Subject: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: Kevin Cloud Date: 29 Oct 97 - 04:59 AM looking for lyrics to this tearjerker, perhaps the most bluntly tragic short ballad ever made. Is it a true story? ...almost has to be... BTW, howdy, y'all... |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: Joe Offer Date: 29 Oct 97 - 05:23 AM Hi, Kevin. The song is Darcy Farrow, and it's in the database. Search under Darcy. I heard songwriter Steve Gillette sing and explain it on two occasions, and I can't remember for sure if he said it was a true story. I don't think it is, but it fits the history of the area quite well - so there's a lot of truth in the story, even if it didn't happen quite that way. -Joe Offer, nearby in Sacramento- |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: lesblank Date: 29 Oct 97 - 10:54 AM I. also, have heard Steve sing and comment about "Darcy Farrow" many times. The song was written in the early 60's by Steve and a buddy of his, Tom Campbell. It was based on a real incident that happened to Steve's sister, Darcy, whom Tom particularly adored. She was actually kicked by her horse when she was chasing him and needed some minor corrective surgery for a broken cheekbone. She recovered quickly but Tom never forgot it and the song rose out of the accident and what could have happened. Steve wrote the music and some of the lyrics, but Tom Campbell wrote most of the lyrics -- a sample of some of the beautiful things he put on paper. Check out "Springtime Meadows" and "2:10 Train. Les Blank |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrow From: Dale Rose Date: 29 Oct 97 - 11:05 AM Written by Tom Campbell and Steve Gillette, and first recorded by Ian and Sylvia on their Early Morning Rain album, Vanguard 79175, 1965. From the liner notes: Written for Ian and Sylvia by two friends in California, one of whom, Sylvia says, had considerable experience as a student of an eminent folklorist where much effort was given to writing songs that would fool the teacher and pass as authentic. Ian feels this is no less authentic, for it was written in the tradition of oldtime cowboy tunes -- just sentimental enough. And mighty convincing in its mention of names and places. I have seen similar comments about its origins in print elsewhere. It is one of those songs that I never tire of hearing, even after more than 30 years.
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Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: S.P. Buck Mulligan Date: 29 Oct 97 - 11:50 AM If I may, the best rendition of Darcy Farrow I've ever heard is by the late John Denver - it appears on one of his early LPs (perhaps Poems Prayers & Promises or Farewell Andromeda)and there's a super live version on the Wildlife Concert CD) |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: lesblank Date: 29 Oct 97 - 01:04 PM As much as I enjoyed John Denver and his talents: and as much as I still enjoy Ian and Sylvia (they are playing right now !!), the definitive version(S) of Darcy Farrow are still those done by Steve:(et ux) 1. Vanguard, 1967, Steve Gillette 2. Compass Rose, 1991, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen, Live in Concert. After hitting the recall button, I can now see how the rumor that Darcy was written to fool a professor, for a PhD got started. A real stretch !! Tom was a true student of the old ballad style, but his real job was producing shows on the revolving stage at Disneyland during the late 50's and early sixties. I think he was a student at UCLA also, but don't believe he ever wrote his dissertation. |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: rich r Date: 29 Oct 97 - 10:17 PM A really fine recent version of Darcy Farrow appears on Chesapeake's first CD "Rising Tide" (Sugar Hill 3827). The whole arrangement is fresh and exciting (not to say that earlier, simpler renditions were not beautiful). The instrumentation is flawless, the harmony is tight and Moondi Klein's lead vocal really soars. Curiously, that CD contains the song by Gillette & Campbell that was popularized by Ian & Sylvia, plus another song by Campbell "2:10 Train", plus a song by Ian Tyson "Summer Wages". An interesting triangulation, I wonder if it was conscious or just happened. Chesapeake did another Gillette song "Sweet Melinda" on their second CD. that one was also recorded by John Denver some years ago. I can't listen to or sing the song without remembering standing on the bridge at Lake Tahoe, CA where Truckee River flows out of the lake and begins its journey down to the desert plateaus of Nevada. rich r
