{{short description|American folk singer-songwriter (1927–2016)}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2016}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Fred Hellerman | image = | caption = | image_size = | landscape = | birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1927|5|13}} | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2016|9|1|1927|5|13|mf=y}}}} | death_place = Weston, Connecticut, U.S. | label = Folkways Records, Cameo Records, Riverside Records | genre = American folk music | occupation = Musician, record producer, singer-songwriter | associated_acts = Pete Seeger, The Weavers, Arlo Guthrie }}
'''Fred Hellerman''' (May 13, 1927 – September 1, 2016) was an American folk singer, guitarist, producer, and songwriter. Hellerman was an original member of the seminal American folk group The Weavers, together with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Ronnie Gilbert. He produced the record album ''Alice's Restaurant'' (1967) for Arlo Guthrie, played accompaniment guitar on scores of folk albums, and wrote a number of folk and protest songs.
==Life and career== Born on May 13, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York<ref name="auto"/> to Jewish parents, Hellerman was the youngest of three children.<ref name=theguardian>{{cite news|last= Schofield |first= Derek |title= Fred Hellerman obituary |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/06/fred-hellerman-obituary|access-date= November 2, 2016|newspaper =The Guardian |date=September 6, 2016}}</ref> His father, Harry, was an immigrant from Riga, Latvia and mother, Clara (née Robinson), was born in the United States to immigrants from Riga.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.noise11.com/news/r-i-p-fred-hellerman-of-the-weaver-at-89-20160905|title=R.I.P. Fred Hellerman of The Weavers At 89 - Noise11.com|work=noise11.com|date=4 September 2016 |access-date= September 6, 2016}}</ref> He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949<ref>{{cite book |last=Lawless |first=Ray McKinley |year=1965 |title=Folksingers and Folksongs in America: A Handbook of Biography, Bibliography, and Discography |publisher=Praeger |page=111 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0313231049}}</ref> at Brooklyn College. In 1948, Hellerman formed the Weavers with Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Lee Hays. Hellerman wrote and co-wrote some of their hits. He also wrote under the aliases Fred Brooks and Bob Hill. Because of his involvement with left-wing groups during the 1930s and 1940s, Hellerman came under suspicion of Communist sympathies during the McCarthy era.
In 1950, Hellerman was named, along with the rest of the Weavers, in the anti-communist tract ''Red Channels'' and was placed on the industry blacklist. In February 1952, an FBI informant testified that the Weavers were members of the Communist party.<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|title= Fred Hellerman, folk singer and songwriter – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/09/04/fred-hellerman-folk-singer-and-songwriter--obituary/|access-date= November 2, 2016|publisher=The Telegraph |date= September 4, 2016}}</ref> The group, unable to perform on television, radio, or in most music halls, broke up in 1952, but resumed singing in 1955. They continued together until 1963 (with changes in personnel). He also played on Joan Baez's eponymous first album in 1960. The Weavers held several reunion concerts in 1980, shortly before Hays' death, which were documented in the film ''The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time!'' (1982).
Hellerman, using the pseudonym Fred Brooks, adapted "Green Grow the Lilacs" for Harry Belafonte's 1959 album, Love is a Gentle Thing. The song, rooted in a traditional Irish tune popular in the 19th century United States, received new lyrics with two original verses penned by Hellerman, who also reworked the chorus.
Hellerman married the writer Susan Lardner, the daughter of John Lardner, in 1970. The Hellermans had two children, Caleb and Simeon,<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/arts/music/fred-hellerman-last-of-the-weavers-folk-group-dies-at-89.html?_r=0 |url-status=|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160904091332/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/arts/music/fred-hellerman-last-of-the-weavers-folk-group-dies-at-89.html?_r=0|archive-date=4 September 2016|title=Fred Hellerman, Last of the Weavers Folk Group, Dies at 89 |first=William |last=Grimes |author-link=William Grimes (journalist) |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A17 |date=September 2, 2016|access-date= November 2, 2016}}</ref> and three grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grauel |first=Thane |last2=Burgeson |first2=John |date=2016-09-03 |title=Fred Hellerman, 89, the last of the Weavers |url=https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Fred-Hellerman-89-the-last-of-the-Weavers-9199699.php |access-date=2023-11-22 |website=Connecticut Post |language=en-US}}</ref>
Hellerman was the last surviving original member of the Weavers. He died on September 1, 2016, at his home in Weston, Connecticut, at the age of 89.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=washingtonpost>{{cite news|last= Smith|first= Harrison |title= Fred Hellerman, guitarist with pivotal folk quartet the Weavers, dies at 89|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/fred-hellerman-guitarist-with-pivotal-folk-quartet-the-weavers-dies-at-89/2016/09/05/6ccbf956-7371-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html|access-date= November 2, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 5, 2016}}</ref>
==Discography== * ''G.I. American Army Songs'' ''(with Oscar Brand)'' (Riverside, 1957) * ''Yiddish Love Songs'' ''(with Ruth Rubin)'' (Riverside, 1958) * ''Sunny's Gallery Of Folk Ballads'' ''(with Sunny Schwartz and Eric Weissberg)'' (Cameo, 1963) * ''Sing Out! Hootenanny'' ''(with Leon Bibb, Betty Sanders, Pete Seeger, and others)'' (Folkways, 1963)
==See also== * Fran Minkoff
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * ASCAP (1966) ''[http://www.folklib.net/book/index/book_ascap.shtml#pp The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, 3rd ed., p. 324]''. * ASCAP (1980) ''[http://www.folklib.net/book/index/book_ascap.shtml#pq The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, 4th ed., p. 222]'' *{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=fred-hellerman-mn0000797811}} *{{Discogs artist|273142-Fred-Hellerman}} *{{IMDb name|0375401}}
{{The Weavers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellerman, Fred}} Category:1927 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Singers from Brooklyn Category:The Weavers members Category:Folk musicians from New York (state) Category:American folk singers Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Category:Record producers from New York (state) Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish folk singers Category:American people of Latvian-Jewish descent Category:People from Weston, Connecticut Category:Guitarists from New York (state) Category:American male guitarists Category:American folk guitarists Category:American male singer-songwriters Category:American acoustic guitarists Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:Brooklyn College alumni Category:Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Singer-songwriters from Connecticut