Biography
Fred Hellerman earned primary recognition for his roles as vocalist, guitarist, and composer within the Weavers folk ensemble spanning the closing years of the 1940s through the middle of the 1960s. Yet both throughout and following the quartet's active period, he sustained diverse behind-the-scenes contributions to the recording field, encompassing duties as music arranger, studio player, and record producer. Beyond penning material for fellow artists, he supplied compositions for cinema and stage productions.
He entered the world in Brooklyn, one of New York City's boroughs, on May 13, 1927, as the youngest among three siblings. His Latvian-born father earned a living in the rag trade. While stationed with the Coast Guard in World War II, he acquired guitar skills on his own, and postwar he resumed playing, appearing with American Folksay. Concurrently he pursued an English degree at Brooklyn College. Those musical pursuits drew notice from People's Songs, a body dedicated to deploying topical folk material in support of labor organizing and progressive initiatives, prompting its secretary Lee Hays to mail a postcard urging an office visit. The encounter sparked a friendship that soon introduced him to Pete Seeger, another key figure at People's Songs. He already counted the remaining future Weaver, Ronnie Gilbert, among his acquaintances from a 1944 summer-camp counseling stint.
His recording debut arrived in 1948 when he performed "The Little Cowboy" alongside Will Geer and Ernie Lieberman for Young People's Records. Over Thanksgiving weekend that year, he joined Hays, Seeger, and Gilbert to accompany folk dancers at a hootenanny; they prepared a multinational medley titled "Around the World." Positive crowd response prompted regular rehearsals and additional bookings. After billing themselves briefly as the No Name Quartet, they adopted Hellerman's suggestion of the title from Gerhart Hauptmann's 1892 German drama he had encountered in college, announcing the Weavers name on Oscar Brand's WNYC radio broadcast Folk Song Festival on January 2, 1949. That summer Hellerman sang at a Catskills resort where Gilbert also worked as secretary. Both attended the September 4, 1949 open-air benefit in Peekskill, New York, starring Paul Robeson and featuring Seeger, though they avoided the subsequent riot in which vigilantes attacked departing concertgoers—an early manifestation of the anti-Communist wave that engulfed the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Later that month the Weavers issued their debut recording, "The Peekskill Story, Pts. 1-2," on a Charter Records single whose flipside carried spoken recollections; Hellerman introduced himself as "Freddy Hellerman of People's Artists," the concert's sponsoring body. That autumn they cut their first purely musical Charter single, pairing Hays's "Wasn't That a Time" with the Bahamian hymn "Dig My Grave," then released "The Hammer Song" (also known as "If I Had a Hammer") by Hays and Seeger, backed with Les Rice's "Banks of Marble," on Hootenanny Records. None of this activity signaled substantial career momentum, however; the group hovered near dissolution, with Hellerman, now holding his B.A., contemplating graduate work at the University of Chicago.
Seeger secured a two-week Village Vanguard engagement in Greenwich Village for late December 1949 as a final bid for viability. The booking extended repeatedly as audiences gradually responded, ultimately stretching until June 1950. Orchestra leader and Decca musical director Gordon Jenkins attended, resulting in a Decca contract. Their initial sessions that May yielded "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" and Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene," issued together; the former reached number two on Billboard in July, while the latter attained number one for the first of thirteen consecutive weeks beginning in August, reportedly moving two million copies. The Weavers emerged as a major pop act, yet their leftist associations simultaneously invited red-baiting in the rising McCarthy period: Seeger appeared in Red Channels, and a prospective network television deal collapsed. They nonetheless launched an extended national nightclub and theater tour.
