The group Peter, Paul and Mary Have been one of my favorites since I was about age 5. Their original ballad "Puff the Magic Dragon" I would listen to over and over again. Other pieces such as "Blowing in the Wind", and "If I Had a Hammer" were also very familiar to me as a child.With her long flowing blonde hair and crystal clear soprano vocals, Mary Travers was a major influence on the folk music of the 60's and 70's. (AMG www.allmusic.com)Mary Travers , a founding member of Peter, Paul and Mary, not only became one of the most commercially successful folk performers, but, used her position to become an inspirational political spokesperson. Together with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey, Travers performed at Civil Rights rallies with Dr. Martin Luther King, in Burmingham, Alabama and Washington, D.C. and at numerous anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, fund-raisers and teach-ins. During the 1980's, Travers helped to call attention to the struggles of Latin America.A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Travers grew up in New York's Greenwich Village. As a youngster, she became enchanted with the american folk songs played by The Weavers, Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie. While in High school, Travers became a regular performer at the Sunday afternoon folk music sessions at Washington Square Park. Together with a teenage group, The Songswappers, Travers appeared twice at Carnegie Hall and recorded with Pete Seeger.Noel Paul Stookey is best known as one third of the folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary. Stookey has balanced his involvement with the trio, however, as a solo singer-songwriter, record producer and political activist. His Tune, "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)", written for Peter Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senetor and one time presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, has become a nuptial classic. (AMG www.allmusic.com).Stookey's earliest inspiration came from the rock and roll of the rock bands. His witty persona...
