Peter, Paul and Mary still sing about the ‘love between my brothers and my sisters.’
By: Susan Van Dongen
In her wildest dreams, Mary Travers imagines being an Irish woman in a small, rural town. She would still have the flaxen hair and stunning voice the signature sound of Peter, Paul and Mary but there wouldn’t be so much traipsing around on a tour schedule. It’s not that she doesn’t like to see the audiences filled with four generations of loyal fans. Ms. Travers sometimes just muses on what it would be like for a woman singer to walk to work and home again after the gig.
"I wonder what it would be like if I were Irish and living in a small town," she says, by telephone from her home in Connecticut. "I could just go down to the pub and sing a few tunes and then come home."
One of the things that pleases her most about Peter, Paul and Mary’s upcoming concert is the proximity to beloved husband, grandchildren, friends, home and hearth. The group will perform at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton March 23.
"I wish all the dates were as close as Trenton," she says in a slightly husky, elegant voice. "I like staying home and I have so many other things to do now. Remember, the first 10 or 15 years of my career I wasn’t able to enjoy these things because we were on the road constantly. I’m not looking to work all the time now. (A schedule of) 38 concerts a year is just fabulous."
At a time in pop culture when some of the biggest stars and their musical styles seem to come and go with the wind, Peter, Paul and Mary have been making music for 42 years. Ms. Travers says the secret to the trio’s longevity is a mystery to her.
"I don’t know why we’ve been together so long. Beats me," she says, laughing. "We like each other, we like working with each other. We’re serious about the music. We’re still trying to make improvements, still thinking of new projects. But that’s one of those questions that’s almost impossible to answer. It’s like asking ‘How did we get famous?’ I don’t know. It just happened."
The chronicles of pop music can elaborate on that question. The popular folk group was formed in 1961 by Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Ms. Travers, three aspiring musicians who met in New York’s famous Greenwich Village folk scene. Their first album, recorded in 1962 for Warner Brothers, sold two million copies. Thanks mostly to the Grammy-winning single, "If I Had a Hammer" (originally recorded by the Weavers), Peter, Paul and Mary went to No. 1 on the pop charts.
The song also became an anthem for the civil rights movement. In the summer of 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary appeared at the Washington, D.C., civil rights rally led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Later that year, the single "Blowin’ in the Wind" seemed to reflect country’s grieving mood after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. That song also went to No. 1, won two Grammies and introduced the general public to a Greenwich Village singer-songwriter named Bob Dylan. Peter, Paul and Mary spun several more Dylan tunes into gold, as well as songs by then-unknown Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver.
Even as they became superstars, the trio established and maintained their status as one of the most socially aware and active folk groups of the ’60s. Their music continued to reflect this consciousness into the ’70s and ’80s, with songs that addressed such issues such as apartheid, homelessness and AIDS.
"Those were the ‘Pete Seeger’ instructions for folk singers," Ms. Travers says. "If you sing, you have to believe what you’re singing and live what you’re believing."
As solo artists, Ms. Travers recorded five albums and starred in a BBC-TV series; Mr. Stookey put out eight recordings; and Mr. Yarrow wrote and produced music, as well as children’s animated television specials based on the group’s hit song, "Puff the Magic Dragon."
The group reformed again and re-signed with Warner Brothers in 1992, when they released the Grammy-winning children’s album Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too. That’s what Ms. Travers’ young daughter Erika had dubbed them in 1969.
In 1999, the trio released Songs of Conscience and Concern, which included an evocative new song, "Don’t Laugh At Me." Originally written to focus on children with physical challenges, Ms. Travers sees a much broader message and thinks the timing for the song is perfect.
"It’s really about everybody," she says. "It’s about the fact that if children are not taught to respect one another, they tend to be very cruel to each other. We see this from the violence in Columbine. When children feel excluded it can be very dangerous. ‘Don’t Laugh at Me’ is an attempt to create an awareness for listeners and their children about the effects of bullying and teasing."
Ms. Travers has been around long enough to have seen a multitude of national problems. One wonders if this perspective helped her to better understand the attacks of Sept. 11 and the aftermath of the tragedy. After all, she is a native New Yorker.
"Of course, it was a terrible thing," she says. "But one has to move on in the most positive way possible. You incorporate the reality and attempt to understand what happened.
"I liked the fact that ‘The New York Times’ spent so much time talking about the victims. It’s important to know what the thinking was behind the minds of the perpetrators, but I think it’s more important to know about the victims and what happened to their families."
This will be Peter, Paul and Mary’s first tour since the violence, and longtime fans may find the same kind of sustenance in their songs that once helped them through the chaos of the ’60s.
"That’s one of the strengths of folk music," she says. "The reason the songs stay evergreen is because they can be reinterpreted. For example, when we sing the line in ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ ‘How many people must die?’ it will have its own resonance, a very personal resonance."
One of the most amazing things about Peter, Paul and Mary was the way their music has always been embraced by different age groups. Parents and children could relate to their timeless style and the messages in their songs, even during the height of the "Generation Gap."
"That’s the nature of folk music," Ms. Travers says. "It never says ‘This is our music, not yours.’ It’s inter-generational."
Peter, Paul and Mary play the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, Lafayette and Barrack streets, Trenton, March 23, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $36.50-$66.50. For information, call (609) 984-8400. On the Web: www.thewarmemorial.com