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Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: rich r Date: 29 Oct 97 - 10:22 PM A really fine recent version of Darcy Farrow appears on Chesapeake's first CD "Rising Tide" (Sugar Hill 3827). The whole arrangement is fresh and exciting (not to say that earlier, simpler renditions were not beautiful). The instrumentation is flawless, the harmony is tight and Moondi Klein's lead vocal really soars. Curiously, that CD contains the song by Gillette & Campbell that was popularized by Ian & Sylvia, plus another song by Campbell "2:10 Train", plus a song by Ian Tyson "Summer Wages". An interesting triangulation, I wonder if it was conscious or just happened. Chesapeake did another Gillette song "Sweet Melinda" on their second CD. that one was also recorded by John Denver some years ago. I can't listen to or sing the song without remembering standing on the bridge at Lake Tahoe, CA where Truckee River flows out of the lake and begins its journey down to the desert plateaus of Nevada. rich r
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Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: Wolfgang Hell Date: 31 Oct 97 - 04:04 AM a very fine version of this song is by the half forgotten Irish singer Anne Byrne. Wolfgang |
Subject: Lyr Add: DARCY FARROW From: Joe Offer Date: 31 Oct 97 - 04:16 AM Tom Russell is a fine songwriter who specializes in songs similar to "Darcy Farrow." His songs are set in California and the West, and tell the rich history of this area. If you like "Darcy Farrow," I think you'll like Tom Russell. -Joe Offer- DARCY FARROW (Digital Tradition lyrics) (Steve Gillete and Tom Campbell) Where the Walker runs down into the Carson Valley plain There lived a maiden, Darcy Farrow was her name The daughter of old Dundee, and fair was she And the sweetest flower that bloomed o'er the range Her voice was sweet as the sugar candy Her touch was soft as a bed of goose down Her eyes shone bright like the pretty lights That shine in the night out of Yerrington town She was courted by young Vandermeer And quite handsome was he I am to hear He brought her silver rings and lacy things And she promised to wed before the snows fell that year But her pony did stumble and she did fall Her dyin' touched on the heart of us all Young Vandy in his pain, put a bullet to his brain And we buried them together as the snows began to fall They sing of Darcy Farrow where the Truckee runs through They sing of her beauty in Virginia City, too At dusty Sundown to her name they drink a round And to young Vandy, whose love was true Copyright Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell recorded by Ian and Sylvia on Early Morning Rain @love @death filename[ DARCYFAR TUNE FILE: DARCYFAR CLICK TO PLAY SOF
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Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: lesblank Date: 31 Oct 97 - 06:38 PM Right you are , Joe ! Tom Russell wrote several and duets on two or three numbers on Sylvia Tyson album, "Gypsy Cadillac", Silver City, 1992, a real gem that never got the polish it deserved. |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: Dale Rose Date: 31 Oct 97 - 09:39 PM Don't forget Tom's duet with Sylvia on Thrown To The Wolves and his several collaborations with Ian Tyson as well! My copy of Gypsy Cadillac says Round Tower, 1994. (It's hard to keep up with these things some times) Tom's Cowboy Real album from 1991 is a Western classic, and deserved far more attention (and sales) than it got. |
Subject: RE: LYR.REQ. Darcy Farrell From: Kevin Cloud Date: 05 Nov 97 - 10:35 PM WOW!! Thanks!! |
