John Herald (September 6, 1939 – July 18, 2005) was an American folk and bluegrass songwriter, solo and studio musician and one-time member of The Greenbriar Boys trio.
Through his father, Herald was exposed to live performances by blues and folk legends Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie.
The trio often played the Greenwich Village scene and were notable enough to be the first Northern group to win the Union Grove Fiddler's Convention competition,[3] where Yellin also took top honors for banjo.
Two years previously, she had recreated his vocal of Mike Nesmith's "Different Drum," which became a hit for her band the Stone Poneys.
But 'Fire Song,' a casually joyous ditty about how his house burned down, and 'Brother Sam,' unpresumptuous compassion for a returned Vietnam vet, should inspire Paul Simon to work real hard on the follow-up.