Len Chandler, a Greenwich Village “folky” within the mid ’60s with Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, The New Misplaced Metropolis Ramblers, and others, died at his dwelling in Los Angeles on August 28. He was 88.

Recognized primarily as a songwriter and performer, Chandler was additionally a proficient fingerpicking guitarist who, he informed pals on the time, confirmed Dylan the sample for “Lady from the North Nation.” A tireless author of topical and protest songs, when the Beatles shifted the main target of standard music, he continued to write down and play, however moved to California, the place he carried out with Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, and Howard Hesseman in a sequence of protests over the Vietnam Warfare.

In a characteristic for Sing Out journal, Chandler wrote about his participation in one of many 1965 civil-rights demonstration marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and was seen within the documentary part of the 2014 movie, Selma, which was directed by Ava DuVernay and nominated for the Academy Award for Greatest Image.

This text initially appeared in VG’s November 2023 concern. All copyrights are by the creator and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.