 |
* Navigation Note * : Use The Back Button On Your Browser To ReturnTo The Exact Place Where You Left Off On The Bob Dylan Biography Page |
|---|---|
 |
|
The trio of Peter, Paul & Mary was the most popular singing group in the U.S. just before the Beatles arrived, using their three-part harmony arrangements to introduce the work of some of the 1960s' best songwriters. More than 30 years later, they were still performing and recording regularly. Their manager, Albert Grossman, assembled the group using the earnest singer/songwriter Peter Yarrow (b. May 31, 1938, New York City), former Broadway singer and Song Swappers member Mary Travers (b. Nov. 9, 1936, Louisville, Kentucky), and singer/comedian Noel "Paul" Stookey (b. Dec. 30, 1937, Baltimore) in 1961 to capitalize on the folk boom and the success of such performers as the Kingston Trio. But PP&M immediately harked back to the early-'50s heyday of the Weavers, especially given the prominence of Travers, reminiscent of Ronnie Gilbert in the earlier group, and the left-wing political commitment both groups shared. Signed to Warner Bros. Records, they released their debut album, Peter, Paul & Mary (Mar. 1962), which was a massive hit, reaching number one, selling two million copies, and spawning the hit singles "Lemon Tree" (which made the Top 40) and the Weavers song "If I Had a Hammer" (which reached the Top Ten and won Grammy Awards for Best Performance by a Vocal Group and Best Folk Recording). (Moving) (Jan. 1963) was another enormous hit, reaching the Top Ten, going gold, and featuring the Top Ten hit "Puff, The Magic Dragon," co-written by Yarrow and now a children's standard. The group's next single, released in June 1963, was "Blowin' in the Wind," written by the then-little-known folk singer Bob Dylan. PP&M changed that by taking his song to number one, earning two more Grammys in the process. While the record was high in the charts, they appeared with Dylan at the August 1963 March on Washington, famous for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech. It was only the most prominent of PP&M's many appearances at political rallies and demonstrations throughout their career. They then scored their third straight Top Ten hit with Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right." Both the Dylan-written singles were included on their next album, In the Wind (Oct. 1963), which went gold and topped the charts, joining their previous two albums for several weeks together in the Top Ten; it also featured the Top 40 hits "Stewball" and "Tell It on the Mountain." Understandably, Warner Bros. waited until July 1964 to release the double-record set Peter, Paul and Mary in Concert, which hit the Top Ten and went gold. Their next gold Top Ten album was A Song Will Rise (March 1965), which featured the Top 40 hit "For Lovin' Me" (written by Gordon Lightfoot). The trio was beginning to cool off commercially, but See What Tomorrow Brings (October 1965) was another substantial hit and went gold after a few years. The Peter, Paul and Mary Album (August 1966) found the group adding instrumentation and experimenting with their sound. Even more musically ambitious was Album 1700 (August 1967), a gold-selling commercial comeback heralded by the parodic Top Ten single "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" (co-written by Stookey). This was followed into the Top 40 by a cover of Bob Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing" (Nov. 1967), eventually featured on the next PP&M album, Late Again (Aug. 1968). The group scored another Top 40 hit with a non-LP single in Yarrow's "Day Is Done" (March 1969). Their next album was the Grammy-winning children's record Peter, Paul and Mommy (May 1969). In September, Warner Bros. belatedly released "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (written by John Denver) from Album 1700 as a single; it became PP&M's only number one single. In 1970, they broke up and launched three moderately successful solo careers. They reunited in 1978 to make Reunion (Sep. 1978) for Warner Bros., then split again, coming back together in 1980 to tour. In 1982, they released the live album Such Is Love in Australia, issuing it on their own record label in the U.S. in 1983. In 1986, they signed to Gold Castle Records and released No Easy Walk to Freedom (Sep. 1986). A Peter, Paul And Mary Holiday Concert (Dec. 1988) was the soundtrack to a seasonal concert also broadcast as a public TV special. Flowers and Stones (Nov. 1990) was a new studio album. Gold Castle went out of business, and the group retained rights to their albums, which have since been reissued on Warner Bros., which re-signed PP&M in 1992 and released a second children's album, Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too (March 1993) (also another public TV special). LifeLines (Apr. 1995) paired the group with various guest artists and was the inspiration for a subsequent public TV special, LifeLines Live, which in turn was released as a record in July 1996. ~
|
|
