Friedland was of Russian Jewish descent and grew up in Staten Island.
Friedland and Glazer recorded songs of the labor movement, releasing two albums together.
He then taught at Cornell University, where he established the Migrant Labor Project, which introduced undergraduate students to field study practices used at the graduate level.
Friedland joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1969, and founded the school's community studies department.
As dean of UCSC's Social Sciences Division, Friedland helped establish College Eight.