Richard Black (b. 1951)
Richard Black was raised in Brooklyn and first remembers visiting the Broadside office when was eighteen years old. There he helped collate the magazine, having been paid with lunch and a copy of latest Broadside which he would read on the subway on the way home. His major musical favorites were Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, Bob Dylan and Tom Paxton and found it incredible to be in same environment as they were, frequently hearing their latest compositions soon after they were written on Gordon's old Wollensak tape deck.
On one occasion Black borrowed a guitar and played "A Very Close Friend" for Gordon Friesen, who asked him to play it again so he could tape, and then asked if Black would mind if it was published on a Broadside LP. Black remembers being "estatic" at finding the LP in a New York record store with his song along side those by Ochs, Dylan, Andersen, and Paxton..
Rich Black currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida and is involved with ham radio. He has recently starting writing songs again. Black remembers Gordon Friesen as the most fascinating person he has ever met as well as the person who made the best cup of coffee (personal communication, 2000).
Richard Black. Photo by Diana Davies.
The Best of Broadside: 32. "A Very Close Friend of Mine"
As a young New York based song writer, Rich Black had "A Very Close Friend of Mine" published in Broadside issue 112 in 1971. The song has an anti-drug message that was supported by the editors of Broadside, who criticized rock music and the hippie culture for their pro-drug messages. Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen felt that a person who "dropped out" and did drugs was one less person to fight the good fight for social change. Black wrote this song about a drug addict named Lenny he remembered from when he was sixteen years old. He does not know what became of Lenny Text extracted from the notes by Jeff Place accompanying The Best of Broadside.
Smithsonian Folkways recordings featuring Richard Black:
Broadside Ballads, Volume 6: Broadside Reunion (FW05315)