Edward Potts McCurdy (January 11, 1919 – March 23, 2000) was an American folk

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

, and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

. His most well-known song was the anti-war " Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", written in 1950.

Career

Born to a farming family in

Willow Hill, Pennsylvania Willow Hill is an unincorporated community in Metal Township in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. Willow Hill is located along Pennsylvania Route 75 at its interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Pe ...

, McCurdy left home at 18 to pursue a singing career. He first found success in 1938 as a singer and disc jockey at a gospel radio station in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. By the early 1940s, McCurdy had become a popular singer of romantic songs in nightclubs across North America, until vaudeville dancer

Sally Rand Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck; April 3, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was an American burlesque dancer, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck. ...

caught his act, hired him to join her show, put him in a tuxedo, and had him sing his romantic songs to her on stage while pushing her on her swing. He stayed in vaudeville for several years as a singer and straight man to comedian (Fat) Jack E. Leonard, before moving in 1948, with his Canadian dancer wife and family, to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

where he hosted his own radio show for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined belo ...

. With the success of this show, the CBC transferred him to the flagship national station in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

where he starred in a morning children's show and an adult evening show. During his Canadian radio period, he developed friendships with the guests on his show, such as

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, notabl ...

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Josh White Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the Sout ...

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

, and Oscar Brand. He developed a love for folk music and released his first folk album in 1949. After achieving success with his folk show at New York's Village Vanguard in 1950, McCurdy and his family moved to New York City, from where he went on to become one of the world's best-known folk singers. He also became the "L&M Cigarette Man" on television, was an emcee for the ''

George Gobel George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, ''The George Gobel Show'', broadcasting from 1954 to 195 ...

Show'' (national TV), and by 1956, was star of the children's TV show ''Freddie The Fireman''. He recorded many albums in the 1950s and 1960s for

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

and Tradition Records, performed several times at the

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

, and was a well-known folk music artist throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, developing friendships with the younger folk set of

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ...

, Erik Darling,

Ramblin' Jack Elliott Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk singer and songwriter. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, United States, the son of Florence (Rieger) and Abraham Adnopoz, a ...

, and Josh White, Jr. His widely covered anti-war song, " Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream", has been recorded in seventy-six languages (including covers by

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fr ...

in 1960, the Chad Mitchell Trio in 1962,

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of ...

in 1964,

Cornelis Vreeswijk Cornelis Vreeswijk (; ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter, poet and actor. He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to becom ...

in 1964 (in Swedish),

Hannes Wader Hannes Wader (born Hans Eckard Wader on 23 June 1942) is a German singer-songwriter (" Liedermacher"). He has been an important figure in German leftist circles since the 1970s, with his songs covering such themes as socialist and communist resis ...

in 1979 (in German),

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...

in 2003,

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

in 2005,

Serena Ryder Serena most commonly refers to: * Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player Serena may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre * ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime t ...

in 2006, and Charles Lloyd in 2016). The melody is included in Francesco de Gregori's "Via della poverta". In November 1989, as

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

stood on top of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the gover ...

, he directed his NBC-TV cameras towards the school children on the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

side of the Berlin Wall, to show the children singing "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" en masse as the wall was being dismantled. His collection of risqué

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

folk songs in a three-part series of albums titled ''When Dalliance was in Flower (and Maidens Lost Their Heads)'', became a favorite record series on college campuses. The actor

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

played with him on these recordings. His single "Miracle of the Wheat" released on Kapp Records in 1956 became a Christmas Tradition on Cincinnati Radio, played annually on WKRC-AM by broadcaster Stan Matlock. By the late 1960s, McCurdy was forced to retire with health problems. In 1980, two of his compositions, "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" and "King's Highway", as recorded by his old friend Josh White, Jr., became the official theme songs for the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

and VISTA, respectively. In the mid 1980s, he and his wife Beryl moved to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, where he enjoyed a second career as a character actor on

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television. He was awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award September 26, 1992 for "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream".The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List

Discography

*1949: ''Sings Canadian Folksongs'' (Manhattan) *1955: ''Sings Folk Songs of The Canadian Maritimes'' (Whitehall Records) *1955: ''Badmen, Heroes, and Pirate Songs'' (

) *1955: ''Sin Songs Pro & Con'' (Elektra EKL 124) *1955: ''The Ballad Record'' ( Riverside Records) *1956: ''The Miracle of the Wheat (single - Kapp Records) *1956: ''Blood Booze 'n Bones'' (Elektra) *1956: ''Bar Room Ballads'' (Riverside) *195(?): ''Let's Sing Out'' (Capri 507) Canada *1956: ''The Folk Singer'' (Dawn Records) *1956: ''A Ballad Singer's Choice'' ( Tradition Records, Empire Musicwerks) *1956: ''When Dalliance Was In Flower (and Maidens Lost Their Heads) vol. 1'' (Elektra) *1957: ''Sin Songs — Pro and Con'' (Elektra) *1957: ''Songs of the Old West'' (Elektra) *195(?): ''"Songs I Learned Coming Thru The Great Smokies"'' (FolkArt FLP 5001) *1958: ''When Dalliance Was In Flower (and Maidens Lost Their Heads) vol. 2'' (Elektra) *1958: ''When Dalliance Was In Flower (and Maidens Lost Their Heads) vol. 3'' (Elektra) *1958: ''Children's Songs'' (Tradition Records) *1959: ''Son of Dalliance'' (Elektra) *1959: ''Children's Songs and Stories'' (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

) *1961: ''A Treasure Chest Of American Folk Song'' Double LP (Elektra) *1962: ''Folk Songs'' (Coronet) *1963: ''The Best of Dalliance'' (Elektra) *1971: ''Songs of the West'' (Tradition/Everest TR 2061)' *1976: ''"Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream"'' (Bear Family Records) Germany *1977: ''On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand: Sacred Songs of America'' with Dana McCurdy (

) *1980: ''Songs and Stories'' (

) *1996: ''Cowboy Songs'' (Tradition Records) *1996: ''Naughty & Bawdy Songs of Olde England'' ( Warner Bros. Records) *''The Legend of Robin Hood'' (Riverside) *''American Folk Songs'' (Spoken Arts) *''A Child's Introduction to American Folk Songs'' (Spoken Arts) *''Sings Folksongs Of The Sea'' (Tiara Spotlight Series - TST 537) *2019: ''Cowboy & Western Songs'' (BACM)

References

External links

Lyrics for "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream"Discography on FolkwaysEd McCurdy / Ed's Place
- Canadian Communication Foundation

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCurdy, Ed 1919 births 2000 deaths American folk singers American male singer-songwriters American singer-songwriters Fast Folk artists Elektra Records artists Tradition Records artists Transatlantic Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers

Career

Discography

See also

References

External links