Mary Travers of the folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary has died of leukemia at age 72. It is sure hard to believe she was 72. I guess the 60’s were quite a while back. The group, as became increasingly common later in the 60’s, mixed politics with their music:
Their sound may have been commercial and safe, but early on their politics were somewhat risky for a group courting a mass audience. Like Mr. Yarrow and Mr. Stookey, Ms. Travers was outspoken in her support for the civil-rights and antiwar movements, in sharp contrast to clean-cut folk groups like the Kingston Trio, which avoided making political statements.
Peter, Paul and Mary went on to perform at the 1963 March on Washington and joined the voting-rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965.
Over the years they performed frequently at political rallies and demonstrations in the United States and abroad. After the group disbanded, in 1970, Ms. Travers continued to perform at political events around the world as she pursued a solo career.
wow, we are losing some of the most important performers of our generation.!
Damn. This just makes me want to cry.
I was a big fan of their frequent reunion concerts (which were usually broadcast by PBS) and they were all class acts. This depresses me.
Went down to two videos–I’m finding with all three they are not always loading. (Deleted Puff the Magic Dragon as that’s the one I have on Facebook, and I referred to the blog for additional).
I don’t know of anyone who didn’t love them way back when and I know of no one who doesn’t love them today. They were mellow and their songs were the ones you could take with you and hum to or sing for yourselves for a long, long time.
The Kingston Trio was actually quite good as well – had everyone of their LP albums until recently. This was the bland 50’s of the Eisenhower years. I don’t think there was one performer who included politics in their music except for Tom Lehrer.
‘The Kingston Trio was actually quite good as well – had everyone of their LP albums until recently. This was the bland 50’s of the Eisenhower years. I don’t think there was one performer who included politics in their music except for Tom Lehrer.’
Not completely true. Some of the country acts of the time, though we wouldn’t associate it with country music these days, dealt with themes that were almost socialist. There was lots of the patriotic stuff in silly period dress too, but plenty of edgy stuff. With some exceptions (a little Tennessee Ernie Ford that people outside the South didn’t understand anyway) it just didn’t cross over into mainstream.
PP&M inspired me to learn guitar. When I picked out “Freight Train” and “A’ Soalin’, I learned a skill and acquired a passion that has stayed a part of my deep core for 45 years. I sang at peace rallies in Arkansas and objected to Viet Nam, still have my 1-O classification card. My most successful folk group played tours across the US in the summers of ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, and ’70. We played for Cree Indians in Canada, country folk in British Honduras, Anglican Bishops at Lambath Palace, and for King Gustuv of Sweden. Some of us still get together at New Years and sing the old songs again.
Thank you, Mary for your contribution to the becoming of me.