Billy Faier (December 21, 1930 – January 29, 2016) was an American banjo player and folk music evangelist. He, along with
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, he moved with his family to
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 20 ...
in 1945, and later lived in
Marathon, Texas
Marathon () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 470 in 2007, after growing from 455 in 2000, but had decreased to 430 by 2010.
Marathon services tourists traveling to Big Bend National ...
. Active in the
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...
folk scene in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
from the late 1940s, he recorded two albums for
Riverside Records
Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...
, ''The Art of the Five-String Banjo'' (1957) and ''Travelin' Man'' (1958). In 1959 he contributed to Elektra Records' combination LP and instructional manual, "How to Play Folk Guitar" along with Lee Hays and
Milt Okun
Milton Theodore Okun (December 23, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was an American arranger, record producer, conductor, singer and founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc. Okun transformed the careers of a dozen or more major U.S. a ...
.
Faier performed transcription and notation services for
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
on several projects, most notably 1959's ''The Goofing Off Suite''. In the late 1950s, Faier wrote for ''Caravan Folk Music Magazine'', eventually acquiring it from founding publisher Lee Hoffman. Faier served as editor and publisher until its last issue in July 1960. Faier was an on-stage banjo player for the original 16-month theatrical run of The Unsinkable Molly Brown on Broadway which concluded in February 1962.
Faier was the central character in Ramblin Jack Elliott's song, 912 Greens, recorded in 1968. The lyrics describe a 1953 musician's get-together at Faire's home at 912 Toulouse Street in New Orleans.
Faier went on to work as a disc jockey at several radio stations including Berkeley's KPFA and New York's
WBAI
WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...
, where he hosted a live folk music program called "The Midnight Special."
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
appeared as a guest on the program in October 1962 after the release of his first album.
In 1973, Faier recorded ''Banjo'' for John Fahey's Takoma label. In 2003, his personal papers as well as some recordings were donated to the University of North Carolina Libraries Southern Folklife Collection where they remain available for researchers. He died in
Alpine, Texas
Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,905 at the 2010 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. The university, hosp ...
In 2009, Faier decided to make much of his out of print and unreleased material available on his website.
* ''Banjos, Banjos, And More Banjos!'' with Dick Weissman and Eric Weissberg (Judson, 1957)
* ''The Art of the Five-String Banjo'' with Frank Hamilton (Riverside, 1957)
* ''Travelin' Man'' (Washington Records, 1958)
* ''Elektra Folk Song Kit'' with Mitt Okum ( Elektra Records, 1959)
* ''Election Songs Of The United States'' with Oscar Brand ( Folkways Records, 1960)
* ''The Beast of Billy Faier'' with
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969Billy Faier's website
(with some errors and omissions).
*
at The Southern Folklife Collection,
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...