Richard Fariña
A folk music meteor who wrote a cult novel and crafted haunting songs before his life was cut short in a motorcycle crash at 29.
1937–1966 (age 29)·American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist·Birthday: March 8·The Silent Generation
Biography
Richard Fariña lived a decade of creative fire. Half-Cuban and raised in Brooklyn, he was a whirlwind of talent—a writer, poet, and musician who moved through the early 1960s folk scene with charismatic intensity. He married folk singer Carolyn Hester, but his most fateful partnership was with Mimi Baez, the younger sister of Joan, whom he wed in 1963. Together, they recorded two albums of intricate, literary folk as Richard & Mimi Fariña. Their music, featuring dulcimer and close harmonies, was both playful and darkly poetic. Simultaneously, Fariña wrote 'Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me,' a picaresque novel brimming with Beat energy and collegiate satire that became a touchstone for the counterculture. His life was a blur of artistic circles, intersecting with Bob Dylan, Thomas Pynchon, and others. On the day his novel was published in 1966, he died in a motorcycle accident in California, cementing his status as a brilliant 'what-if' of the era, whose small but potent body of work continues to resonate.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Richard was born in 1937, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Richard Was Born
The biggest hits of 1937
#1 Movie
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Best Picture
The Life of Emile Zola
Richard's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1937Born
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1942Started school
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1950Became a teenager
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1953Could drive
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1955Could vote
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat
Gas: $0.29/galHome: $9,550Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Rock Around the Clock" — Bill Haley & His CometsBest Picture: Marty
1958Turned 21
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1966Died at 29
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
Key Achievements
- Published the influential cult novel 'Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me' in 1966.
- Recorded two seminal folk albums with his wife Mimi Baez Fariña, 'Celebrations for a Grey Day' and 'Reflections in a Crystal Wind.'
- Was a noted pioneer in the use of the Appalachian dulcimer in contemporary folk music.
- His song 'Pack Up Your Sorrows' was later covered by artists like Joan Baez and Judy Collins.
Did You Know?
He was a close friend of author Thomas Pynchon, who reportedly helped him edit his novel.
He attended Cornell University, where the events of his novel are loosely based.
His sister-in-law was folk icon Joan Baez.
He died in a motorcycle crash on his 29th birthday.
“I've been down so long it looks like up to me.”
