Year: October 1963 (CD 2014)
Label: Audio Fidelity (US), AFZ 181
Style: Folk, Pop, Oldies
Country: New York City, U.S.
Time: 37:58
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 226 MbIn
the 1960s, the most creatively fertile grounds in America would have to
be Greenwich Village, a neighborhood in west Manhattan. It could be be
argued that the counterculture of the 60s arose from Greenwich Village,
as did many of the decades biggest musical acts, one of the most
talented being Bob Dylan.
1963, however, was a very different year
than 1965, and a guy like Dylan pretty much had no chance of making a
pop crossover. Instead, his songs found their way to the mainstream with
Peter, Paul and Mary, a group of Greenwich Village folkies who were
formed by manager Albert Grossman in 1961. This group cut their teeth
doing clean-cut folk music with sparse acoustic production and pristine
harmonies, and often, their music could be quite beautiful. This can be
seen on some of the traditional folk covers that appear on this album,
like the lullaby "Hush-A-Bye", or the religious ballad "All My Trials".
Admittedly, not all of the songs on here work for me, like "Long Chain
On" or "Rocky Road", both of which I found to be largely forgettable.
For the most part, I would say that this album averages out to a nice,
pleasant experience that I probably won't return to. It can certainly be
very pretty, and harmonies of all three are very pleasing to the ear,
but it' just not as engaging as some of the other folk music that was
coming of Greenwich Village. Speaking of which, the main story on this
album, as least for me, would have to be the Dylan covers. The weakest
of the three would be their take on "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right",
mainly because the scornful, passive-aggressive lyrics work best when
they're coming from just one person (preferably Dylan himself), as
opposed to three. On the other hand, their cover of "Blowin' in the
Wind" is genuinely beautiful cover, one that absolutely does the
original justice. Peter, Paul and Mary famously performed that song at
the same March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I
Have A Dream" speech, and I think that it was a powerful moment, a
highlight of their careers.
Ultimately, though, it couldn't last.
Peter, Paul and Mary were old school folkies, musically much closer to
the Kingston Trio than the Byrds. When Bob Dylan went electric at the
Newport Folk Festival, Peter Yarrow was in the audience, holding his
head in dismay. The group had one last hit in 1969, the John
Denver-penned "Leaving on a Jet Plane", and then that was it. Their
brand of pristine folk music had it's moment, but it passed. Still,
they'll always have that cover of "Blowin' in the Wind".
(rateyourmusic.com/release/album/peter-paul-and-mary/in-the-wind/)
01. Very Last Day (02:32)
02. Hush-A-Bye (02:21)
03. Long Chain On (04:37)
04. Rocky Road (03:40)
05. Tell It On The Mountain (02:58)
06. Polly Von (04:11)
07. Stewball (03:13)
08. All My Trials (03:18)
09. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (03:15)
10. Freight Train (02:46)
11. Quit Your Low Down Ways (02:05)
12. Blowin' In The Wind (02:57)
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