The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Glenn Yarbrough (The Limelighters)
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Glenn Yarbrough (The Limelighters)
Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 13 Aug 2016 3:53 am    
Reply with quote

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/arts/music/glenn-yarbrough-folk-singer-with-the-limeliters-dies-at-86.html?emc=edit_th_20160813&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=42160768&_r=0

Glenn Yarbrough, a folk singer who at midcentury found fame and fortune with the popular trio the Limeliters but who walked away from it all for a life at sea, died on Thursday at his daughter’s home in Nashville. He was 86.

The cause was complications of dementia, his daughter, Holly Yarbrough Burnett, said.

Founded in 1959, the Limeliters — comprising Mr. Yarbrough on vocals and guitar, Alex Hassilev on vocals and banjo and Lou Gottlieb on vocals and bass — was a contemporary folk group in the tradition of the Kingston Trio.

Known for their burnished tight harmonies, sophisticated if nontraditional arrangements and witty onstage banter, the Limeliters were wildly successful. Amid the folk revival of the 1960s, they appeared often on television and in live performance, sold records by the hundreds of thousands and became millionaires in the bargain.

By all critical accounts, Mr. Yarbrough’s silvery lyric tenor — a voice whose lightness belied his stocky appearance — was the group’s acoustic linchpin, soaring memorably in traditional tunes including “John Henry” and contemporary numbers like “Charlie, the Midnight Marauder,” about a hapless suburbanite who one night mistakenly enters the wrong house.

Reviewing a 1961 concert by the Limeliters at Town Hall in Manhattan, Robert Shelton wrote in The New York Times, “Mr. Yarbrough’s fine lyric voice had body, warmth and a lush vibrato that made ‘Lass From the Low Country,’ ‘When I First Came to This Land’ and ‘Zhankoye’ touching.” He added: “Mr. Yarbrough is a top-flight vocalist.”

In 1963, Mr. Yarbrough, restless, left the Limeliters, and the group disbanded. An ardent sailor, he intended to spend the next decade at sea but was persuaded by his record label, RCA Victor, to record solo albums instead.

He made a string of them, toured for some years as a solo act and had a hit single with “Baby the Rain Must Fall,” the title song of the 1965 film starring Steve McQueen and Lee Remick.

In the mid-1960s Mr. Yarbrough began a collaboration with the poet and songwriter Rod McKuen that resulted in several albums, among them “The Lonely Things” and “Glenn Yarbrough Sings the Rod McKuen Songbook.”
But for Mr. Yarbrough, success brought myriad discontents.

“I did a show last year at the Fairmont in San Francisco and there was a big cover charge,” he told the journalist David Lamb during this period. (Mr. Lamb recounted the exchange in his 1993 book, “A Sense of Place: Listening to Americans.”) Mr. Yarbrough continued:

“The only people who could afford it were people already so embroiled in money that they’re already dead inside. I looked out at them and they’re just sitting there and they’re not even living people anymore. It just doesn’t give me a good feeling working for those people.”

By the late 1960s Mr. Yarbrough had sold his Rolls-Royce, his Porsche, his Bentley and his two Ferraris along with, Mr. Lamb reported, his house in New Zealand, his banana plantation in Jamaica and an apartment building he owned in Beverly Hills, Calif. With the proceeds, he established a school for disadvantaged children, most of them African-American, in the mountains outside Los Angeles.

“I’ve always wanted to teach,” Mr. Yarbrough told The Sunday Examiner & Chronicle of San Francisco in 1966. “I got into entertainment by accident. The idea for the school actually came to me when I was sailing to Hawaii. I got to thinking about why I was still doing something I didn’t want to do very much, and about what I could do to make it meaningful.”

