New York Times
July 23 2005
John Herald, 65, Folk Singer and Guitarist, Dies
By BEN SISARIO
Published: July 23, 2005
John Herald, a guitarist and singer whose group the Greenbriar Boys
was among the first bluegrass bands in New York in the 1960’s, died
on Monday at his home in West Hurley, N.Y. He was 65.
Jack Vartoogian/FrontRow Photos
John Herald in 2001.
Forum: Popular Music
The Ulster County medical examiner has not ruled on the cause of
death, but the state police said it appeared to be suicide. Mr.
Herald’s body was found on Tuesday.
A regular presence on the folk and bluegrass scene for more than four
decades, Mr. Herald was known for his accomplished guitar picking and
his strong and boyishly nasal voice, which grew gentle in later
years. A noted songwriter, his songs were performed by Linda
Ronstadt, Maria Muldaur, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary.
The Greenbriar Boys, formed by Mr. Herald with Eric Weissberg and Bob
Yellin in the late 1950’s, were active on the New York folk scene. In
a review in 1961, Robert Shelton of The New York Times praised a
young Bob Dylan at Folk City in Greenwich Village; the headlining act
that night was the Greenbriar Boys.
The band “whips up some of the fastest, most tempestuous bluegrass
music this side of Nashville,” he wrote of the concert. “They join
Mr. Herald, a leather-lunged tenor whose athletic, high-range country
yodeling is a thing of wonder.”
The Greenbriar Boys became the first “Yankee” band to win the Galax
Fiddlers Convention in Virginia. The group recorded for Vanguard and
Elektra and underwent various personnel shifts until disbanding in
the late 60’s.
Born in Manhattan, Mr. Herald grew up in Greenwich Village, the son
of Leon Serabian Herald, an Armenian immigrant who was a published
poet. He was inspired to play music when he was at summer camp and
saw Pete Seeger perform.
Mr. Herald performed solo and with the John Herald Band through the
70’s. He also performed with the Woodstock Mountain Revue. He
recorded an album, “Roll On John,” released in 2000, and was working
on a new CD at the time of his death.
His marriage to Kim Chalmers ended in divorce. No other immediate
survivors are known.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress