Bloggerhythms

Let me start by acknowledging that I've always been a fan of Peter, Paul and Mary. I once saw the trio in concert at the famous Musikfest   in Bethlehem, PA. I own their four CD box set and a couple of their later albums. I recently played their live, Christmas CD during the holidays. Peter Yarrow died of cancer on January 7, 2025 at age 86. I'm aware that I posted on several social media platforms that I wasn't going to write a tribute to him because of his past. That's still true, but his disgusting, criminal acts are bothering me too much to ignore them. There was an extreme paradox between the public life Yarrow led - and what he and his singing group meant to a multitude of noble social causes - compared to what went on behind the scenes. These contradictions compel me to say something about him now because of the way many media outlets are reacting to his death. ...

Paul Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" has a more personal connection for me than any other music I've written about on this blog, and that's because it was played at my wedding way back when folk music could still reach the top 40. The single achieved #24 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #3 on their Easy Listening Chart in 1971. My wife asked her college friend to sing the beautiful tune at our ceremony accompanied by his acoustic guitar in addition to a song she wrote especially for the big day. At that time, Stookey's masterpiece hadn't yet become the wedding cliché it is today and our guests loved every note of it. Many years later the well loved ballad also became a part of my daughter's wedding. "The Wedding Song" appeared on Stookey's solo LP, Paul and , around the same time all three former members of Peter, Paul and Mary recorded separate albums during their long, 70s hiatus. Stookey, a born-again Christian, said the son...

Folk-rock hit it big in the mid-60s. It became one of the dominant sub-genres of rock for about a decade with bands like Buffalo Springfield and The Byrds leading the way. Even today many bands continue to fuse folk music with their rock 'n roll. However, there was a time in the early 60s, before Bob Dylan plugged in, when real folk music actually generated hit records that were played on the radio. In the forefront were Peter, Paul, and Mary who became huge stars in 1962. The group earned gold records and won Grammy awards. I've always been one of Peter, Paul, and Mary's fans and I will miss them working together because Mary Travers, the female voice of the group, died yesterday of leukemia at age 72. Travers' beautiful alto had much to do with the trio's success. She was the lead singer on their hit single of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind," a tune that became their signature song. She also sang lead on "If I Had A H...