Peter, Paul And Mary - Folk Routes. The First Two Albums 1962-1963 (@320)

 

Peter, Paul And Mary - Folk Routes. The First Two Albums 1962-1963

Peter, Paul and Mary Review by Bruce Eder.

The debut album by Peter, Paul & Mary is still one of the best albums to come out of the 1960s folk music revival. It's a beautifully harmonized collection of the best songs that the group knew, stirring in its sensibilities and its haunting melodies as it crosses between folk, children's songs, and even gospel ("If I Had My Way"). Light-hearted fare ("Lemon Tree," which became their first hit single) co-existed with more earnest material, particularly "If I Had a Hammer." Ironically, the trio's version of the latter song, which Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes had written in the early days of the Weavers' history, helped push popular folk music in a more political direction at the time, but it was another song in their repertory, Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," that also indirectly helped jump start that movement. The group had performed it in Boston at a concert attended by the Kingston Trio, who immediately returned to New York and cut their own version, which charted as a single early in 1962. Other highlights include "It's Raining" and "500 Miles." Peter, Paul & Mary, which hit the top spot on the album charts as part of a 185-week run, is the purest of the trio's albums, laced with innocent good spirits and an optimism that remains infectious.

Moving Review by Bruce Eder.

The trio's second album is a little less distinctive than its predecessor, which doesn't mean that it isn't a beautiful record -- just less obviously compelling in its melodies, and perhaps slightly less optimistic in mood. Having expended some of their best material on their debut, the trio reached further for songs here, including the Paul Stookey co-authored "Big Boat" and Mike Settle's "Settle Down (Goin' Down That Highway)," neither of which clicked as singles, despite rousing vocals on both and some distinctive guitar virtuosity on the former. The group once again reached back to the 1940s activist folk song tradition with Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," but the track that everyone ended up knowing from Moving was from a very different corner of the folk tradition. "Puff, the Magic Dragon" was introduced here and rose to number one as a single (and even made the Top 10 in the R&B charts), helping propel Moving to number two as part of a 99-week chart run -- and in those days, it was taken as a beautiful and gentle children's song that adults could enjoy, the myth of the song's supposed "drug" message not appearing until 1966. Other highlights include the haunting "Pretty Mary" and the startlingly intricate "A 'Soalin'," which became a highlight of their live act as well.     

Tracklist:

PETER PAUL AND MARY

1. EARLY IN THE MORNING

2. 500 MILES

3. SORROW

4. THIS TRAIN

5. BAMBOO

6. IT'S RAINING

7. IF I HAD MY WAY

8. THE CRUEL WAR

9. LEMON TREE

10. IF I HAD A HAMMER

11. AUTUMN TO MAY

12. WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?

 

MOVING

 

13. SETTLE DOWN (Goin' Down That Highway)

14. GONE THE RAINBOW

15. FLORA

16. PRETTY MARY

17. PUFF, THE MAGIC DRAGON

18. THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND

19. MAN COME INTO EGYPT

20. OLD COAT

21. TINY SPARROW

22. BIG BOAT

23. MORNING TRAIN

24. A'SOALIN'   

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