He wrote one of the most recognized and beloved folk songs in history. He wrote scores of other folk songs that went on to be recorded by some 150 separate artists. He also composed songs for numerous country performers, including Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Kathy Mattea, and contributed to the catalog of Hal Ketchum. And though he did his time in Nashville as a professional songwriter, those in Maine know him as a proud son and poet laureate, and are remembering David Mallett fondly after he passed away on December 17th.
To tell the story of David Mallett, you must start with “Garden Song.” Having Pete Seeger cover one of your songs is the ultimate validation in folk circles, but a cavalcade of performers added it to their repertoire as well, from Peter, Paul, and Mary, to John Denver, to even The Muppets.
It was a simple song that said so much. One day while working in his family garden, the inspiration came to Mallett to chronicle the experience in song. Mallett was in his early 20s at the time, and it was one of the first songs he ever wrote. Like a garden, the success of the song only grew over time, and Mallett regarded the song like a gift. For some, it was a song about planting a garden. But for many, it went on to symbolize how daily toils lead to greater things in the future. This was certainly true for the song itself.
Born in Sebec, Maine on April 21st, 1951, David Mallett grew up playing music, and was performing in a band with his brother in northern New England by the time he was 10 years old. Country was a primary influence on Mallett early on, even more than folk. Buck Owens and Johnny Cash had a big impact on him. But when Bob Dylan took the world by storm, Mallett wasn’t immune. It was meeting Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary that ultimately took Mallett down the folk path.
Noel Paul Stookey became a mentor of David Mallett, and produced his first three albums. It was also Stookey who introduced Pete Seeger to “Garden Song,” helping plant the composition as a folk standard when Seeger recorded it in 1979. Mallett was doing just fine in Maine and the Northeast as both a performer and a songwriter for others. But those country influences were still alive in him, and so in the early ’90s, he moved to Nashville to become a professional country songwriter.
Emmylou Harris recorded Mallett’s “Red Red Rose,” and Kathy Mattea cut “Summer of My Dreams.” Hal Ketchum found solid album cuts with “Daddy’s Oldsmobile” and “Old Soldiers” co-written with Mallett. While he was in Nashville, David Mallet also cut a country album of his own called This Town. But perhaps Nashville was too competitive for Mallett, and he was back in Maine by 1997 where he would spend most the rest of his life, and continue to record and release albums.
David Mallett released 17 albums total in his career, and was also a prolific live performer, playing at the famed Newport Folk Festival, and appearing on “Prairie Home Companion.” In Maine, he was popular as a local celebrity, and his passing on December 17th was well-covered in local media. David Mallett was 73 years old.
David Mallet has passed on, but his garden still grows, inch by inch, row by row.