Just before departure, Hellerman cut a Jubilee solo single under the pseudonym Bob Hill pairing the anti-nuclear novelty "Old Man Atom" with the satirical "Pity the Downtrodden Landlord." Shortly afterward the group began employing another alias. Their customary practice involved reshaping traditional songs for quartet performance, often altering melodies and lyrics; when those pieces lacked copyright protection or known authors, the Weavers claimed them for royalty purposes under the collective pseudonym "Paul Campbell," devised by manager Pete Kameron and publisher Howie Richmond. Thus Paul Campbell received credit for "Suliram" and the medley "Hush Little Baby/I Know Where I'm Going," recorded November 6, 1950. By the May 4, 1951 New York session the name appeared on four of five titles: "Follow the Drinking Gourd," "Darling Corey," "Greensleeves," and "Easy Rider Blues." Campbell secured his first major success that summer with "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," derived from the Irish folk tune "Drimmer's Cow" that Lead Belly adapted; Seeger and Hays supplied fresh lyrics, crediting Campbell alongside Joel Newman (Lead Belly's pseudonym). The Weavers' version peaked at number 19 in September 1951; Jimmie Rodgers later revived it for a Top Five hit in 1957. Campbell also earned credit for "Wimoweh," the South African "Mbube" collected by Solomon Linda, which the Weavers recorded in October 1951 and which reached number 14 in April 1952. (The Tokens' 1961 number-one "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," likewise rooted in "Mbube," omitted any Paul Campbell acknowledgment.)
By this juncture the Weavers' trajectory had deteriorated sharply under the anti-Communist blacklist. An FBI informant falsely testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in February 1952 that three members belonged to the Communist Party and the fourth had been a member; after later recanting, the witness served five years for perjury. Booking difficulties intensified and sales declined. They performed through year's end, closing with a December 27, 1952 Town Hall concert, followed by a final Decca session on February 26, 1953, before disbanding.
Following the breakup, Hellerman launched the principal pursuits that would define his subsequent career: teaching guitar, arranging for vocalists, and pitching original compositions. Harry Belafonte, then pre-stardom, became an early client. On January 4, 1954, Belafonte recorded "I'm Just a Country Boy," credited to Marshall Barer and Fred Brooks—another Hellerman pseudonym—for RCA Victor. The copyright proved enduringly valuable; Don Williams took it to number one on the country chart in 1977, and it was later covered by the Band, Sam Cooke, Ronnie Lane, and Bobby Vinton. Belafonte also released the Fred Brooks/Lester Judson song "Pretty as a Rainbow (After the Rain)" that year. He further perpetuated the Paul Campbell name, placing seven Campbell songs on his 1954 LP Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites along with "Delia," credited to Brooks and Judson. Gordon Jenkins had not forgotten the Weavers; locating a similar title, "Goodnight, Sweet Dreams," he convened Hays and Hellerman with student Sally Kaminsky (Gilbert being unavailable in California) for an RCA Victor "X" single issued in 1955 under the duo's own names.
The release failed to chart, yet its appearance on a major label hinted that blacklist pressures might be easing. Later that year the Weavers reunited for a December 24 Carnegie Hall concert—their first in three years—reviving their concert career, though individual obligations limited them to weekend dates. Hellerman observed that only the airlines truly benefited; he continued earning primarily from other work. Television and radio remained closed, but they signed with Vanguard, previously a classical imprint, beginning with the live album The Weavers at Carnegie Hall, released April 1957. Hellerman delivered a solo rendition of "Sixteen Tons" on the set. August and September 1957 performances in Lenox, Massachusetts, supplied material for The Weavers on Tour (1958), after which they commenced studio recording.
At that juncture Seeger, still active solo, announced his exit. The Weavers at Home appeared in August 1958 with the original foursome pictured on the cover, yet a back-cover note disclosed that "Eric Darling, guest tenor and banjo player, fills in for Pete Seeger" on five of seventeen tracks; Darling assumed Seeger's place. Paul Campbell credits vanished, though the group persisted in adapting traditional songs. "Every Night" carried Hellerman's name alone; "Come Little Donkey" was attributed to Fred Brooks. Brooks also received credit for "The Way I Feel" and "Fare Thee Well" on Belafonte Sings the Blues and for "I Never Will Marry," "Green Grow the Lilacs," and "Walkin' on the Green Grass" on Love Is a Gentle Thing, both 1958 Belafonte LPs. Hellerman served as conductor on Theodore Bikel's Elektra albums Theodore Bikel Sings Jewish Folk Songs (1958) and Theodore Bikel Sings More Jewish Folk Songs (1959).
