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Fred Hellerman, Last Surviving Original Member Of The Weavers, Dies At 89

WESTON, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Fred Hellerman, the last surviving original member of the iconic folk music quartet the Weavers, has died. He was 89.

Hellerman died Thursday at his home in Weston, Connecticut, after a lengthy illness, his son, Caleb Hellerman, said Friday.

Hellerman was born in Brooklyn on May 13, 1927. He first displayed his love for music by collaborating on stage plays in the Yiddish theater, his son said.

He learned to play guitar while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, and went on to attend Brooklyn College, according to his AllMusic.com biography.

While living in Greenwich Village, Hellerman teamed up with Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, and Ronnie Gilbert to form the Weavers in the late 1940s. He met Hays and Seeger through the People's Songs activist group, and had met Gilbert while working as a summer camp counselor in 1944, AllMusic reported.

The Weavers helped to popularize folk music in the United States with recordings including "Goodnight Irene" and "On Top of Old Smoky."

In the clip below, Hellerman sings the first verse of "Goodnight Irene."

The Weavers - Goodnight Irene by SnappHF on YouTube

The Weavers became hugely popular before being targeted by anti-Communists and blacklisted during the Red Scare. They were forced to take a hiatus from their recording career due to the blacklist, until their return for their iconic Christmas Eve 1955 concert at Carnegie Hall.

Seeger left the Weavers in 1958, but Gilbert, Hays, and Hellerman went on with other singers -- Erik Darling, Frank Hamilton, and finally Bernie Krause -- until the group disbanded again in 1964.

A reunion concert of the original Weavers in 1980 -- again at Carnegie Hall -- was filmed as a documentary titled "Wasn't That a Time.'' Hays died in 1981, Seeger in 2014, and Gilbert in 2015.

Hellerman also produced Arlo Guthire's legendary 1967 record, "Alice's Restaurant," and worked with several artists over his career as a composer, arranger and songwriter. He co-wrote many songs with lyricist Fran Minkoff, AllMusic reported.

Hellerman moved to Weston in 1969, installing a recording studio in the home that would often be visited by Seeger and other artists.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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