The debut album by Peter, Paul & Mary is still one of the best albums to come out of the 1960s folk music revival, a beautifully harmonized collection of the best songs that the group knew, stirring in its sensibilities and its haunting melodies, crossing between folk, children's songs, and even gospel ("If I Had My Way"), and light-hearted just where it needed to be, with the song "Lemon Tree," which became their first hit single, and earnest where it had to be, particularly on "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 helped indirectly 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 even 40 years later.
The legendary trio's eponymous 1962 debut produced two classics--"Lemon Tree" and Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer." Because they were always hipper and more political than the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul & Mary were soon frequently credited as the group that transformed American folk music into '60s pop. It would be another six months before they really exploded with "Puff the Magic Dragon," and then another six before they brought Bob Dylan into the mainstream via their hit covers of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Don't Think Twice." Which is why 1970's 10 Years Together: The Best of Peter, Paul and Mary remains the essential buy; nevertheless, the debut features their gorgeous covers of "Cruel War" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," making this disc mandatory for folk fans. --Bill Holdship
Artist: Peter, Paul and Mary
Album: Peter, Paul and Mary
Genre: Folk/Rock
Year: 1962
01 Early In The Morning
02 500 Miles
03 Sorrow
04 This Train
05 Bamboo
06 It's Raining
07 If I Had My Way
08 Cruel War
09 Lemon tree
10 If I Had A Hammer
11 Autumn To May
12 Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
