Legendary Bands - Peter, Paul & Mary Posters

“Peter, Paul and Mary are folk singers.” So stated the liner notes to the group’s self-titled 1962 debut album. Today, this declaration seems redundant, because the term “folk music” has come to be virtually interchangeable with the group name, but when the words were written, they were meant less as a stylistic distinction than as a mission statement.

In the decades prior to the ‘60s, through the work of such avatars as Woody Guthrie, the Weavers and Pete Seeger, folk music had become identified with sociopolitical commentary, but the idiom had been forced underground in the Senator Joe McCarthy witch-hunting era of the late fifties, . By the time Peter, Paul and Mary arrived on the scene, for the majority of America, folk was viewed merely as a side-bar to pop music which employed acoustic instruments.

At this critical historic juncture, with the nation still recovering from the McCarthy era, the Civil Rights Movement taking shape, the Cold War heating up and a nascent spirit of activism in the air, Peter Yarrow, Noel (a.k.a. Paul) Stookey and Mary Travers came together to juxtapose these cross currents and thus to reclaim folk’s potency as a social, cultural and political force. But few at the time could have realized how fervently and pervasively the group’s message of humanity, hope and activism would be embraced.

No American folk group has lasted longer or amassed a more loyal following than Peter, Paul and Mary; indeed, few groups of any genre have logged more years (43) or miles (countless) in direct, yearly touring; spreading the message and engaging the next (now four) generations. During its now legendary career, the trio won five Grammys, produced five Top 10 albums and 13 Top 40 hits, of which 6 ascended into the Top 10 - as well as six gold and three platinum albums. That PP&M achieved such a rarefied level of commercial success without compromise, and while continuing a centuries-old tradition of people raising their voices in song for the sake of freedom, is simply further evidence of their extraordinarily successful career -- as much a mission accomplished as a musical career.

Yarrow, Stookey and Travers have spent their years together communicating personal, political and social imperatives by way of their impeccably chosen songs, personally-crafted harmonies and unmitigated passion. Remarkably, more than four decades after their formation, they’re still singer/advocates. Their spirits and sense of purpose are undiminished, their message if anything, is more relevant than ever before, particularly as America and the world approach what Travers characterizes as “a critical turning point in time.” It seems fitting, then, that at this historic moment we should see the appearance of the trio’s long-anticipated career retrospective, a boxed set Peter, Paul and Mary: Carry It On, that resonates with a new PBS television special of the same name as well as PP&M’s first new studio album in over a decade with 12 new songs; their choices from their work of the past ten years.

Rhino’s five-disc (including one DVD) box set, Carry It On, contains five hours of the group’s most memorable musical moments. Spanning the years 1960-2003, this definitive career retrospective features more than 80 tracks. It includes previously unreleased solo performances by each member made prior to the group’s formation and a home recording of “Canaan Land” laid down by the trio before they signed with Warner Bros. Records.

The material ranges from traditional ballads like “ The Three Ravens” and “Take Off Your Old Coat” to the work of such latter-day poets as Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Laura Nyro, Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs and John Denver, as well as songs penned by the group itself. All the classics-indelible, important songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “If I Had a Hammer,” “Cruel War,” “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “500 Miles,” “Lemon Tree,” “In the Early Morning Rain,” “All My Trials” and “Puff (The Magic Dragon)”-are included, of course, but there’s much more to be found in this aural and cultural time capsule encompassing close to a half century of consistently moving, inspiring, caring and purposeful music…make that folk music.

The material was chosen and sequenced by the label in conjunction with the artists. “To a large degree,” Yarrow explains, “we allowed Rhino to come up with its favorites because, from an external point of view, they wanted to tell the story from the appreciator’s perspective - and they’re very good at that. The chronological approach made sense, so the programming was done historically, which is also true of the TV special [airing on PBS in March 2004 to coincide with the release of the new LP and boxed set].”

The bonus DVD includes footage of live performances of “If I Had a Hammer” from the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech; “Leaving on a Jet Plane” sung by PP&M and John Denver, the song’s author, in 1970; “The Great Mandala (The Wheel of Life)” from their 1970 documentary The Song Is Love; and “Jane Jane” from The Andy Williams Show, among other revealing, sometimes entertaining and sometimes momentous, vignettes from another time.

The Boxed Set contains in-depth liner notes by Barry Alfonso, along with tributes by Pulitzer Prize-winning political writer David Halberstam and Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers and a moving story by former presidential candidate of 1968, Senator Eugene McCarthy. Also included are captivating archival photos and testimonials from friends and colleagues such as Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Bill Cosby, Walter Cronkite, Judy Collins, Senator John F. Kerry, Tom Smothers, Gloria Steinem and Studs Terkel, as well as Dr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, who proclaims, “Peter, Paul and Mary are not only three of the greatest folk artists ever, but also three of the performing arts’ most outstanding champions of social justice and peace. They have lent their time and talents to the Civil Rights Movement, labor struggles, and countless campaigns for human rights for decades, and their compassion and commitment remain as strong as their extraordinary artistry.” Not unexpectedly, Ms. King says it all.

