Reflections in A Crystal Wind
Mimi and Richard Fariña
Vanguard VSD 79204
1965
I recently finished reading Richard Fariña's semi-autobiographical novel about college life, "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me." I'm probably too old now to fully appreciate the novel, but I'm sure I would have been crazy about it back in my 20s. Fariña seems to have been influenced by Kesey and Kerouac who were among my favorite writers back then. Now I find the protagonist's narcissism and misogyny annoying, but the novel is well-written and imaginative. It prompted me to pull out the two albums he did with his wife prior to his death in 1966. Their first one, "Celebrations For a Grey Day," is my favorite of the two, but this one is not far behind. They are both full of stimulating and entertaining music. This one has more folk-rock than its predecessor with four tracks featuring an electric guitar, keyboards and a rhythm section. "Hard-Loving Loser" is my favorite of the four. It is a rollicking song reminiscent of Dylan's folk-rock songs on "Bringing It All Back Home" with an instrumental rave-up at the end. The song's protagonist resembles the hero of Fariña's novel. "Sell-Out Agitation Waltz" and "House Un-American Blues Activity Dream" use the propulsive force of rock and roll to add urgency to the torrent of politically charged imagery Fariña unleashes in the songs. Both songs are duets that show that Richard and Mimi could do folk-rock vocals more effectively than most of their folkie peers. "Mainline Prosperity Blues" is an ode to dope-induced idleness and dropping out that shows that the blues wasn't Richard's forte as a vocalist. I'm a rock guy, but my favorite songs on the album are the folk songs. I think the best one is the traditional sounding "Bold Marauder" which is a dark depiction of violent menace sung as a duet by Richard and Mimi. "Reflections in a Crystal Wind" is also a duet but it is the polar opposite of "Bold Marauder." It is a highly poetic examination of love and separation with a cheerful melody. "Raven Girl" is another traditional sounding song sung as a duet. The sinister yet romantic imagery in this gothic song is very impressive, I think it is one of their best songs. Mimi has a lovely lead vocal on "A Swallow Song" which is dedicated to her sister Joan Baez. The courtly sounding music of this song appears to have been lifted from an old Ladino song called "Los Bilbilicos" which Fariña's first wife Carolyn Hester recorded on her 1962 album, "Carolyn Hester" although Fariña wrote new lyrics for the song. The album concludes with the gentle "Children of Darkness" which is about finding comfort in love and companionship when violence and confusion rages around the world - which sums up the 1960s pretty well I think. There are also four instrumentals on the album, my favorite of which is "Dopico" which is a fusion of Middle Eastern and Caribbean influences which is very dynamic and energized. "Allen's Interlude" also has a Middle Eastern sound. It was named for the psychedelic artist Allen Atwell. "Miles" was named for Miles Davis for reasons that escape me since it sounds more like carnival music than jazz. "Chrysanthemum" features some lovely exchanges between Mimi on guitar and Richard on dulcimer. I'm a big fan of the Fariñas and I think their two albums are among the best records of their era. They brought the integrity, intelligence and personal quality of 1960s folk music to the accessibility and energy of rock with great artistic success. I think their two albums need to be included with the work of Dylan and the Byrds as being among the most significant folk-rock achievements. Listening to these wonderful records I can't help but wonder what the Fariñas might have gone on to accomplish had Richard not taken that fatal motorcycle ride that silenced one of the great original voices in popular music. Recommended to people seeking intelligence in pop music.
