Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary, R.I.P.: Remembering a folk-rock great

Entertainment Weekly ^ | Sep 17 2009 | Simon Vozick-Levinson

[Ben Mugged]

It never stops, does it? Last night brought the news that Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary had become, at age 72, yet another beloved entertainer gone too soon. Not a complete surprise — Travers was diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 — but very sad nonetheless.

Peter, Paul and Mary played a crucial role in helping the folk-music scene become a mass popular movement in the early 1960s. They couldn’t have done it without Mary Travers’ clear, expressive vocals. A gifted interpreter of others’ songs, she was the principal reason why the trio’s covers of Pete Seeger’s “If I Had A Hammer” and Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” were arguably better-loved than the originals. Harmonizing on silly kid’s tunes like the classic “Puff the Magic Dragon” one minute, playing for social justice at the historic March on Washington another — both in the year 1963 — Travers, along with bandmates Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey, epitomized something about that transformative era.

On a personal note, I was raised on Peter, Paul and Mary’s music in the 1980s. Making folk music for children was another key aspect of their legacy, from 1969’s Peter, Paul and Mommy to 1993’s Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too concert sequel, ensuring that a younger generation is missing Mary today, too.

[Ben Mugged]

I grew up listening to this group.

[jimfree]

Absolutely agree - they would have been nothing without Mary. Her voice defined the female folk singer.

[yarddog]

Really loved their music. Didn’t care for anything else about them.

[Bender2]

Re: I grew up listening to this group

I did, too, but her politics were far left.

[stormer]

Just about everyone of a certain age did. We'll see what kind of response her death generates on this forum. No doubt many will decry her as a lefty who doesn't deserve a fond farewell; I prefer to remember a gifted performer who shared her talent and brought joy to many.

[ErnBatavia]

Which of the two guys was it that Carter pardoned (child sex offender, IIRC)?

[IYAS9YAS]

I prefer to remember a gifted performer who shared her talent and brought joy to many.

Puff the Magic Dragon kept my cousin entertained on a long driving trip. I had a brand-new Walkman at the time. It was - play song, rewind, play song for about half the trip. I was about 12 and he was probably 3 at the time. Saved our sanity.

I agree with many, their music was good, her voice was beautiful, but the politics sucked.

[trussell]

Ping

[Huskrrrr]

You couldn’t be a member of the folk wave w/o being a knee-jerk liberal. Great music (e.g. the Wedding Song) and Mary's presence did give the group a wide appeal. BTW if I judged performers by their politics I'd never buy a CD or movie ticket.

[murron]

I don’t think she sang on the Wedding Song. It was billed as either Peter or Paul as the lone singer. That song came out the year I got married. I still love it.

[ClearCase_guy]

That was Peter Yarrow who got into trouble with a young groupie.

[fortunecookie]

Really loved their music. Didn’t care for anything else about them.

Ditto that. As a very young kid, I remember sitting outside in the neighborhood while my neighbors' sons playing guitar and sang Puff the Magic Dragon! Enjoyed their music, didn't care for their politics.

[RanGreHad]

She was a classic “red diaper baby.”

[Bender2]

Re: Which of the two guys was it that Carter pardoned (child sex offender, IIRC)?

It was Peter Yarrow - more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Yarrow

While campaigning for 1968 presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, Yarrow met McCarthy's niece, Mary Beth McCarthy, in Wisconsin. They were married in October 1969.

In 1970, Yarrow was convicted of, and served three months in prison for, taking “improper liberties” with a 14-year-old fan. He has since apologized for the incident: “In that time, it was common practice, unfortunately –– the whole groupie thing.” President Carter later granted him clemency for the incident.

Maybe The Øne can make Yarrow the new... Composer of Music to Abuse Children Czar

[Huskrrrr]

Yes, I think you’re right. Thanks.

[SonnyBubba]

Loved their version of “Blowin’ in the Wind”

[newfreep]

Agree re: red-diaper-baby.

But Travers represents the "left-wing socialist elitist hypocrites". She made millions of $'s through free-market capitalism but preached socialism while forgetting to mention its' failures.

Travers, Moore, oprah, whoopsie, clooney, springsteen, et al all embrace free-market capitalism on their rise upward but then say no one else can earn the same wealth.

Hypocrites!

[S.O.S121.500]

Good Riddance to this trash......R.I.H.

[50sDad]

Noel Paul Stookey became a born again Christian along the way, and witnessed to the other two a lot along the way. His later music didn't sell as well, but he has done severel incredible albumns of Christian music, including the haunting "Why Do We Hunger for Beauty?"

My favorite is this acappella song, "The Way to My Father's House":

The way to my Father's house when I was just a boy
Lay through fields of innocence near bubbling springs of joy
And when I'd lay me down to sleep
I'd pray the Lord my soul to keep
The road was never very steep
On the way to my Father's house.

The way to my Father's house when I turned seventeen
Wandered through inviting hills beside a tumbling stream
Sometimes in prayer upon my knees,
I would feel a distant breeze
The road was winding now through trees
On the way to my Father's house.

The way to my Father's House at the age of twenty-nine
Led over a mountain that I would seldom climb
Except in times of great despair when I'd be looking everywhere
And then one morning He was there,
On the way to my Father's house
And glory, what a refreshing story
I was so blind before he opened my eyes restoring me to

The way to my Father's house at the age of thirty-one
Was a ride on a rainbow my new life had begun
And every evening I could look through the pages of his book
And recognize the paths I took on the way, on the way...

I go to my Father's house in these troubled days
The Spirit is moving in mysterious ways
Reminded when old doubts appear
That perfect Love casts out all fear
In thanks I tend the garden here, on the way,
On the way
On the way to my Father's house

[Revenge of Sith]

Paul is supposedly a born again Christian.