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.
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