The 1959 release Traveling on with the Weavers bore cover art obscuring the banjo player's face; back-cover notes clarified Seeger appeared on five tracks and Darling on the remaining eleven. The members claimed most songwriting credits, though "I Never Will Marry" listed Hellerman solely, matching its prior Belafonte appearance. On April 1, 1960 they returned to Carnegie Hall for the live album The Weavers at Carnegie Hall, Vol. 2, their first to reach the Billboard chart. Hellerman supplied sole credits for "There Once Was a Young Man Who Went to the City" and "Tapuach Hineni." Belafonte, who had performed at Carnegie Hall in April 1959 and included a Fred Brooks "Darlin' Cora" plus additional Paul Campbell songs on the resulting live set, returned in May 1960 with "Chickens," co-written by Hellerman, Robert DeCormier, and C.C. Carter, featured on Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall.
Session-musician credits remained uncommon in the early 1960s, rendering notable Joan Baez's acknowledgment of Hellerman's guitar work on her 1960 Vanguard debut Joan Baez. Judy Collins similarly credited him on her 1961 Elektra debut Maid of Constant Sorrow, as did the Chad Mitchell Trio on At the Bitter End (1962). Belafonte's The Many Moods of Belafonte (1962) contained "Who's Gonna Be Your Man" (Fred Brooks) and "Long About Now" (Hellerman and Fran Minkoff); Tony Bennett promptly covered the latter on his 1963 album I Wanna Be Around... The Weavers issued the studio album The Weavers' Almanac in April 1962, listing Hays, Hellerman, Gilbert, and Darling, though Darling soon departed for Frank Hamilton. Hamilton remained a year before Bernie Krause became Seeger's third replacement. The May 1963 Carnegie Hall concerts, showcasing all four banjo players, yielded Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963 (December 1963) and Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963, Pt. 2 (August 1965). The former introduced the Hellerman/Minkoff antiwar ballad "Come Away, Melinda," soon recorded by Judy Collins, the Big 3, Kenny Rankin, Tim Rose, Bobbie Gentry, Uriah Heep, and UFO. Belafonte placed it on his 1963 Streets I Have Walked alongside another Hellerman/Minkoff piece, "The Borning Day," and "My Old Paint," credited to Hellerman, DeCormier, and Milt Okun, plus the Hellerman/Minkoff "Sailor Man" on the same year's live album Belafonte at the Greek Theatre.
The Weavers concluded a farewell tour and disbanded in winter 1964, freeing Hellerman for solo endeavors. "Poverty Hill," a Hellerman/Minkoff song, appeared on the Kingston Trio's The Kingston Trio (Nick-Bob-John) (late 1964) and the Brothers Four's The Honey Wind Blows (several months later); the latter title track was another Hellerman/Minkoff copyright later covered by Glenn Yarbrough. The Mitchell Trio recorded "Which Hat Shall I Wear" (Hellerman/Minkoff) on Typical American Boys (spring 1965). In December they released Violets of Dawn, containing "Business Goes on as Usual" (Hellerman and Minkoff, later covered by Roberta Flack) and "The Sound of Protest (Has Begun to Pay)" (Hellerman and Carter). Chad Mitchell included "Quiet Room" (Hellerman and Minkoff) on his 1966 solo debut; Belafonte titled a 1966 album after the song, adding re-recordings of "I'm Just a Country Boy," "The Honey Wind Blows," and the Hellerman/Minkoff "Our Time for Loving." Belafonte issued the Hellerman/Minkoff single "Sunflower" in 1967 and the LP Belafonte Sings of Love in 1968, featuring two further Hellerman/Minkoff compositions, "In the Beginning" and "The First Day of Forever." Hellerman produced Arlo Guthrie's million-selling Alice's Restaurant (1967), its 1968 follow-up Arlo, and Guthrie's sixth album, Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973); he also served as musical director for the 1969 Alice's Restaurant film.
