The folk music groups of the 60’s were like the grunge bands of the mid-80’s. A guitar, a harmonica, a group of pals and an apartment or garage were all you needed to make some music. My good friend Bob Flick of Brothers Four fame likes to call it the music of America. We all knew the words and weren’t afraid to sing out.
But Peter, Paul and Mary were an exception to the rule. Most of the groups of the day came together serendipitously…friends, classmates, frat brothers and the like. PPM on the other hand were skilled professionals. They each had solo careers and were brought together by music producers who knew how to mix and match voices and styles. This was a match made in heaven.
I knew that Mary Travers had been ill for some time. Their PBS special had been repeated many times and last year, several of the well known groups from the era came together for a reunion concert. The ravages of cancer were evident but Mary pulled it off and her voice was clear and strong.
Mary was in her late 20’s when I met the group after a concert in suburban DC. She was a ball of fire then and her flame burned brightly throughout her career. Caught up in the music of the times, I formed several groups that served as warm-ups for the hot groups of the day and, as a result, I got to know Peter, Paul and Mary, the Brothers Four, the Kingston Trio and many of others. When I got to college I started to manage the concert schedule for groups like PPM and spent a lot of time in the backstage world.
Paul was a frustrated stand-up comic and rock and roller. Peter told me that he could be a Bolshevik, if it were only in style. Mary had a knack for bringing zen into almost any situation. Although the group became associated with the civil rights movement because of their performance at the “I have a dream” rally on the mall in 1963, their role as activists was never as strong as their success as performers, in my mind. “Lemon Tree” was not an anti-war cry and “Puff the Magic Dragon” was not about marijuana…it was a children’s song.
I had been around the folk music scene for several years when Mary Travers came up to me backstage and said “We’ve got to talk.” Good or bad? How was I to know. I was going to have the conversation regardless. The short version, you’re probably ready for that at this point, is their road manager was leaving and they were offering me the job. “You can always come back to school,” she said. “Peter is our only graduate and look at how he turned out.” Ha…some joke. Well, I didn’t take the job…CHICKEN!! I used the same logic about not coming back to school for more degrees after the army. I just knew I’d never do it.
Regardless, it was a flattering offer and I fantasized about it for a long time. Mary certainly made life on the road seem like it led to OZ. For her, it certainly did. After the news of her death, I received an email from a good high school and college friend who reminded me that on Father’s Day Weekend, I took him and his father backstage after the concert. When I introduced them to Mary, she told his father that he had “a great smile”. His father was touched by her graciousness. He never forgot it.
For some of us, our lives have a soundtrack. There is always music playing in my head. I like all kinds of music and some tune or song bubbles up to fit the occasion. My playlists for Friday Tunes at the agency were always an indication of the mood of the day or week. The music I play on long car trips is planned to fit the geography. Coincidentally, as we crossed the plains of eastern Washington a few weeks ago, I played Peter, Paul and Mary’s “In Concert” album. There is a song on that album called “One Kind Favor”. It’s not a happy song but it’s quiet and solemn and respectful. Peter, Paul and Mary brought much to the music of their times. They even helped Bob Dylan become a star…asking the nine questions of “Blowin’ in the Wind”. I like to think that PPM did us all “One Kind Favor”. They gave us the beauty, the grace, the voice and the heart of Mary Travers. She belongs to our times...forever.
Dan Mc
