Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Woodstock Performer Melanie Safka Dead At 76
HuffPost ^ | January 24, 2024 | David Moye

Posted on 01/25/2024 1:46:26 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom

The singer turned her experience at the 1969 concert into "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)," a top-10 hit in 1970


Singer Melanie Safka, who turned a 1969 performance at Woodstock into a hit song and a five-decade career, died Tuesday at the age of 76. Safka’s death was announced on her Facebook page with a letter from her three children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred:

Dear Ones,
This is the hardest post for us to write, and there are so many things we want to say, first, and there’s no easy way except to say it… Mom passed, peacefully, out of this world and into the next on January, 23rd, 2024.

We are heartbroken, but want to thank each and every one of you for the affection you have for our Mother, and to tell you that she loved all of you so much! She was one of the most talented, strong and passionate women of the era and every word she wrote, every note she sang reflected that.

Our world is much dimmer, the colors of a dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today, but we know that she is still here, smiling down on all of us, on all of you, from the stars.

No cause of death was announced.

Earlier this month, Safka was in a recording studio working on “Second Hand Smoke,” an album of cover songs, for the Cleopatra label, Variety reported. Born Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk in Astoria, New York, Safka studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before deciding to pursue a career as a folk singer. Her big break came at the 1969 Woodstock concert, which she described to Rolling Stone in 2019 as her first “out-of-body experience.”

>


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: melanie; music; singer; woodstock
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last
A friend of mine sent me an email about her passing a couple days ago. I vaguely recall a couple songs by her.

I just listened to her "Lay Down." She really had some pipes, could carry a great tune, make wonderful key changes, and really belt out the song. It's very powerful and emotional. Anybody who wasn't there during the 60s and 70s probably won't like this song.

"Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" was the second single from Melanie's 1970 album Candles in the Rain. The song proved to be her breakthrough hit in the United States, climbing to number six on Billboard's Hot 100 and number three on the Cash Box Top 100. The record was ranked #23 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970.

1 posted on 01/25/2024 1:46:26 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Saw her perform at the Troubador in LA in the 1970’s. Jackson Brown opened for her.


2 posted on 01/25/2024 1:49:29 PM PST by antceecee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

I always crank it up when that song comes on the radio.


3 posted on 01/25/2024 1:51:03 PM PST by abb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Is she the girl with new roller skates?


4 posted on 01/25/2024 1:51:55 PM PST by bankwalker (Repeal the 19th ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

I’m 69 and remember her songs. My generation is dropping like flies.


5 posted on 01/25/2024 1:52:20 PM PST by HighSierra5 (The only way you know a commie is lying is when they open their pieholes.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

IIRC, she also did the quirky and thinly-veiled double entendre “Brand New Key” (”I Got A Brand New Pair Of Roller Skates, You Got A Brand New Key”


6 posted on 01/25/2024 1:53:49 PM PST by Eccl 10:2 (Prov 3:5 --- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: antceecee

She had three great songs and she was very pretty. I love those three songs and I sing along every time the radio plays them.


7 posted on 01/25/2024 1:54:12 PM PST by poinq (thics and customs and did not take an oath to the country. And did not follow the country's traditio)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: bankwalker

Yep. “Brand New Key” was one of her hits.


8 posted on 01/25/2024 1:55:03 PM PST by Luke21
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Eccl 10:2

Brand New Key went to #1 in the US, Australia, and Canada


9 posted on 01/25/2024 1:55:55 PM PST by Eccl 10:2 (Prov 3:5 --- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: antceecee
Saw her perform at the Troubador in LA in the 1970’s. Jackson Brown opened for her.

Wow - how cool. That must have been a great show.

10 posted on 01/25/2024 1:56:44 PM PST by Allegra (Less propaganda would be appreciated. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: HighSierra5

“My generation is dropping like flies.”

I’m 72 and I hear ya!


11 posted on 01/25/2024 1:56:54 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Eccl 10:2

I knew that was a naughty song, even though I was a not quite a teenager!


12 posted on 01/25/2024 1:57:23 PM PST by Alas Babylon! (Repeal the Patriot Act; Abolish the DHS; reform FBI top to bottom!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Luke21

Just heard that the other day on the radio, and hadn’t heard it for years. Wondered what had happened to her, she was so big for a few years.


13 posted on 01/25/2024 1:57:27 PM PST by Repealthe17thAmendment
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: antceecee

After my freshman year at UofCincinnati, I moved to Hollywood where I lived 68 thru mid 70s with plans to transfer to UCLA and its $100/quarter in-state tuition.

The Troubadour was THE place and the start of so many singer-songwriters of that era


14 posted on 01/25/2024 1:58:19 PM PST by newfreep ("There is no race problem...just a problem race")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: bankwalker

https://youtu.be/RCTMTflcuug?si=aLdvuvlPRTAxjU2e


15 posted on 01/25/2024 1:58:23 PM PST by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: All

Her mother owned a craft store called Paint-in-Place.


16 posted on 01/25/2024 1:59:00 PM PST by Liz (Matthew 11.28-30: Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give strength.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Her song with the Hawkins gospel Singers is nothing less than awe inspiring. I grew up on keys and rollerskates. Best time to grow into age ever! 1965 to 1978 was amazing.


17 posted on 01/25/2024 1:59:20 PM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) My dog Sam eats purple flowers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: poinq

> She had three great songs and she was very pretty. <

Yes, and yes. Melanie’s songs always made me smile.
RIP


18 posted on 01/25/2024 2:01:44 PM PST by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: HighSierra5

“My generation is dropping like flies.”

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Yeah, all the big names of the British Invasion and Woodstock era are in their 70’s and beyond.

They REALLY transformed rock and roll and really raised the art form. Most everyone after just commercialized it.


19 posted on 01/25/2024 2:06:59 PM PST by Eccl 10:2 (Prov 3:5 --- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Eccl 10:2

As Aerosmith would say, a 10 Inch Key.


20 posted on 01/25/2024 2:07:19 PM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-64 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson