American singer-songwriter and activist Mimi Fariña met novelist, musician, and composer Richard Fariña in 1963, when she was 17 years old, and married him at age 18 in Paris. The two collaborated on a number of influential folk albums, most notably, Celebrations for a Grey Day (1965) and Reflections in a Crystal Wind (1966), both on Vanguard Records.
After Richard Fariña’s death in a motorcycle accident on April 30, 1966 (on Mimi’s twenty-first birthday), she moved to San Francisco, where she flourished as a singer, songwriter, model, actress, and activist. She performed at various festivals and clubs throughout the Bay Area, including the Big Sur Folk Festivals, the Matrix, and the hungry i. She briefly sang for the rock group the Only Alternative and His Other Possibilities.
In 1967, Fariña joined a satiric comedy troupe called The Committee. That same year, she and her sister Joan Baez were arrested at a peaceful demonstration and were housed temporarily in Santa Rita Jail, personalizing the experience of captivity for her.
In 1968, Fariña married Milan Melvin and continued to perform, sometimes recording and touring with either her sister Joan or the folksinger Tom Jans, with whom she recorded an album in 1971, entitled Take Heart. Fariña and Milan divorced in 1971.
These rare vintage photos from erinyes captured beautiful moments of Mimi Fariña and her second husband Milan Melvin on their wedding day in 1968.
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| Mimi Fariña, 1968 |
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| Mimi with flowers, 1968 |
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| Mimi with her father, 1968 |
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| Mimi with new husband husband Milan Melvin, 1968 |
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| Mimi with new husband Milan Melvin and friends, 1968 |
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