On May 2, 1968, two Hellerman/Minkoff songs, "A New Waltz" and "The Girl in the Mirror," appeared in the Broadway revue New Faces of '68. The production ran only 52 performances yet generated a Warner Bros. original-cast album. Hellerman relocated to Weston, Connecticut, in the early 1970s and constructed a home studio. One early project was the score for Sidney Lumet's 1974 film Lovin' Molly, adapted from Larry McMurtry's Leaving Cheyenne and starring Blythe Danner, Anthony Perkins, and Beau Bridges. He maintained a lower profile through the latter 1970s, but Pete Seeger enlisted him to produce Circles and Seasons (1979); Hellerman and Gilbert contributed backing vocals to its closing track, "Allelulia/Joy Upon This Earth." Seeger subsequently conceived a former-Weavers appearance at his next Carnegie Hall concert and invited the ailing, retired Hays to participate. Rehearsals led to two reunion concerts on November 28 and 29, 1980. Footage became the 1982 documentary The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time!, while Hellerman produced the 1981 concert album Together Again on Loom Records. The group performed once more at the Croton Festival near Hays's Croton-on-Hudson home in June 1981; Hays died August 26, 1981.
Hellerman composed the score for a 1982 television remake of The Rainmaker. After Vanguard's sale to The Welk Group in 1994, early live tapes surfaced and were issued as a two-CD Omega set produced by Hellerman. In 1995 he rejoined Peter, Paul & Mary on their LifeLines album and appeared on the subsequent LifeLines Live video, taped January 1996. That year he performed at a Woody Guthrie tribute at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, later released on the 2000 Righteous Babe album 'Til We Outnumber 'Em. In November 2003 he participated in a Harold Leventhal tribute concert filmed for the documentary Isn't This a Time!; at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere in September 2004 he reunited with Seeger, Gilbert, Erik Darling, and Eric Weissberg (handling Hays's parts) for a Weavers performance. In 2005 he issued his debut solo album, Caught in the Act—a collection of 1910s and 1920s vaudeville songs—on his Honeywind label. The final surviving original Weaver, he died at his Weston, Connecticut home on September 1, 2016, aged 89.
He entered the world in Brooklyn, one of New York City's boroughs, on May 13, 1927, as the youngest among three siblings. His Latvian-born father earned a living in the rag trade. While stationed with the Coast Guard in World War II, he acquired guitar skills on his own, and postwar he resumed playing, appearing with American Folksay. Concurrently he pursued an English degree at Brooklyn College. Those musical pursuits drew notice from People's Songs, a body dedicated to deploying topical folk material in support of labor organizing and progressive initiatives, prompting its secretary Lee Hays to mail a postcard urging an office visit. The encounter sparked a friendship that soon introduced him to Pete Seeger, another key figure at People's Songs. He already counted the remaining future Weaver, Ronnie Gilbert, among his acquaintances from a 1944 summer-camp counseling stint.
His recording debut arrived in 1948 when he performed "The Little Cowboy" alongside Will Geer and Ernie Lieberman for Young People's Records. Over Thanksgiving weekend that year, he joined Hays, Seeger, and Gilbert to accompany folk dancers at a hootenanny; they prepared a multinational medley titled "Around the World." Positive crowd response prompted regular rehearsals and additional bookings. After billing themselves briefly as the No Name Quartet, they adopted Hellerman's suggestion of the title from Gerhart Hauptmann's 1892 German drama he had encountered in college, announcing the Weavers name on Oscar Brand's WNYC radio broadcast Folk Song Festival on January 2, 1949. That summer Hellerman sang at a Catskills resort where Gilbert also worked as secretary. Both attended the September 4, 1949 open-air benefit in Peekskill, New York, starring Paul Robeson and featuring Seeger, though they avoided the subsequent riot in which vigilantes attacked departing concertgoers—an early manifestation of the anti-Communist wave that engulfed the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Later that month the Weavers issued their debut recording, "The Peekskill Story, Pts. 1-2," on a Charter Records single whose flipside carried spoken recollections; Hellerman introduced himself as "Freddy Hellerman of People's Artists," the concert's sponsoring body. That autumn they cut their first purely musical Charter single, pairing Hays's "Wasn't That a Time" with the Bahamian hymn "Dig My Grave," then released "The Hammer Song" (also known as "If I Had a Hammer") by Hays and Seeger, backed with Les Rice's "Banks of Marble," on Hootenanny Records. None of this activity signaled substantial career momentum, however; the group hovered near dissolution, with Hellerman, now holding his B.A., contemplating graduate work at the University of Chicago.