The school endured until the early 1970s, when it closed for lack of funds. Mr. Yarbrough rented his home in the Hollywood Hills to the comedian Marty Feldman and, with his second wife, the former Annie Graves, and baby Holly, took to sea aboard the Jubilee, the 57-foot sailboat he had helped build. He did not return for the better part of five years.
Glenn Robertson Yarbrough was born in Milwaukee on Jan. 12, 1930. His parents, Bruce Yarbrough and the former Elizabeth Robertson, were social workers who had met while training at Hull House, the settlement house in Chicago.

While the elder Mr. Yarbrough traveled the country from one social-work post to another during the Depression, Glenn and his mother lived in New York. There, he helped support the family through his work as a boy soprano in the choir of Grace Church, the historic Episcopal church in Manhattan.

As a youth, Glenn attended St. John’s College in Annapolis, Md., where he studied pre-Socratic philosophy. (His roommate, Jac Holzman, would become a founder, in 1950, of Elektra Records, which early on recorded Mr. Yarbrough singly and the Limeliters collectively.)

One day in the early 1950s, Woody Guthrie came to St. John’s, an event that for the young Mr. Yarbrough proved transformative.

“I never liked the pop songs of the day; I always thought it was real stupid stuff — ‘moon, June, spoon,’” Mr. Yarbrough told The Los Angeles Times in 1996. “So I went to this Woody Guthrie concert, and I was just overwhelmed — everything he sang was real. I was just a shy kid, but I walked up to him afterward with tears in my eyes and told him how much I loved what he had done. The very next day I went out and bought a guitar, and that was that.”

After Army service during the Korean War, where he performed with entertainment units in Korea and Japan, Mr. Yarbrough embarked on a solo career, playing the coffeehouse circuit. He became an owner of the Limelite, an Aspen, Colo., nightclub from which the singing group would take its name.

In mid-1959, Mr. Yarbrough and Mr. Hassilev, performing with Theodore Bikel at Cosmo Alley, a Los Angeles club, were introduced to Mr. Gottlieb, and the Limeliters were born. The group made its debut at the Hungry i, the storied San Francisco nightclub, later that year.

Throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, Mr. Yarbrough spent much of his time at sea, traversing many of the world’s oceans. He returned to land periodically, when his finances were at ebb tide, appearing as a soloist, performing in Limeliters reunion tours and making many records.

He sang the musical numbers for the 1977 animated television film “The Hobbit,” with characters voiced by luminaries including Orson Bean, Richard Boone, John Huston and Otto Preminger. In the 1990s and afterward, Mr. Yarbrough toured in a one-man Christmas show, “The Forgotten Carols,” with book, music and lyrics by Michael McLean.

Before moving to his daughter’s home six years ago, Mr. Yarbrough lived, during his dry-land periods, on Lake Chapala, near Guadalajara, Mexico, where he grew fruit and vegetables to give to the poor.

Mr. Yarbrough’s first marriage, to Peggy Goodhart, ended in divorce, as did his second, to Ms. Graves, and his third, to Laurie Ann Poole. At his death, he was separated from his fourth wife, Kathleen Pommer.
Besides his daughter Ms. Burnett, his survivors include two children from his first marriage, Stephany Yarbrough and Sean Yarbrough; two stepdaughters, Brooke and Heather, from his marriage to Ms. Poole; a grandson; and a great-grandson.

With Ms. Burnett, also a singer, Mr. Yarbrough recorded several albums, including “Family Portrait” and “No One Is Alone.”

Mr. Gottlieb, of the Limeliters, died in 1996. Mr. Hassilev, who juggled a long career as a musician, record producer and actor, lives in California.
Even when the Limeliters were at the height of their acclaim — or perhaps especially then — Mr. Yarbrough had deep misgivings about his unexpected calling.
“The only thing success has taught me is that success is meaningless,” he told The Saturday Evening Post in 1961. “An audience is like a lynch mob. Three years ago they were walking out on me. Now that they know we’ve been on the Sullivan show, they come and cheer.”
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Chris Boyd

 

From:
Leonia,N.J./Charlestown,R.I.
Post  Posted 13 Aug 2016 4:27 am    
Reply with quote

