Glenn Yarbrough and Frank Beacham, 1967
“I hired Yarbrough to do a concert (my first) while a student at the University of South Carolina, where I tried my hand at producing a few concerts.
Yarbrough was a nice guy to work with. We sold out the show. I later learned that's as good as it gets.”
—Frank Beacham
Glenn Yarbrough, the folk singer, was born 91 years old today.
Yarbrough was the lead singer with The Limeliters between 1959 and 1963, and had a prolific solo career, recording on various labels.
Born in Milwaukee, he attended St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1957, he was one of the first singers to record the traditional "The House of the Rising Sun" for Elektra Records.
Among other career highlights, Yarbrough provided vocals for the Rankin/Bass animated versions of The Hobbit (1977) singing songs such as The Greatest Adventure, The Road Goes Ever On as well as The Return of the King (1980) singing "Frodo of the Nine Fingers" in addition to singing the title song in the 1966 holiday classic, The Christmas That Almost Wasn't.
His most popular single was "Baby the Rain Must Fall" (the theme from the film of the same name). It reached #12 on the pop and #2 on the easy listening charts in 1965.
Glenn Yarbrough was also an accomplished sailor who owned and lived aboard three different sailboats: Armorel, all teak and still in operation; Jubilee, which Glenn helped build, taking three years; and the Brass Dolphin a Chinese junk design. He sailed around the world, except for the Indian Ocean.
Yarbrough lost his ability to sing due to complications from throat surgery at the age of 80. In his last year or so of life, he suffered from dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other health issues, and was cared for by his daughter, Holly, in Nashville, Tennessee. Holly recorded the album "Annie Get Your Gun" with her father in 1997.
Yarbrough died on August 11, 2016 from complications of dementia in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 86.
Here, Yarbrough sings “Baby The Rain Must Fall” on Hollywood a Go Go.