tagged w/ Peter Paul and Mary
-
The surviving members of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary have sent a cease and desist letter to the National Organization for Marriage, which has been using one if their most iconic songs during its antigay "Summer for Marriage" tour.
Kathleen Perrin of the Courage Campaign notified Peter Yarrow that the organization was using the group's recording of the Woody Guthrie song "This Land Is Your Land" during its rallies without permission. Yarrow said NOM's use of the song was "heartbreaking" and that he would contact the organization.
The July 27 letter to NOM executive director Brian Brown, displayed on the Courage Campaign's website, asks the group to stop using the song.
"We respect your right to hold and advocate for any position you wish, but the philosophy of the 'National Organization for Marriage' is directly contrary to the advocacy position Peter, Paul & Mary have held for decades, and so we do not want our recording of this song played at your rallies," the letter reads. Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey (Mary Travers died in 2009) wrote that if NOM continues to use the song, "we will certainly do our best to make it clear to those who are aware of your rallies that we strenuously object because of our very strong opposition to the philosophy of your organization as noted above. Further, we will see if there is any legal action that we might be able to take to restrain you from playing it."The surviving members of the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary have sent a cease and... more
-
-
Mary Travers, Grammy award-winning American singer-songwriter and member of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, has died. She was 72.
For more news video by Current TV visit http://current.com/Mary Travers, Grammy award-winning American singer-songwriter and member of the folk... more
-
-
09.17.2009 8:55 AM EDT
The 'Puff the Magic Dragon' singer was 72.
by Gil Kaufman
>
Peter, Paul And Mary's Peter Yarrow, Mary Travers and Paul Stookey in New York City in the mid 1960s
Mary Travers, one-third of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary, died on Wednesday (September 16) in a Connecticut hospital at age 72 after a long battle with leukemia.
With her golden
hair and high, clear voice, Travers was the lone female voice in a group whose work helped popularize the folk-music scene of the early 1960s, singing on such landmark songs as "If I Had a Hammer," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff (the Magic Dragon)."
According to the group's official Web site, Travers had successfully recovered from leukemia following a bone marrow transplant and succumbed to the side effects of one of her chemotherapy treatments.
"In her final months, Mary handled her declining health in the bravest, most generous way imaginable. She never complained," wrote longtime singing partner Peter Yarrow in a statement, saying the love she showed for him, their partner, Noel Paul Stookey, and her husband, Ethan, "poured out with great dignity and without restraint. It was, as Mary always was, honest and completely authentic. That's the way she sang, too; honestly and with complete authenticity. I believe that, in the most profound of ways, Mary was incapable of lying, as a person, and as an artist. That took great courage, and Mary was always equal to the task."
Alongside Stookey and Yarrow, Travers provided the key ingredient in a rich three-part harmony that helped transform a then-young Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" into a civil-rights anthem, exposing Dylan to a larger audience. During their heyday, the trio were known as much for their political activism as for their songs, appearing at the 1963 civil-rights march on Washington and at many demonstrations against the Vietnam War.
"She was obviously the sex appeal of that group," folk historian Elijah Wald told The New York Times. "And that group was the sex appeal of the movement."
The group's 1962 debut, Peter, Paul and Mary, reached #1 on the charts and eventually sold more than 2 million copies, thanks to such hits as "Lemon Tree" and "If I Had a Hammer," written by folk icon Pete Seeger.
Born Mary Allin Travers in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 9, 1936, Travers moved to New York with her parents when she was 2 years old. The Times noted that unlike most of the other folk musicians who emerged from the Greenwich Village scene in the late 1950s and early '60s, Travers actually came from the neighborhood, where she'd attended progressive and private schools in the area and grew up around folk music clubs and performers.
She began singing with the folk group the Song Swappers in the mid-1950s, backed up Seeger on a collection of union songs in 1955, and then joined Yarrow and Stookey in 1960. Manager Albert Grossman put the trio together in an effort to create an updated version of the famed folk group the Weavers. After debuting in 1961, the trio were an instant hit and were a staple on the folk scene for much of the decade until disbanding in 1970.
Travers set out on a solo career, releasing five albums in the 1970s that never reached the group's commercial peaks and continuing with her commitment to political and social causes.
After 50 years of friendship and musical partnership, Yarrow wrote, "I have no idea what it will be like to have no Mary in my world, in my life or on stage to sing with. But I do know there will always be a hole in my heart, a place where she will always09.17.2009 8:55 AM EDT
The 'Puff the Magic Dragon' singer was 72.... more
-
-
Mary Travers, the beautiful star of iconic folk group Peter, Paul and Mary died Wednesday at the age of 72. Travers had been battling leukemia for several years.Mary Travers, the beautiful star of iconic folk group Peter, Paul and Mary died... more
-
-
Mary Travers, part of the iconic folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died on Wednesday at the age of 72 after a long battle with leukemia.Mary Travers, part of the iconic folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died on Wednesday at... more
-
-
Mary Travers - a member of the hugely popular 1960s US folk group Peter, Paul and Mary - has died aged 72.
The band's publicist said Mary - who had battled leukaemia for years - died at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut.
Peter, Paul and Mary had hits including If I Had a Hammer, Lemon Tree and Puff, The Magic Dragon.
They won five Grammies and released a five-disc box set of their greatest hits, Carry It On. They were also known for their political activism.
They were strong supporters of the civil rights movement and opponents of the Vietnam War.Mary Travers - a member of the hugely popular 1960s US folk group Peter, Paul and Mary... more
-
-
Mary Travers, a striking figure of power and glamour in the early-1960s folk music movement, died Wednesday at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut after suffering from leukemia for several years. She was 72.
She was best known as the blond with the bangs who commanded the middle microphone with Peter, Paul and Mary, a trio that brought folk music from coffeehouses to top-40 radio.
They also gave much of America its first taste of the young Bob Dylan by helping to turn his "Blowin' in the Wind" into a national anthem.
The group reunited several years ago to begin touring, and Travers performed with them until a few months ago, even when she needed assistance on stage.
Travers, like Paul Stookey and PeterTravers, saw folk music both as an art and as an instrument for change. They sang a number of sociopolitical songs, which Travers later defended.
"I'm not sure I want to be singing 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' when I'm 75," she said in one interview. "But I know I'll still be singing 'Blowin' in the Wind.' "
She was born in Louisville, Ky., but grew up in Greenwich Village and came up through the New York coffeehouse circuit, singing on her own before she was put together with Stookey and Yarrow by famed manager Albert Grossman, who also managed Dylan.
The trio took considerable criticism from fellow folk singers for developing a sound that some considered too "commercial" and not "authentic" enough.
Travers always strongly defended the trio's sound, saying that they were in the folk tradition by making music accessible to everyone, not just academic collectors.
Peter, Paul and Mary were inducted into the Sammy Cahn Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. Travers is survived by two daughters.Mary Travers, a striking figure of power and glamour in the early-1960s folk music... more
-
-
The legendary 1960s folk trio has lost Mary... RIP Mary
-
-
As we remember a day that has forever changed our nation, the Daily Fix recalls how 9/11 affected radio.As we remember a day that has forever changed our nation, the Daily Fix recalls how... more
-
