NEW YORK — Ed McCurdy, a leading 1950s folk music figure whose songs were recorded by Johnny Cash, Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez, has died. He was 81.
McCurdy died March 23 in Halifax, Novia Scotia.
McCurdy, the son of a farmer, left his home in Willow Hill, Pa., for New York and a singing career at age 18. After a failed bid at becoming a Frank Sinatra-style nightclub singer, McCurdy turned to folk music during the 1940s.
In 1950, he headlined a series of shows at New York's Village Vanguard and released his first album, "Ed McCurdy Sings Songs of the Canadian Maritimes." He later signed a deal with Elektra Records, where he collaborated with another influential folk singer, Ramblin' Jack Elliott.
Eventually, his songs were recorded by a variety of artists that included Cash, Guthrie, Baez, Pete Seeger, and Simon and Garfunkel.