Subject: Lyr Req: Song Information required From: Fiolar Date: 01 Apr 03 - 07:29 AM Many years ago I heard quite a tuneful ballad on the radio. It contained the following lines: "Poor ? in his pain, put a bullet in his brain. We buried them together when the snows began to fall." Any help with the words and title appreciated. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song Information required From: Night Owl Date: 01 Apr 03 - 08:03 AM Might be looking for "Darcy Farrow"?? Type the name in the search box on the right up there for lyrics (and the tune) in the DT. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song Information required From: Fiolar Date: 02 Apr 03 - 08:24 AM Thanks Night Owl. That's the one. The version I heard had slightly different words in one or two places and I could not remember the name so was at a loss to find it. Cheers. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Darcy Farrell / Darcy Farrow From: Felipa Date: 04 Jun 23 - 04:03 PM I've heard Melissa Marosy and David Kidman sing Darcy Farrow on a couple of Zoom singarounds, but before that I only remember hearing the Steve Gillette recording. So I'm surprised to read how many artists recorded this modern ballad. https://www.vermontpublic.org/vpr-news/2016-06-22/the-enduring-appeal-of-darcy-farrow-a-folk-classic-co-written-by-a-vermonter The Enduring Appeal Of 'Darcy Farrow,' A Folk Classic Co-Written By A Vermonter Vermont Public | By Steve Zind Published June 22, 2016 More than 50 years ago, in Southern Calfornia, a young Steve Gillette was just learning how to write songs when his little sister Darcy had a brush with a feisty horse, inspiring a now-familiar ballad. "Darcy Farrow" has become part of the folk music lexicon, performed and recorded hundreds of times. Gillette, who now lives in North Bennington, says the melody for the song came from a guitar part he’d been working on which was inspired by a Pete Seeger composition. Gillette was a young folk singer just getting his start when, in 1964, his 12-year-old sister Darcy was kicked by a horse. She wasn’t hurt badly, but the incident became the idea for the song which Gillette wrote with his friend Tom Campbell. The lyrics tell the story of a young women who dies in a fall from a horse, and a young man named Vandermeer who was so despondent he took his own life. The opening lines set the story in the wide open country along the California-Nevada border: With the feel of an old cowboy ballad, and a dark vein of tragedy, many people who hear "Darcy Farrow" think it’s a traditional song. Gillette says he and Campbell sought to capture the language and style of songs that are part of the Scottish-Irish tradition. “We had a great affection for a lot of the old story and ballad songs,” he says. The first time the world heard "Darcy Farrow" was in 1965, when it was recorded by the popular Canadian duo Ian and Sylvia Tyson. Gillette met them when they played in southern California. “I got to be the opening act for their concert and that’s where we got to show them the song,” he says. “Ian and Sylvia’s [recording] was such an exciting thing, such a wonderful break for us.” A few years later, millions of people discovered the song through John Denver who recorded and performed "Darcy Farrow" when he was at the height of his popularity. In 1972, Denver included the song on his Top 10 album Rocky Mountain High. “I believe he actually heard it from me first, because we were friends. I met him when he first came to California,” says Gillette. At the time Denver was fresh out of college and looking for work. Denver and Gillette were among those hustling for gigs at southern California clubs like the Golden Bear and the Troubadour. Gillette recalls trading songs with other musicians in the basement of the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. “That was a place where you could trade guitar licks and talk about things and share songs and play songs for each other," Gillette says. "Steve Stills showed us a lot of guitar stuff that he was into. I’ve thought many times about what a magic time that was to be in that environment.” Denver’s version of "Darcy Farrow" was so popular some people named their daughters Darcy. |
Subject: RE: Origins: Darcy Farrell / Darcy Farrow From: GUEST,Jerome Clark Date: 05 Jun 23 - 03:05 PM It's worth noting that Ian Tyson recorded a memorable version of "Darcy Farrow" on his final album, issued in 2015. See my review here: https://www.rambles.net/tyson_carnero15.html I've long been a fan of Ian & Sylvia, but I thought their recording of the song, which to my hearing suffers from a flawed arrangement, is among their rare misfires. Tyson more than made up for it late in his recording career. Ian Tyson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJBgb09WGE Ian & Sylvia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrFZ-q2kYMA |
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