Customer Reviews

Celebrations for a Grey Day

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"Celebrations for a Grey Day" offers some interest merely because of its creators: Richard Farina penned a quintessential '60s novel, "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me" before dying young in a motorcycle accident; his wife Mimi is the sister of Joan Baez. But does the music offer interest and does it hold up after 35 years? Yes, it does.

The duo put together an interesting sound with Richard's dulcimer and drone-like vocal playing against Mimi's guitar and lovely, crystalline voice. The instrumentals achieve an Eastern flavor, particularly on "V," which gives a nod to Thomas Pynchon in Richard's notes to the album. There is poetic political protest in "Michael, Andrew, and James," a lament for the three murdered civil rights workers; sly satire of prejudice in "Tommy Makem Fantasy"; and even a mildly funky excursion, "Reno Nevada."

The only regret I have in listening to it over the years has been that Mimi wasn't given more room. Her vocals are a major addition on "Reno Nevada," and the wistful "Pack up Your Sorrows," but she doesn't get a lead vocal, which is disappointing because her voice is intoxicating -- probably the equal of her more-famous sister.

Many albums that I enjoyed during my youth have not come close to standing the test of time. This one does and is well worth revisiting or discovering for the first time.

I got this CD about a week ago and have been playing it ever since. The instrumentals are superb: both Farinas were musicians, not merely the plunkers and "mathematical guitar players" one often finds in folk-music.

The vocal I really enjoy is "Pack Up Your Sorrows." I first heard this song sung by Martha Beers and her then-husband Eric Nagler, and liked it then, but the Farinas' delivery is so smooth, so quiet, so...harmonious, that I can't see how their version will ever be bettered. I also like "The Falcon," though the lyric is a little strange. The singers seem to take a kind of quiet, loony joy in the thought that the falcon might one day turn on its (man)handlers.

I agree that Mimi Farina had/has a terrific voice, though I wouldn't go quite so far as to rate her above her sister. What happened to Mimi's career? Did she go on to pursue dancing? Did she ever give any solo concerts after Richard's death?

This CD is well worth having if you enjoy the folk music of the 60s--before it went electric and disappeared into folk rock and before singers like Baez and Collins took to lush orchestral arrangements.

I first heard Richard Farina playing the dulcimer on Judy Collins' "Carry it On." My next encounter with his art was reading his book "Been Down So Long.." I found this album in the bins of a used record store and was moved by the simple musical arrangements and lyrics that are both socially relevant and deeply personal. Richard's dulcimer and Mimi's guitar provide the foundation that allow their complimentary voices to soar. Richard Farina was destined for greatness as a poet, author, and musician. He died way too young. This album stands as his great contribution to American music!

I have been listening to this album since 1967, and still have not grown tired of listening to it. The melodies are intoxicating, the lyrics are brilliant, and the musicianship is first rate.

I grew up listening to this album (on LP), purchased by my proto-folkie parents, and it has never left me. Beautiful everything, amazing dulcimer, and let's not forget the truism that Mimi's voice is better than sister Joan Baez's. I'm adding this one to my shopping basket now, this time as a CD.

"Celebrations" is a classic example of the Vanguard style both in terms of artistic merit and recording excellence. While the tragedy of Richard Farina's untimely death surrounds the the music with a haunting aura, the selections easily stand on their own in terms of the artistry of husband and wife. Particularly attention is called to "The Falcon" and "Pack Up Your Sorrows." There is little enough of Richard's work available today. This collection is required listening.

This is one of my all time favorite albums, ever.

I first listened to Mimi & Richard Farina when I was 15 years old, 1964-1965, several times in Club 47, just off Harvard Square. I then fell in love with their music, a passion that has never ended. I had one of the first record albums, from 1965. Now CD. I love every song, and especially Mimi's voice.

I listened to other singers, Judy Collins, Joan Baez (sister of Mimi), who also played at Club 47, but my favorite of all were Mimi and Richard, then Judy Collins, then Joan Baez.

I was stunned in 1966 when Richard was killed on motorcycle. I still am stunned with the death of Mimi in 2001. They had a lot to offer, had their lives together been longer.

