Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary | |
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Warner Bros. | |
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Website | peterpaulandmary |
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of Peter Yarrow (guitar, tenor vocals), Paul Stookey (guitar, baritone vocals), and Mary Travers (contralto vocals).[1] The group's repertoire included songs written by Yarrow and Stookey, early songs by Bob Dylan, and covers of other folk musicians. They were enormously successful in the early- and mid-1960s, with their debut album topping the charts for weeks, and helped popularize the folk music revival. After the death of Travers in 2009, Yarrow and Stookey continued to perform as a duo under their individual names.[2]
Mary Travers said she was influenced by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the Weavers.[3] In the 2004 documentary Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy, members of the Weavers discuss how Peter, Paul and Mary took over the torch of the social commentary of folk music in the 1960s.
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Peter, Paul and Mary received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.
History
Early years and popularity (1961–1969)
Manager Albert Grossman created Peter, Paul and Mary in 1961, after auditioning several singers in the New York folk scene, including Dave Van Ronk, who was rejected as too idiosyncratic and uncommercial, and Carolyn Hester. After rehearsing Yarrow, Stookey and Travers out of town in Boston and Miami, Grossman booked them into The Bitter End, a coffee house, nightclub and popular folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village.
The group recorded their debut album,
In 1963 the group released "
That year the group performed "If I Had a Hammer" and "Blowin' in the Wind" at the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, best remembered for Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind" was one of their biggest hit singles.[6] They also sang other Dylan songs, such as "The Times They Are a-Changin'", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right",[6] and "When the Ship Comes In". Their success with Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" helped Dylan's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album rise into the top 30; it had been released four months earlier.[7]
In December 1969 "
Breakup (1970–1978)
The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue solo careers. Also that year, Yarrow was convicted of making sexual advances toward a 14-year-old girl. Years later, he received a
During 1971 and 1972 Warner released a debut solo album, with the same style cover, by each member of the group. Travers did concerts and lectures across the United States. She also produced, wrote, and starred in a BBC-TV series. Stookey formed a Christian music group, the Body Works Band, and wrote "
While the group was de facto broken up and touring separately, it still managed to come together for a series of reunions before officially coming back together again. In 1972, the trio reunited for Together for McGovern, a concert at Madison Square Garden to support George McGovern's presidential campaign, and again in 1978 for a concert to protest nuclear energy. This concert was followed by a 1978 summer reunion tour, including a September 3 evening performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. An album, Reunion, was released by Warner in 1978.[13]
Reunion (1981–2009)
Their 1978 summer reunion tour was so popular that the group decided to reunite more or less permanently in 1981. They continued to record albums and tour, playing around 45 shows a year, until Travers's 2009 death.[14] After their reunion, double-bassist Dick Kniss (who had been their bassist in their studio recordings and with their 1960s tours) rejoined the group. Starting in 1990, multi-instrumentalist Paul Prestopino also joined the group.
According to the flow of the times, they derived a way to change the lyrics of their songs; boys in the "Puff" became boys and girls, and dark side in the "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" became black side. Some of their new songs, like "Don't Go Down To The Quarry" that criticizes an evil bet, continue the tradition of
In 2004, Travers was diagnosed with
The trio canceled several dates of their summer 2007 tour, as Travers had to undergo a second surgery.[14] She was unable to perform on the trio's tour in mid-2009 because of the effects of leukemia, but Yarrow and Stookey performed the scheduled dates as a duo, calling the show "Peter & Paul Celebrate Mary and 5 Decades of Friendship".
On September 16, 2009, Travers died at age 72, of complications from chemotherapy, following treatment for leukemia.[16] It was the same year Peter, Paul and Mary were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
Discography
- Peter, Paul and Mary (1962)
- Moving (1963)
- In the Wind (1963)
- A Song Will Rise (1964)
- See What Tomorrow Brings (1965)
- The Peter, Paul and Mary Album (1966)
- Album 1700 (1967)
- Late Again (1968)
- Peter, Paul and Mommy (1969)
- Reunion (1978)
- No Easy Walk to Freedom (1986)
- Flowers and Stones (1990)
- LifeLines (1995)
- In These Times (2003)
See also
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
References
- ^ Holden, Stephen (March 20, 1986). "Pop: Peter, Paul and Mary". The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^ "Peter, Paul & Mary's Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Stookey - Interviews - Tavis Smiley - PBS". Tavis Smiley - PBS.
- ^ William Ruhlmann (April 12, 1996). "Beginnings". Peter, Paul and Mary A song to sing all over this land. Goldmine. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
- ^ "Just A Minute With: Peter Yarrow". Reuters. 6 March 2008.
- ^ "What's My Line?". CBS. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ a b Peter Yarrow interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
- ^ "Mary Travers", The Times (obituary), September 18, 2009
- ^ "1968 45-RPM Eugene McCarthy Campaign Recording: Peter, Paul, & Mary". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-11-10.
- ^ Kiernan, Laura A. (7 February 1981). "Folk Singer Peter Yarrow Pardoned by Carter". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Peter Yarrow, Folk Singer, Gets 3-Month Jail Sentence". The New York Times. 15 September 1970. p. 53. (Associated Press, 14 September 1970)
- ^ Hasson, Judi (6 February 1981). "Yarrow pardoned for morals offense". United Press International.
- ^ "Hall of Fame Foundation". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11.
- )
- ^ a b "Tour Schedule". Peterpaulandmary.com.
- ^ "The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List". Archived from the original on February 14, 2009.
- ^ "Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary Dies". The New York Times. September 16, 2009. Retrieved March 25, 2019.