Seeger secured a two-week Village Vanguard engagement in Greenwich Village for late December 1949 as a final bid for viability. The booking extended repeatedly as audiences gradually responded, ultimately stretching until June 1950. Orchestra leader and Decca musical director Gordon Jenkins attended, resulting in a Decca contract. Their initial sessions that May yielded "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" and Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene," issued together; the former reached number two on Billboard in July, while the latter attained number one for the first of thirteen consecutive weeks beginning in August, reportedly moving two million copies. The Weavers emerged as a major pop act, yet their leftist associations simultaneously invited red-baiting in the rising McCarthy period: Seeger appeared in Red Channels, and a prospective network television deal collapsed. They nonetheless launched an extended national nightclub and theater tour.
Just before departure, Hellerman cut a Jubilee solo single under the pseudonym Bob Hill pairing the anti-nuclear novelty "Old Man Atom" with the satirical "Pity the Downtrodden Landlord." Shortly afterward the group began employing another alias. Their customary practice involved reshaping traditional songs for quartet performance, often altering melodies and lyrics; when those pieces lacked copyright protection or known authors, the Weavers claimed them for royalty purposes under the collective pseudonym "Paul Campbell," devised by manager Pete Kameron and publisher Howie Richmond. Thus Paul Campbell received credit for "Suliram" and the medley "Hush Little Baby/I Know Where I'm Going," recorded November 6, 1950. By the May 4, 1951 New York session the name appeared on four of five titles: "Follow the Drinking Gourd," "Darling Corey," "Greensleeves," and "Easy Rider Blues." Campbell secured his first major success that summer with "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine," derived from the Irish folk tune "Drimmer's Cow" that Lead Belly adapted; Seeger and Hays supplied fresh lyrics, crediting Campbell alongside Joel Newman (Lead Belly's pseudonym). The Weavers' version peaked at number 19 in September 1951; Jimmie Rodgers later revived it for a Top Five hit in 1957. Campbell also earned credit for "Wimoweh," the South African "Mbube" collected by Solomon Linda, which the Weavers recorded in October 1951 and which reached number 14 in April 1952. (The Tokens' 1961 number-one "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," likewise rooted in "Mbube," omitted any Paul Campbell acknowledgment.)
By this juncture the Weavers' trajectory had deteriorated sharply under the anti-Communist blacklist. An FBI informant falsely testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in February 1952 that three members belonged to the Communist Party and the fourth had been a member; after later recanting, the witness served five years for perjury. Booking difficulties intensified and sales declined. They performed through year's end, closing with a December 27, 1952 Town Hall concert, followed by a final Decca session on February 26, 1953, before disbanding.
Following the breakup, Hellerman launched the principal pursuits that would define his subsequent career: teaching guitar, arranging for vocalists, and pitching original compositions. Harry Belafonte, then pre-stardom, became an early client. On January 4, 1954, Belafonte recorded "I'm Just a Country Boy," credited to Marshall Barer and Fred Brooks—another Hellerman pseudonym—for RCA Victor. The copyright proved enduringly valuable; Don Williams took it to number one on the country chart in 1977, and it was later covered by the Band, Sam Cooke, Ronnie Lane, and Bobby Vinton. Belafonte also released the Fred Brooks/Lester Judson song "Pretty as a Rainbow (After the Rain)" that year. He further perpetuated the Paul Campbell name, placing seven Campbell songs on his 1954 LP Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites along with "Delia," credited to Brooks and Judson. Gordon Jenkins had not forgotten the Weavers; locating a similar title, "Goodnight, Sweet Dreams," he convened Hays and Hellerman with student Sally Kaminsky (Gilbert being unavailable in California) for an RCA Victor "X" single issued in 1955 under the duo's own names.