I must mention at my age of 15, Mimi was 18 years old. I thought she was stunning, a beautiful "girl" with a beautiful voice. I miss you, Mimi and Richard. Thank you for personally touching my life.

I was in high school when I first heard this record -- 35 years ago. I was astonished with joy! I listened to the three Richard & Mimi albums over and over again, and wanted desperately to be involved with a dark-haired, dulcimer-playing long-haired hippy.

Although I had heard of Richard and Mimi Fariña for several years from Richie Unterberger, I did not have serious interest for a long time until I discovered the Mimi was the sister of Joan Baez and, if you listen to David's Album, you will see she has an even purer and more beautiful voice than her more famous elder sister.

However, "Celebrations for a Grey Day", the first of three albums Mimi recorded with husband Richard Fariña, is much more than merely beautiful folk singing. The striking thing about "Celebrations for a Grey Day", in fact, is that whilst seven of the thirteen songs are instrumentals, the vocal numbers are able to stand out all the better for it. Although I had heard a dulcimer from Jean Ritchie on Ballads From Her Appalachian Family Tradition and admired the twinkling and simple sound, I did not know Richard Fariña had developed it so well beforehand. The opener "Dandelion River Run" has a melody copied by Anne Briggs for her "Tongue In Cheek" so much that one can hum a vocal line that does not exist, but "Pack Up Your Sorrows" is a massive step further with the purest and most beautiful vocal harmonies. Richard and Mimi alternate in a manner that fits the theme of the song to utter perfection, and it is surprising how the voices can be heard as if they were not singing together.

"Tommy Makem Fantasy", the third track is a touching instrumental piece, but "Michael, Andrew and James" shows Richard and Mimi turning their agency onto what could be called an epic of surprising dramatic force because Richard's dulcimer and the beauty of Mimi's voice work so tightly together. Then there is the lyrics, which are dark and political like few other songs of the time. "Dog Blue" is a very tight instrumental with Richard's unique dulcimer sound at its most upfront so that it sounds superb, and then "V" follows up in exactly the same vein.

"One-Way Ticket", with its quiet piano, is extremely beautiful but in contrast to most of "Celebrations for a Grey Day" is as much rock and roll as folk, though "Tulleries" is a return to typical folk instrumentation and seems to suggest that Richard Fariña wants to go every simpler with every instrumental song he puts forward here. The hard-hammering of the dulcimer works exceptionally well once "Tulleries" gets into gear. "The Falcon" shows Richard able to adapt traditional material to his rock ambitions as well as he wants, whilst "Reno, Nevada" shows Richard moving into a high vocal register behind siren-like "ooh, ooh, ooh" turning into glossolalia from Mimi. This song may not capture a listener who does not listen carefully, but deserves its status as one of the most famous songs here.

All in all, "Celebrations for a Grey Day" was perhaps the first example of genuine "folk rock" but has far more elements of traditional folk than most early examples of that genre. With the amazing voice of Mimi Fariña - more beautiful and pure than her acclaimed sister - and great dulcimer playing and rock stylings, "Celebrations for a Grey Day" should be purchased by anyone interested in folk-rock.

Sublime dulcimer/acoustic guitar duo. Here's a little background on Richard Farina that I found in the liner notes of David Blue's Singer Songwriter Project.

Richard Farina

"Richard Farina was born at sea and has been travelling ever since. Of Irish-Cuban parentage, Dick was caught up in the Irish Republican Army's movement for the liberation of the six northern counties still under English rule. At the age of 16 he was arrested and at 18 was finally deported from Ireland for his activities. Farina returned to America, attended Cornell, was dismissed after leading a demonstration, acted professionally, married twice, and has been published in the establishment press, The Atlantic, Mademoiselle, and the other press, Broadside.

The death of four Sunday school children compelled his first song, Birmingham Sunday which received wide attention at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival when sung by Joan Baez. Farina's talents as a serious writer (his first novel, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me, will be published by Random House in the fall of 1965) are well applied to his songs. The images are complex but not heavy, and he has a strong sense of languange. Dick's sensitive dulcimer accompaniments are always apt and superbly realised. With his wife Mimi, Dick has recorded an outstanding album, CELEBRATIONS FOR A GREY DAY, released on Vanguard."