Ed McCurdy

Biography

For a while during the later 1950s and early ’60s, Ed McCurdy was perhaps one of the most popular solo singers from the folk revival. Furthermore to documenting two popular albums, When Dalliance Is at Rose, Vols. 1 & 2, McCurdy was also the writer of “YESTERDAY EVENING I PUT the Strangest Wish,” a tune that was broadly covered by various other singers. McCurdy began his career being a gospel vocalist in Oklahoma Town, executing on radio place WKY, and afterwards became a theatrical and evening membership performer. His deep, wealthy tenor, somewhat similar to Pete Seeger or the youthful Burl Ives, demonstrated well-suited to folk music, nevertheless, and he started this new stage of his profession on Canadian radio in 1946. McCurdy trim his first record, Ed McCurdy Sings Music from the Canadian Maritimes, in the first ’50s for the Whitehall label. From 1952, he composed and performed children’s music and applications on radio and tv, and 2 yrs later, he transferred to NY. In 1955, he trim his second recording, The Ballad Record, that was effective plenty of to justify even more recordings, including Pub Room Ballads along with a Ballad Singer’s Choice, on the next 2 yrs. His music included cowboy tunes in addition to traditional folk ballads such as for example “Barbara Allen” and “Very Saro,” in addition to the children’s tunes that had in the beginning made him a popular among NY folk singers. It had been McCurdy’s recordings of even more risque folk materials, nevertheless, that did probably the most to determine his popularity, specifically on university campuses, where in fact the folk target audience was branching off into much more serious and adult directions. Sin Tunes was the 1st, however the record that offered beyond anyone’s expectation was When Dalliance Is at Blossom, a 1957 launch that, using its tunes dwelling on carnal lust, demonstrated a major strike. For a while in the past due ’50s and early ’60s, alongside Oscar Brand’s numerous selections of “bawdy tunes,” When Dalliance Is at Blossom was an nearly obligatory section of any college-age folk listener’s collection, particularly if they wished to impress the contrary sex with something besides performing. A second quantity implemented in 1958, along with a calendar year from then on, McCurdy recorded just one more release within this vein, Kid of Dalliance. Even while, McCurdy continuing to try out to youthful listeners, and their parents aswell, with albums of children’s music. In 1959, he performed on the Newport Folk Celebration, and four of his music appeared on the 3rd level of Vanguard Information’ Folk Celebration at Newport. Through the years that implemented, McCurdy performed the Newport Celebration twice even more, but after 1960 he was more and more overshadowed — as was the case for most performers of his era — by another influx of folk-based topical ointment vocalist/songwriters, including Bob Dylan. He continued to be visible being a songwriter, nevertheless, as his melody “YESTERDAY EVENING I PUT the Strangest Desire,” created in 1950, was documented from the Chad Mitchell Trio inside a live edition from your Bitter End, and later on by artists such as for example Simon & Garfunkel on the first album, Wed Morning hours 3 A.M. (that Simon & Garfunkel recording was not successful on its preliminary release, but making use of their following success, has most likely offered more than a half-million copies). That music became McCurdy’s brand, and the name tabs on his final recording of new materials, released in 1967 when he was 45 yrs . old. That same yr, Elektra released THE VERY BEST of Ed McCurdy. McCurdy resided to become 81, loss of life on March 23, 2000 at his house in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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