Dick & Mimi's LPs

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Dick & Mimi's LPs - a guide

Celebrations for a grey day, Vanguard VRS-9174/VSD-79174 (April 1965)

Singer songwriter project, Elektra EKL-299/EKS-7299 (1965)

Reflections in a crystal wind, Vanguard VRS-9204/VSD-79204 (November 1965)

Memories, Vanguard VSD-79263 (1968)

The best of Mimi & Richard Fariña, Vanguard VSD-21/22 (1971)

VRS-9174	Celebrations for a Grey Day recorded 9/64, Olmstead Studios, NYC - released April, 1965 Tape masters: XSV-98951 /52 Original label: Silver mono / Orange stereo Liner notes by Richard Fariña front and back cover photos by Kenneth van Sickle, taken September, 1964, Central Park, New York City	VSD-79174
side 1 - Reflections in a crystal wind - Bold marauder - Dopico - A swallow song - Chrysanthemum - Sell-out agitation waltz - Hard-loving loser		side 2 - Mainline prosperity blues - Allen's interlude - House un-American blues activity dream - Raven girl - Miles - Children of darkness
additional players Bruce Langhorne - electric guitar & tambourine Charles Small - piano, electric piano, celeste John Hammond - harmonica		additional players Alvin Rogers, drums Russ Savakus, string & electric bass Felix Pappalardi - electric bass

Produced by Vanguard co-president and house-producer, Maynard Solomon, Celebrations was recorded in two days at Olmstead Studios in Manhattan in Septemmber of 1964, after a month's stay and rehearsing at Dylan manager Albert Grossman's home in Woodstock, NY. They recorded almost 16 songs for the album, rejecting "Almond joy", "Joy 'Round my brain" and "Downtown", all of which would later be released on the posthumous Memories (1968). "Joy ' round my brain", would also be issued as a B side to "Pack Up Your Sorrows", albeit a minute shorter, and a different mono mix than that on Memories. The front and back cover photos are by Kenneth van Sickle and were taken in Central Park, NYC, probably in early fall of '64, at the time the album was recorded. The cover was designed by Jules Halfant, illustrator, painter, former WPA artist, and also Vanguard's in-house graphics designer.

Musicians used were Dick (dulcimer), Mimi (acoustic guitar and autoharp), Bruce Langhorne (electric guitar), Russ Savakus (bass), and Charles Small (piano).

According to the back of their next album, this one was " Chosen as one of the ten best folk records of the year by Robert Shelton in The New York Times, Nov. 28, 1965."

Earliest pressing noted : 2A - It may have been that the first stampers (1A) were defective or had other problems and were never used. A logical conclusion could be that a fairly large pressing was made using 2A, although sales may have been slow and it took three years for another pressing to be done. An alternative logic could be made for the possibility that pressing 1A was appallingly tiny, and orders received for the album so fast and furious that a second stamper was made (2A) and a huge reprinting done - this may be surmised because this second vinyl pressing lasted well into 1968, when the second label was used on the remaining copies.

Note : Though pressed separately, the mono and stereo LPs done by Vanguard were the same recordings, with the stereo tracks basically compressed into a single monaural one. Unlike the 45s issued by Vanguard, which were, until the later 60s, produced as mono recordings. As discussed elsewhere.

1st labels	silver mono label	stereolab orange
The silver mono label is pressing 2A, as is the orange stereolab . Both would have been the first label used on the original pressings. These labels were used from April, '65 until Spring of 1968, for the first pressings (assuming there was a 1A pressing) and possibly second (if 2A is a true second and not just a replacement for defective stampers 1A).

The jacket for a first should have a black band across the top for stereo, with Mimi & Richard's names in a light brownish gold. Mono has the black band across the bottom, with a slightly lighter color to the lettering. There is a wide variety of greys in the photo. 1st printings may have been laminated (Vanguard did cover laminations without much consistency at the time, although almost all Baez albums of the time were laminated).

K Singles released from VRS-9174

Vanguard released two singles from the LP between December, '65 and February '66.

VRS-35030

Reno Nevada / One Way Ticket

A mono alternate of both songs was mastered from session tapes (Reno= S4KM-6035 / One Way = S4KM-6036), with Reno being 22 seconds longer and One Way being 32 seconds shorter.

Probably released in Dec.'65

The copy shown here is a promo copy.

VRS-35032

Pack Up Your Sorrows / Joy 'Round My Brain - Another mono remix / re-edit ( from masters SK4M-1620 and SK4M-1621, respectively) , with both versions being different from the LP versions (different vocals over instrumental backings edited from different takes). Sorrows is 17 seconds shorter than the album version, while Joy clocks in at 2:56 on the 45 and 3:45 when finally released on the 1968 Memories LP, making a minute and eleven second difference between the two. The copy shown here is a stock copy in the second Vanguard design.

Probably released Feb. '66

2nd labels : 1968-1977	Gold mono	Gold stereo
Mono and stereo reissues, both of which are pressing 2A (although the stereo's B side is a 2C). It should be noted here that the label is gold. However, Vanguard had a whimsical sense of the color spectrum, enabling them to guiltlessly mutate the color from gold to a light off-brown or even off-greenish-brown and all points between. Labels used from Spring of '68 until 1977. Gold labels may be found for pressings noted as 2A (an overlap from the orange & silver labels) and 2C. I've never seen a 2B. Nor a musk ox, but that doesn't say they don't exist.

VSD-79174 - Celebrations; Record Club label - 1FA

This is a Record Club of America version of their first LP, noted as being pressing 1FA, the only pressing I've ever seen for this version. The label design is the gold label, although Vanguard may have farmed out the printing, as this is not their usual typeface being much larger and spread out; the paper used for the label is flat rather than the normal glossy stock used by Vanguard for their own copies.

3rd label

1977-1985

The third and final label for this album, a two-toned marbled effect; the lancer has now moved to center and both sides and Vanguard stands alone at the top, with "Recordings For the Connoisseur" moved to the bottom.

This label was used from the late 70s through the discontinuation of vinyl by Vanguard in the early 90s.

Stampers 2B (used for side A) and 2E (used for side B) are the only two I've seen used for this label.

By this time, the cover had lost definition and almost all suggestion of a grey day, printings tending towards dark black, with most shadings gone from the Fariñas.

VSD-79174 : Celebrations, 3rd label - marble

Ó 2002, 2003, 2010 Greg Pennell

last updated 8 feb'10