Thursday, April 26, 2012

Forgotten Music -- The Tarriers

This post isn't really about just the Tarriers.  It just starts with them.  The group had two big hits in the middle '50s, "Cindy Oh Cindy," with Vince Martin, and "The Banana Boat Song," which doesn't sound exactly like the Belafonte hit from the same time.  (And even less like Stan Freberg's parody.) The Tarriers were, to begin with, Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey.  Yes, Alan Arkin, who left the group to become an actor you might have heard of.  What you might not know is that he was also wrote SF during that time.  He was published in Galaxy, for example.  Darling also left.  He joined the Weavers, and later on the Rooftop Singers, who surprised everybody, including their record company by having a big hit.  He was replaced in the Tarriers by Eric Weissberg, whose work you might know.  Marshall Brickman joined the group, which then became a quartet, but you probably know Brickman, who eventually left to join the New Journeymen with John Phillips and Michelle Gilliam.  He was replaced in that group by Denny Doherty.  Brickman is better known for his screenplay work on movies like Sleeper and Annie Hall, while Doherty, Phillips, and Gilliam hooked up with Cass Elliot and formed a more successful group.  Elliot had sung with The Big 3, a fairly successful folk group.  When The Big 3 broke up, Elliot joined the Mugwumps, which also included Denny Doherty.  And also Zal Yanovsky, later part of this group.  I might mention here that the original Journeymen also included Scott McKenzie, who later had a big hit on his own.  I probably had a point when I started this, but if I did, I've forgotten it.  Oh, well.

7 comments:

Todd Mason said...

Yes. Your point was that everyone else ever involved with the Tarriers was more talented than Erik Darling. You are correct!

Some organizations and gathering places can't help but pile up stats like that...

Fred Blosser said...

"McGuinn and McGuire, still a-gettin higher ..."

The Byrds and the New Christy Minstrels also figure into that big ball of early '60s music-scene spaghetti.

Unknown said...

It's quite a tangle, all right.

Todd Mason said...

The Byrds just add another mass of complexity to it, as one needs trace all the bands the ex-Byrds founded, joined, and sat in with.

Deb said...

Fred beat me to the "Creek Alley" reference. Drat!

Todd Mason said...

"Creeque Alley"...though I've never pursued the actual reference. Beside the Village Gate or something, presumably.

Todd Mason said...

WIKIPEDIA notes:

The title of the song is derived from the place Creque or Crequi (pronounced "creaky") Alley,[1] home to a club in the Virgin Islands where the Mamas & the Papas spent time.

--Keepin' out the heat's hard, after all.