Background
Farmer was born an hour after his twin brother, on August 21, 1928, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, reportedly at 2201 Fourth Avenue.
Farmer was born an hour after his twin brother, on August 21, 1928, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, reportedly at 2201 Fourth Avenue.
He took bass lessons from Fred Zimmermann, and studied at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music.
He was the twin brother of Art Farmer. The brothers earned money by working in a cold-storage warehouse and by playing professionally. By late 1945, Farmer was with Johnny Alston and His Orchestra recording for the Bihari Brothers" Modern Music label, backing Jeanne De Metz and, shortly after, on the Blue Moon label.
Other band members for those recording dates included First Rate (at Lloyd's) "Cake" Wichard and King Fleming.
He later recorded with Teddy Edwards"s band. He also played with Mose Allison, Jay McShann, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis.
He recorded extensively for the jazz label Prestige. Farmer went suddenly from bed death February 20, 1963, in New York City, at the age of 34.