A benefit CD “Mimi Farina with Lowell Levinger (Banana from the Youngbloods) Live in Germany” featuring vocals and guitar by Bread & Roses founder, the late Mimi Fariña, with her long-time musical collaborator Banana, on multiple instruments and background vocals, has been made from recordings from a concert performed in Bochum, Germany on February 2, 1988.
On what inspired him to co-produce the CD so many years later with Michael Kleff who was the German sponsor for those tours long ago, Lowell Levinger (aka Banana) said; “When my friend Michael turned up the recording of this concert, I knew we had to get it out on CD so that people these days could have a chance to hear what a great singer, player and entertainer Mimi was. At the same time it is a way to benefit her ‘baby,’ Bread and Roses Presents. So at last, here is the recording along with a booklet with photos from the German tours.”
The CD includes fifteen songs with originals by Mimi Fariña such as Best of Friends, Dandelion, Old Woman, Mr. Rudy, Come Get Me Shoes, Deep Feelings, Sad Cities, Mama Tried and Big Party. The following cover tunes Children of Darkness by the late Richard Fariña, I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash, Less Than the Song by Hoyt Axton and Defying Gravity by Jesse Winchester round out the selection along with a traditional arrangement of Daniel Prayed by Mimi and Banana, who co-wrote the music and the arrangements on a number of songs.
Special thanks to CD supporters John and Elizabeth Allen, Joan Baez, David and Tracy Grisman, Nora Guthrie of Woody Guthrie Publications, Ross Hannan, John Heron, Michael Kleff, Carrie and Stuart Kutchin, and Lana Severn, whose support financed the production costs of the CDs.
Proceeds from CD sales will sustain Bread & Roses Presents ongoing program of over 600 concerts a year for isolated Bay Area audiences. Founded by Mimi Fariña in 1974, the nonprofit organization brings hope and healing through live music to children, adults and seniors who are isolated in a wide variety of institutional settings including hospitals, homeless shelters and convalescent facilities.
An arts organization with a human services mission, Bread and Roses greatly impacts the lives of all who help the shows go on including the performers, volunteer hosts, institutional staff, the donors and other supporters who understand that life requires not only bread but also roses.
The CDs are $20 (plus postage and handling). For more info, visit www.breadandroses.org/donate or email info@breadandroses.org.
Media Contact: Marian Hubler
Vice President of Communications/Producer
Bread & Roses Presents
(415) 945-7127 ext. 109; (415) 816-4861 cell
mhubler@breadandroses.org