Carry It On will be released simultaneously with the all-new studio recording In These Times, on which PP&M continue to affirm their unwavering commitment to their folk heritage and its legacy of social justice. The new LP features no solo turns, only group vocals-an approach PP&M haven’t employed since their first four albums. The uninterrupted parade of those singular harmonies resonates not only musically but also symbolically, as Peter, Paul & Mary display their unity in the face of a particularly fractious, and in their opinion, dangerous, era.

“With In These Times, we wanted to make a contemporary statement,” says Stookey. “Folk music has the capacity to not only be aware of the continuum, but also to offer thoughts that are perspectives on the immediacy of human concern.”

Both timely and timeless, the new album (co-produced by Yarrow and Stookey) includes selections penned by new or newly discovered writers including Tim Bays, Dave Allen, Anne Feeney, Gene Nelson and Bill Staines. Particularly provocative are Thea Hopkins’ “Jesus Is on the Wire,” a chilling narrative about the death of Matthew Shepard; Bob Franke’s “The Great Storm Is Over,” which Stookey describes as “the celebration before the fact of a world where compassion and kindness rule”; and Allen Shamblin and Steve Seskin’s “Don’t Laugh at Me.” “Peter added a section to the end to the song, which was in a sense our response to 9/11,” Travers points out. “America is not a homogeneous society; America is all of these different wonderful kinds of cultures and religions and colors. What we do share is our Constitution and our Bill of Rights.” Stookey calls “Oh, Had I a Golden Thread,” the album’s penultimate song, “Pete Seeger’s prayer for the world,” while the hidden track “Mi Caballo Blanco” is about “the disappeared” in Argentina, El Salvador, and other Central and South American nations - and a tribute and promise to never forget them.

“We’ve always been involved in encouraging and appreciating the work of other writers, particularly those who are undiscovered,” Yarrow explains. “We are very pleased, as we have been from the get go, to sing songs by writers who are virtual unknowns, like Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver were at one time, where we love the songs and we’re pleased that we can have a role in being a vehicle for a wider audience of people hearing their music.”

Travers explains the process that led to the selection of this new group of songs: “We have in the past put together new material for every summer tour. So this is really a collection of several years worth of new material. We’ve always done that because we felt that it freshened the show and kept us on our toes. The sessions in which we listen to new material together and comment on it get pretty intense. You start to tear apart a word: ‘Do I really believe that? Can I ignore what I think the author is saying and interpret it the way I see it?’ It’s a wonderful process.”

“We do a song,” says Yarrow, “if it moves us, if the songcraft is wonderful, if it says something important, if it amuses us and if we all feel good singing it.”

The primary source for the material found on In These Times was the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, an annual event whose New Folk Concerts are arguably the most important platform for the discovery and acknowledgment of new singer/songwriters in America; the series was conceived and co-organized by Yarrow, with Rod Kennedy, the originator and producer of the festival from1972 to 2002. “It’s a wonderful place for young people to show their wares, in much the same way as the early Newport Festivals,” says Travers of her partner’s brainchild.

“Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Tish Hinojosa, David Wilcox and Buddy Mondlock were all winners; I kinda’ feel like they’re my children,” adds Yarrow with unconcealed pride. “They are the progeny of the project. Almost all of these new songs on In These Times came out of Kerrville.”

Message songs are particularly problematic to write and perform because they can be overly directive, one-sided and preachy, but PP&M have managed to consistently avoid this pitfall. “The songs we choose invite the participation of the listener, who is central to finding a way of creating the life of the song at that listening,” Yarrow explains. “It’s the difference between poetry and didactic writing. One tells you, ‘This is it,’ and the other says, ‘Let’s find this together.’ Anthemic songs are frequently so on the nose that there’s no emotional thrust or dramatic tension. That’s why ‘Don’t Laugh at Me’ is so powerful, because you literally become engaged in the drama; you are part of both the perpetrator and the victim in this tale of disrespect and cruelty.”

Adds Stookey, “Whether it’s your own material or somebody else’s material, it’s essential that you identify with it thoroughly. It’s like you want to archive it; you want to freeze it in time in terms of your perspective on it, then move on, because folk music is that volatile and comments not only on overall human concerns but the specifics. This album definitely deals with specifics.”

Having their music associated with causes and solutions is as natural as breathing for Peter, Paul and Mary. The music they purvey and the action it generates are equally important to them and lie at the heart of their story. In music and in deed, they placed themselves on the front lines of the Civil Rights and Antiwar movements of the 1960s. More recently, their individual and collective efforts have focused on such crucial issues as gun violence against children, the rights and organizing efforts of strawberry pickers in California, homelessness and world hunger. “We’ve always been involved with issues that deal with the fundamental human rights of people, whether that means the right to political freedom or the right to breathe air that’s clean,” Travers points out.