‘Lay Down’: Remembering Melanie
Melanie Safka-Scherkeryk — simply known as Melanie when she appeared at the Woodstock festival in 1969 at the age of 22 — has passed away. She was 76.
Melanie had a №1 song with “Brand New Key” in 1971 and also hit the Top 10 with the №6 “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” in 1970. She recorded more than 30 albums over the years.
I saw her open for Tom Rush at the Schaefer Music Festival on July 10, 1970 (the summer I worked in the upstairs concession stand). My notes scribbled on the program more than 50 years ago read: “SRO. Rain.”
In 1971, my father Lenny, a salesman by trade, had the opportunity to sit in on a Melanie recording session produced by Roger Kellaway. Dad marveled at all “the tapes, the dials and the levels and the electronics” at Allegro Sound Studios, where a 16-track session was underway. He met Melanie a few nights later at the studio. Dad wrote about it for the Sept. 22, 1971 edition of Applause magazine:
“She has a cherub-like face and is genuinely a warm human being. The usual pretentiousness of the business was not there and this I found to be most refreshing.”
