80s decade

Photo by Georgia C Otterson

Photo by Georgia C Otterson

1981

In 1981, Mimi submitted a five song cassette to the Library of Congress for copyrighting, featuring songs co-authored by Mimi and Banana Levinger ("Big Party", "Mister Rudy") David Amram ("Dandy Lion"), Gary Goodrow ("Of Love") and Bill Amatneek ("Feeling Left Behind"), of which, only "Big Party" was ever rerecorded and released commercially.

1986

27/07/1986 MOUNTAIN STAGE GUEST ARTIST Mimi Farina, Silias, Jim Heynen, Short Crick Flatpickers  


In 1986, she returned to the recording studio for Rounder Records' subsidiary Philo Records, releasing Solo.

"After many years of putting my music career in second place and choosing to devote most of my time to the non-profit world, I am pleased to announce that soon I will be releasing my first solo album. No, I won't be leaving Bread & Roses; it still brings joy and purpose to the lives of many, including my own. But I do intend to share more of my time between music and what Tom Paxton refers to as one's "day gig". An office structure provides a stability for me that is often missing in an entertainer's lifestyle. But don't misunderstand: I'd never refuse a limo ride, or a standing ovation.

The lure of the stage remains compelling. For me it's not the glamour of show biz so much as a marvelous means with which to communicate. A song can relate emotions which reach the poet in all of us, and can tap a common ground we often forget to tread. It's those feelings that inspire me to write and sing."

Mimi Fariña

Edmonton Folk Music Festival, 1986

1988

 
Marin Women's Hall of Fame, 1988
A four-minute video interview with Mimi in honor of her 1988 entry into the Marin Women's Hall of Fame. Interview by Beth Ashley.
Interview Link

CBS News Sunday Morning
November 26, 1989
Reporter John Blackstone profiled Bread & Roses for the CBS News Sunday Morning program broadcast on Thanksgiving weekend. The segment lasts about 12 minutes and includes four or five minutes of comments from Mimi. There are also a couple minutes of John Hammond playing "Mother-in-Law Blues" and talking about Bread and Roses, and other volunteer performers.

In 1988, she and her long-time friend Lowell (Banana) Levinger performed several shows at small clubs and in at least one prison in Germany at the invitation of producer and radio broadcaster Michael Kleff, who first met Fariña when he interviewed her at the 1985 Newport Folk Festival for his radio show on WDR/West German Broadcasting Corporation. When Kleff commented that she should come to Europe for a tour, Fariña said she would love to do so; two years later, Kleff organized such a tour for her and Levinger, and the duo played a successful thirteen dates over a two-week period in February 1988. On the night of February 7, 1988, Kleff recorded the WDR radio performance at the Landesmuseum in Bochum, and he and Levinger produced this album, Mimi Fariña with Lowell Levinger (Banana from The Youngbloods) Live in Germany, which was released in 2018. 

1989

From the Bread & Roses Newsletter Archive