Modern Folk Quartet

More notable for their later achievements and peripheral connections to important industry figures than for their music, The Modern Folk Quartet made commercially minded folk in the early '60s with an emphasis on group harmonies. They were not far removed from The Kingston Trio in sound, though they were mildly hipper than the most mainstream outfits like Chad Mitchell. Each of the quartet would go on to make a significant mark in music or media that had little to do with the folk revival. Jerry Yester did some production for The Association and Tim Buckley, was briefly in The Lovin' Spoonful as Zal Yanovsky's replacement, and made a fine overlooked psychedelic pop album with his wife of the time, Judy Henske, for Frank Zappa's Straight label. Cyrus Faryar recorded for Elektra as a singer/songwriter in the early '70s, played sessions (including some for Linda Ronstadt and Fred Neil) and provided astrological narration for the Zodiac's Cosmic Sounds (1967), one of the most zonked-out psychedelic concept albums. Henry Diltz became a top rock photographer, and Chip Douglas became a bassist and producer, most notably on some albums by The Monkees.

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