"Sweet Sir Galahad" is a song written by

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

that she famously performed at the

Woodstock Festival Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

in August 1969, after having debuted it during an appearance in a Season Three episode of ''

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969. The series was a major success, especially considering it was sched ...

'', which aired on March 30, 1969. A recording of the song, first released as a single in late 1969, would lead off Baez's 1970 album '' One Day at a Time''.

History

The song tells the story of Baez's younger sister

Mimi Fariña Margarita Mimi Baez Fariña (April 30, 1945 – July 18, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter and activist, the youngest of three daughters to a Scottish mother and Mexican-American physicist Albert Baez. She was the younger sister of t ...

and her marriage (her second) to music producer Milan Melvin. (Mimi's first husband

Richard Fariña Richard George Fariña (Spanish IPA: ) (March 8, 1937 – April 30, 1966) was an American folksinger, songwriter, poet and novelist. Early years and education Fariña was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of an Irish mother, T ...

had died in a motorcycle accident two years previously.) Mimi and Milan were married at the 1968

Big Sur Folk Festival The Big Sur Folk Festival, held from 1964 to 1971 in California, was an informal gathering of prominent and emerging folk artists from across the United States. Nancy Jane Carlen (1941-2013) was working at the Esalen Institute when Joan Baez was ...

. Baez was inspired to write the song after hearing of Melvin's courtship of Fariña, during which he came into her bedroom at night through a window. The song became one of Baez's best-known compositions. In her 1987 memoir ''And a Voice to Sing With'', Baez described "Sweet Sir Galahad" as the first song she ever wrote (although she is credited as a co-writer on two tracks on her 1967 album ''

Joan Joan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Joan (given name), including a list of women, men and fictional characters *:Joan of Arc, a French military heroine * Joan (surname) Weather events *Tropical Storm Joan (disambiguation), multip ...

''). Mimi Fariña and Milan Melvin divorced in 1971 and Mimi died in 2001. In 2006, Baez contributed a "re-tooled" version of the song to Volume 1 of the XM Artist Confidential CD series. In the new version, Baez changed the lyric "Here's to the dawn of their days" to "Here's to the dawn of ''her'' days." A live version of the song appears as a bonus track on the 2006 reissue of Baez's 1995 album ''

Ring Them Bells ''Ring Them Bells'' is a live album taken from Joan Baez' April 1995 shows at New York's The Bottom Line. In addition to her own solo set, the album featured collaborations with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mimi Farina, Dar Williams, the Indigo Girl ...

''. A cover version was sung by Sarah Lee Guthrie (daughter of Arlo Guthrie), and may be heard on youtube.

References

{{Authority control Joan Baez songs 1969 songs Songs written by Joan Baez Vanguard Records singles