The release failed to chart, yet its appearance on a major label hinted that blacklist pressures might be easing. Later that year the Weavers reunited for a December 24 Carnegie Hall concert—their first in three years—reviving their concert career, though individual obligations limited them to weekend dates. Hellerman observed that only the airlines truly benefited; he continued earning primarily from other work. Television and radio remained closed, but they signed with Vanguard, previously a classical imprint, beginning with the live album The Weavers at Carnegie Hall, released April 1957. Hellerman delivered a solo rendition of "Sixteen Tons" on the set. August and September 1957 performances in Lenox, Massachusetts, supplied material for The Weavers on Tour (1958), after which they commenced studio recording.
At that juncture Seeger, still active solo, announced his exit. The Weavers at Home appeared in August 1958 with the original foursome pictured on the cover, yet a back-cover note disclosed that "Eric Darling, guest tenor and banjo player, fills in for Pete Seeger" on five of seventeen tracks; Darling assumed Seeger's place. Paul Campbell credits vanished, though the group persisted in adapting traditional songs. "Every Night" carried Hellerman's name alone; "Come Little Donkey" was attributed to Fred Brooks. Brooks also received credit for "The Way I Feel" and "Fare Thee Well" on Belafonte Sings the Blues and for "I Never Will Marry," "Green Grow the Lilacs," and "Walkin' on the Green Grass" on Love Is a Gentle Thing, both 1958 Belafonte LPs. Hellerman served as conductor on Theodore Bikel's Elektra albums Theodore Bikel Sings Jewish Folk Songs (1958) and Theodore Bikel Sings More Jewish Folk Songs (1959).
The 1959 release Traveling on with the Weavers bore cover art obscuring the banjo player's face; back-cover notes clarified Seeger appeared on five tracks and Darling on the remaining eleven. The members claimed most songwriting credits, though "I Never Will Marry" listed Hellerman solely, matching its prior Belafonte appearance. On April 1, 1960 they returned to Carnegie Hall for the live album The Weavers at Carnegie Hall, Vol. 2, their first to reach the Billboard chart. Hellerman supplied sole credits for "There Once Was a Young Man Who Went to the City" and "Tapuach Hineni." Belafonte, who had performed at Carnegie Hall in April 1959 and included a Fred Brooks "Darlin' Cora" plus additional Paul Campbell songs on the resulting live set, returned in May 1960 with "Chickens," co-written by Hellerman, Robert DeCormier, and C.C. Carter, featured on Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall.
Session-musician credits remained uncommon in the early 1960s, rendering notable Joan Baez's acknowledgment of Hellerman's guitar work on her 1960 Vanguard debut Joan Baez. Judy Collins similarly credited him on her 1961 Elektra debut Maid of Constant Sorrow, as did the Chad Mitchell Trio on At the Bitter End (1962). Belafonte's The Many Moods of Belafonte (1962) contained "Who's Gonna Be Your Man" (Fred Brooks) and "Long About Now" (Hellerman and Fran Minkoff); Tony Bennett promptly covered the latter on his 1963 album I Wanna Be Around... The Weavers issued the studio album The Weavers' Almanac in April 1962, listing Hays, Hellerman, Gilbert, and Darling, though Darling soon departed for Frank Hamilton. Hamilton remained a year before Bernie Krause became Seeger's third replacement. The May 1963 Carnegie Hall concerts, showcasing all four banjo players, yielded Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963 (December 1963) and Reunion at Carnegie Hall, 1963, Pt. 2 (August 1965). The former introduced the Hellerman/Minkoff antiwar ballad "Come Away, Melinda," soon recorded by Judy Collins, the Big 3, Kenny Rankin, Tim Rose, Bobbie Gentry, Uriah Heep, and UFO. Belafonte placed it on his 1963 Streets I Have Walked alongside another Hellerman/Minkoff piece, "The Borning Day," and "My Old Paint," credited to Hellerman, DeCormier, and Milt Okun, plus the Hellerman/Minkoff "Sailor Man" on the same year's live album Belafonte at the Greek Theatre.
