Thanks for posting the link, Rick.

I know that Richard Dyer-Bennet was not everybody's cup of tea, but he was a major influence in my early interest in folk music. Being a weird kid, I was something of an opera enthusiast when I was a teen-ager. The big push that got me actually participating was the first time I heard Walt Robertson. But when I started listening to recordings of traditional singers, frankly some of them put me off. Later, as I learned more, I came to fully appreciate them. But--had it not been for Richard Dyer-Bennet. . . .

Many folk music enthusiasts feel that formal musical training--whether you sound like it or not--is incompatible with folk singing. To some, Dyer-Bennet singing folk songs in that high, clear, obviously cultivated light tenor verges on sacrilege. But Dyer-Bennet himself maintained that, in fact, he was not a folk singer. He was a minstrel. He belonged to a tradition that went back to medieval times.

I liked the "minstrel" idea. Early on, I decided to model myself after Richard Dyer-Bennet by using an approach similar to his. I continued taking singing lessons, took classic guitar lessons, and eventually went to the U. of W. and Cornish School to study music and English Lit. But I decided to apply his approach much more broadly. I didn't adhere to strict classical technique--I didn't try to sound classical (being a bass-baritone, no way could I sound like Richard Dyer-Bennet)--nor did I follow the practice of some folk singers and try to imitate ethnic vocal styles. Both of these approaches place too many limitations. I simply tried to sing the best I could. And I didn't limit myself to classic guitar technique. I picked up a lot of folk guitar techniques and I try to use whatever technique or combination of techniques I feel is appropriate to each particular song.

I was lucky enough to have heard Richard Dyer-Bennet in person on several occasions, and in 1957 I had a chance to meet and talk with him. He was genuinely pleased that I was actually interested, not in slavishly imitating him, but inemulating his approach. He was generous with his time, gracious, and very encouraging.

He was a unique artist, and I admire him greatly. In the same way that Sven Scholander inspired him, he has inspired many others. It would be nice to think that Sven Scholander and Richard Dyer-Bennet live on.

Don Firth