, he let me try playing his and encouraged me to get myself a dulcimer.
Hennessy Dulcimer
I am not alone in thinking that it was his particular dulcimer, built by Terry Hennessy, that helped Richard create the sound he did. In letters I have acquired that Richard wrote to Terry in 1963 and 1966, he asked Terry several times if he would build him another dulcimer.
In a January 1966 letter to Terry, he complained that with his present dulcimer, he had to “keep my fingers too damned close together (on the left hand.)” He also told Terry he wanted a pickup, a four-string dulcimer, and a dulcimer with a larger, more resonant body.
Sadly, Richard never got a new dulcimer from Terry, as Richard died in a motorcycle accident just three months later. It makes you wonder what even more amazing music Richard would have made if he had had access to one of today’s professional dulcimers.
In 2008, my husband, Wayne Jiang, and I had an opportunity to see Richard’s dulcimer at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. Seeing his dulcimer in person gave me a newfound appreciation of the sound Richard could get out of this dulcimer. Granted, at the time I saw it, it had probably been more than 40 years since it had been played.
His dulcimer lacks features of professional dulcimers that we now take for granted, but, like Richard, it was innovative for its time. It has a floating fretboard and a body 7.5-inches wide and 2.5-inches deep, the size of most dulcimers today. Richard had issues with that narrow fretboard. It worked for noter-style playing but less so for playing chords.
His dulcimer seemed to embody the same transition he made with his playing – traditional in its narrow fretboard but innovative in its bigger body. His instrumental tune “Celebrations For A Grey Day” is a prime example of his traditional playing, but in pioneering ways – combining a traditional tune with his wild, innovative way of playing.
Terry refined his craft after he built Richard’s dulcimer, creating very playable, beautiful dulcimers. I know this because I am lucky to have a Hennessy dulcimer. Terry lived in Australia, but he visited us in San Francisco in 2013. I recorded Terry reading one of the letters Richard wrote to him. You can hear Terry in one of the many “Hearts of the Dulcimer” podcast episodes we created about Richard. Terry passed away in 2021. (Obituary in DPN Vol. 48 No. 1.)
Quotes of note from “Terry Hennessy – Luthier of the Fariña Legend” by John Blosser, Vol. 24 No. 4 (1999)
“I taught Richard all that I knew of playing, which I had picked up from Howie Mitchell.” – Carolyn Hester
“When Richard played the dulcimer I made, he wrapped his arms around it and wouldn’t let it go. He fell in love with it instantly. … I never dreamed that it would take off like it did in his hands. It’s not the best instrument I ever made, but it turned out to be the most famous. Somewhere, there’s a lesson in that.” – Terry Hennessy
“An instrument is compatible timbers put together with microscopic precision. You can’t afford any dead spots at all; the whole thing has got to ring.” – Terry Hennessy
“I performed with it [the dulcimer] a little bit in the years after he died and fooled around with it, but I never really accustomed myself to it. It slid around on my lap and I was too strongly into the guitar. But no one has recreated the sound that Richard had. He was quite a maniac on it, and his playing was very wild, like his spirit.” – Mimi Fariña
“Hennessy, who never has met Mimi Fariña, recently spoke with her for the first time. He tentatively plans to create one more very special dulcimer – an “ultimate” dulcimer, he says, as yet undesigned.” – John Blosser
Remembering Terry Today
I guess it must have started around 1998 in one of the online forums for mountain dulcimer. There were a few players wondering who might have built those amazing dulcimers that Richard used on his Vanguard recordings.There were some theories, but John Blosser really got going on trying to solve the puzzle. A talented player and writer for the National Enquirer, he had some experience in tracking down people and solving some mysteries.
Jerry Rockwell
The big breakthrough was connecting with Peggy Seeger and her son Calum MacColl. They had dulcimers built by Terry Hennessy, who was in London in the early 1960s, but moved to New South Wales, Australia, right after that. John Blosser finally tracked down Terry and we all got connected. John made a deal to have Terry build us each a Fariña-style dulcimer, and I made John one of my high-end models.
Terry was an incredible instrument builder and inventor, and I was so happy to get connected with him!! Terry passed away in 2021, and his daughter Carina sent me the video of the funeral, which was very moving!
Even More
Since you’ve read this far, I am guessing you may also love the Fariñas. I created an unlinked (sort of private) page with memorabilia that I have collected over the years. There are too many items to enumerate here, but if you are interested in more media related to Richard Fariña, visit dulcimuse.com/farina_memorabilia.
I also recommend the Facebook group “For Mimi Fariña with love,” created by Adriana Torres, for stories, photos, and videos about Mimi.
Perhaps you will catch the Fariña bug, and who knows? Maybe you will be the next player pushing the envelope of what can be done on the mountain dulcimer, inspiring another generation of players.
Hearts of the Dulcimer
Patricia Delich and her husband Wayne Jiang released the documentary film “Hearts of the Dulcimer” in 2013. After the film, they started the “Hearts of the Dulcimer” podcast, which ended with episode 60 in 2023.
Each episode, with dulcimer music throughout, has a resource page with more information, photos, and video clips. Listen at dulcimuse.com/podcast, or in any podcast app.
Fariña Episodes
- Richard Fariña Tribute (Episodes 4 & 5)
- Richard Fariña and the Cambridge Folk Music Scene (Episode 22, Part 1: A Conversation with Rick Turner; Episode 23, Part 2: A Conversation with Ed Freeman)
- A Conversation with Judy Collins (Episode 28)
Dulciarts Store
Find “Hearts of the Dulcimer” products as well as other reproduction and original artwork by Wayne Jiang at waynejiangstore.com. Remember “Sleeping Cat Dulcimer” from the cover of the August 2023 issue of DPN? That was one of Wayne’s paintings! Get it on a coffee mug at bit.ly/dulcicatmug or as a print at bit.ly/dulcicatprint.