Celebrations for a Grey Day
Mimi and Richard Fariña
Vanguard VRS-9174
1965
I finished reading David Hajdu's "Positively 4th Street." Bob Dylan and Joan Baez come off rather poorly in it, particularly in comparison to the Fariñas. Dylan is depicted as a selfish and manipulative jerk and Baez seems like a dull, judgmental narcissist. Joan's sister, Mimi, is clearly Hajdu's favorite person in the book and his portrait of Richard is fascinating, a mixture of charm, ambition and artistic drive. I consider Dylan a genius, but I never would want to hang out with him, but Richard Fariña seems to have been the life of the party for most of his brief lifetime. I became interested in the Fariñas back when I was obsessed with folk-rock. They explored it a little on their two albums. This is their debut album. Most people prefer the second one, "Reflections in a Crystal Wind," since it has fewer instrumentals and more of a folk-rock sound. I prefer this one though because it has my two favorite Fariña songs, "Pack Up Your Sorrows" and "Reno Nevada." "Pack Up Your Sorrows" is co-credited to the third Baez sister, Pauline, although according to Hajdu she did little more than contribute the title phrase which was a favorite saying of hers. As with most of the vocal songs on the album, the lead is sung by Richard who plays dulcimer with Mimi playing guitar and singing harmony. It is a classic folk song with a lively melody that sticks in your head and verses about the futility of running from ones troubles alternating with a chorus in which the singer offers to take your sorrows from you. It is one of the few Fariña songs that you can imagine an old school folkie like Pete Seeger singing. "Reno Nevada" is one of the two folk-rock songs on the album. It features an electric guitar, bass and piano in addition to the Fariñas' acoustic guitar and dulcimer. Fariña uses the metaphor of gambling in philosophical lyrics about life choices and taking chances. The song was a key song in the early repertoire of Fairport Convention and there are some excellent performances of it on various archival Fairport releases, but I really like the original as well, particularly when Mimi is wailing away in the background. Of the remaining eleven songs on the album, seven are instrumentals which seems odd considering that Richard was a poet and a professional writer before he took up music. He certainly had no trouble coming up with words so my guess is that he wanted to show off his newly acquired instrumental prowess and with good reason. I've never heard anyone play the dulcimer like him. When I think of the dulcimer, I picture female country singers delicately strumming, but Richard aggressively attacks his instrument like a rock star. Mimi is a fine acoustic guitar player and they show a lot of chemistry in their instrumental duets. My favorite instrumental is "V." which is named after the Thomas Pynchon novel of the same name (Pynchon and Fariña were close friends.) It has a raga-like Eastern flavor and features some frenetic dulcimer playing from Richard supported by Bruce Langhorne on tambourine. Of the remaining instrumentals I like the pretty "Dog Blue" which was arranged by Mimi and "Tommy Makem's Fantasy" which is basically the Irish tune "Little Beggarman" which appeared in vocal form on my favorite Ian and Sylvia album "Northern Journey." The four remaining songs with vocals are all interesting. "Michael, Andrew and James" is about the three civil rights activists, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964. It is not as heavy-handed as many protest songs of that era and has a poetic quality to it. Musically it is a bit of a folky drone with the dulcimer again giving it a raga flavor. "One-Way Ticket" is the other folk-rock song on the album. It features the same instrumentalists as "Reno Nevada" and is similar to the folk-rock songs on Dylan's "Bringing It All Back Home" which was released a few weeks prior to this album. It is a fast-paced blues, humorously ragging on California for various reasons. There is a nice guitar solo from Bruce Langhorne. "Another Country" benefits from the plaintive and sensitive quality of Richard's voice as he describes traveling through Europe and North Africa while experiencing a strained love affair. Musically it is a conventional folk song with a pretty guitar riff. "The Falcon" is adapted from the traditional folk song "The Cuckoo." The lyrics have been changed to make the song a graceful statement against war and the military. In his liner notes Richard states that the song is a response to members of the John Birch Society practicing war games at Point Lobos. The songs with vocals are so good that it makes me regret there are not more of them on this record. It is still a fine album though, consistently engaging and inspired. When I play it, I find myself wishing that Richard Fariña had not liked motorcycles so much. He loved life with such zest and made such enjoyable music, Mimi Fariña's tragic loss was also a loss to anyone who appreciates intelligence in music. Recommended to Ian and Sylvia fans.