What a remarkable guy..thanks for posting this Mike.RIP Glenn...
_________________
https://www.reverbnation.com/bigredandtheresonators
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Dave Potter

 

From:
Texas
Post  Posted 13 Aug 2016 5:54 am    
Reply with quote

Fascinating - simply fascinating. This man lived a truly full life. I bought his album "The Lonely Things" when it was released, and still have it. Wonderfully done, and I still enjoy it occasionally. I hadn't ever seen a full account of all his interests and accomplishments till now - what a list of things he did. Thanks for posting that, Mike.
View user's profile Send private message

Jerry Berger


From:
Nampa, Idaho USA
Post  Posted 13 Aug 2016 7:31 am    
Reply with quote

This is the one song that I will always remember Mr. Yarbrough by. I believe the song became a hit in 1965.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtvDq1zn4Vg

RIP Glenn


Last edited by Jerry Berger on 30 Aug 2016 5:25 pm; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Mitch Drumm

 

From:
Frostbite Falls, hard by Veronica Lake
Post  Posted 13 Aug 2016 9:48 am    
Reply with quote

Thanks for that, Mike. That's a well-written obit.

I well remember The Limeliters--especially their ode to Vikki Dougan, she of the backless gown and callipygian cleft--quite the sensation in the press for some time. Google her images.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hie9muEMWEw
View user's profile Send private message

Morgan Scoggins

 

From:
Georgia, USA
Post  Posted 13 Aug 2016 11:44 am    
Reply with quote

Thanks for posting this Mike. I have always wondered what ever became of him. I am glad to hear that he had a remarkable life.
Back in the mid 60's I listened to him on the local radio programs as a teenager growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. My favorite song of his was "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa".
R.I.P Glen Yarbrough.
_________________
"Shoot low boys, the're ridin' Shetlands"
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Herb Steiner

 

From:
Spicewood TX 78669
Post  Posted 30 Aug 2016 5:14 pm    
Reply with quote

Mike
Thanks for that! You and I both remember that we, as teenage traditionalists, eschewed the music of the Limeliters contemporaneously... though I remember an incredibly entertaining evening in which Lou Gottlieb "held court" in the side room of the Ash Grove... but knowing the rest of the man's story and what he made of his life is astounding.

Thanks for turning on a light that had never been illuminated. Smile
_________________
My rig: Infinity and Telonics.

Son, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with steel guitars. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 1 Sep 2016 12:28 pm    
Reply with quote

Herb Steiner wrote:
Mike
Thanks for that! You and I both remember that we, as teenage traditionalists, eschewed the music of the Limeliters contemporaneously...


Herb, it's true that we were snobs who looked down at all the commercial folk groups, but I think there was some validity to that. During those years when we hung out at the Ash Grove, we were privileged to see artists like Doc, Watson, Bill Monroe (surely you remember when he gave you a mandolin lesson,) Reverend Gary Davis, Lightning Hopkins, Flatt and Scruggs, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Merle Travis, Son House, Skip Jame, Fred McDowell and so many others.

These artists were real. Their music was real. It was vital and soulful and ALIVE.

All these white bread hootenanny groups turn the music into pablum. The prettified it and blandified it, drained it of all its vitality and made it palatable for people who would accept Pat Boone singing Tutti Fruity, but not Little Richard.

So, yes we were snobs, and we were unable to see that these folk groups actually sang well created some pretty music. But speaking personally, I'll still take Fred McDowell or Doc Watson over any of these folk groups, any day of the week.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

Godfrey Arthur

 

From:
3rd Rock
Post  Posted 3 Sep 2016 10:04 pm    
Reply with quote

Godspeed Mr.Yarbrough. Your anthem style voice kept many of us in the right direction.

Mike very well written reflection.

Glenn as solo artist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBfIaFr2Jfg




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FakIaWVelE
With the Limelighters.
_________________
ShoBud The Pro 1
YES it's my REAL NAME!
Ezekiel 33:7
View user's profile Send private message


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP