Richard Dyer-Bennet (October 6, 1913, Leicester, England - December 14, 1991, Monterey, Massachusetts) was an English-born American folk singer (or his own preferred term, "minstrel"), recording artist, and voice teacher.
Dyer-Bennet studied voice with Gertrude Wheeler Beckman and Sven Scholander, and from the first made his living singing. During his peak performance years, he gave 50 concerts a year. He recorded extensively for many labels, and eventually founded his own, Dyer-Bennet Records, and recorded in his own living room. The albums he recorded on his own label have been re-released on CD by Smithsonian Folkways. The CD Richard Dyer-Bennet 1 includes a biographical essay written by Dyer-Bennet's daughter, Bonnie, which highlights his progressive politics and his battle with a debilitating stroke in later life (he taught himself to play harp one-handed so that he could continue to perform and teach).
A biography - Richard Dyer-Bennet: The Last Minstrel - by Paul O Jenkins was published in December 2009 by the University Press of Mississippi. The book chronicles Dyer-Bennet's eventful life and includes a foreword by his daughter.
Read more about Richard Dyer-Bennet: Discography, Bibliography, Videography
Famous quotes containing the word richard:
“Methinks King Richard and myself should meet
With no less terror than the elements
Of fire and water, when their thundering shock
At meeting tears the cloudy cheeks of heaven.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)