The Weavers concluded a farewell tour and disbanded in winter 1964, freeing Hellerman for solo endeavors. "Poverty Hill," a Hellerman/Minkoff song, appeared on the Kingston Trio's The Kingston Trio (Nick-Bob-John) (late 1964) and the Brothers Four's The Honey Wind Blows (several months later); the latter title track was another Hellerman/Minkoff copyright later covered by Glenn Yarbrough. The Mitchell Trio recorded "Which Hat Shall I Wear" (Hellerman/Minkoff) on Typical American Boys (spring 1965). In December they released Violets of Dawn, containing "Business Goes on as Usual" (Hellerman and Minkoff, later covered by Roberta Flack) and "The Sound of Protest (Has Begun to Pay)" (Hellerman and Carter). Chad Mitchell included "Quiet Room" (Hellerman and Minkoff) on his 1966 solo debut; Belafonte titled a 1966 album after the song, adding re-recordings of "I'm Just a Country Boy," "The Honey Wind Blows," and the Hellerman/Minkoff "Our Time for Loving." Belafonte issued the Hellerman/Minkoff single "Sunflower" in 1967 and the LP Belafonte Sings of Love in 1968, featuring two further Hellerman/Minkoff compositions, "In the Beginning" and "The First Day of Forever." Hellerman produced Arlo Guthrie's million-selling Alice's Restaurant (1967), its 1968 follow-up Arlo, and Guthrie's sixth album, Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973); he also served as musical director for the 1969 Alice's Restaurant film.
On May 2, 1968, two Hellerman/Minkoff songs, "A New Waltz" and "The Girl in the Mirror," appeared in the Broadway revue New Faces of '68. The production ran only 52 performances yet generated a Warner Bros. original-cast album. Hellerman relocated to Weston, Connecticut, in the early 1970s and constructed a home studio. One early project was the score for Sidney Lumet's 1974 film Lovin' Molly, adapted from Larry McMurtry's Leaving Cheyenne and starring Blythe Danner, Anthony Perkins, and Beau Bridges. He maintained a lower profile through the latter 1970s, but Pete Seeger enlisted him to produce Circles and Seasons (1979); Hellerman and Gilbert contributed backing vocals to its closing track, "Allelulia/Joy Upon This Earth." Seeger subsequently conceived a former-Weavers appearance at his next Carnegie Hall concert and invited the ailing, retired Hays to participate. Rehearsals led to two reunion concerts on November 28 and 29, 1980. Footage became the 1982 documentary The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time!, while Hellerman produced the 1981 concert album Together Again on Loom Records. The group performed once more at the Croton Festival near Hays's Croton-on-Hudson home in June 1981; Hays died August 26, 1981.
Hellerman composed the score for a 1982 television remake of The Rainmaker. After Vanguard's sale to The Welk Group in 1994, early live tapes surfaced and were issued as a two-CD Omega set produced by Hellerman. In 1995 he rejoined Peter, Paul & Mary on their LifeLines album and appeared on the subsequent LifeLines Live video, taped January 1996. That year he performed at a Woody Guthrie tribute at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, later released on the 2000 Righteous Babe album 'Til We Outnumber 'Em. In November 2003 he participated in a Harold Leventhal tribute concert filmed for the documentary Isn't This a Time!; at its Toronto International Film Festival premiere in September 2004 he reunited with Seeger, Gilbert, Erik Darling, and Eric Weissberg (handling Hays's parts) for a Weavers performance. In 2005 he issued his debut solo album, Caught in the Act—a collection of 1910s and 1920s vaudeville songs—on his Honeywind label. The final surviving original Weaver, he died at his Weston, Connecticut home on September 1, 2016, aged 89.
Albums
