A Voice of Change

As most of my loyal readers of my two blogs know I don’t often do obituaries, I don’t think everyone deserves to be remembered and then there are some that I am not qualified to write a remembrance of, like Michael Jackson. Last night in a Connecticut hospital one of the pivotal voices of the most important musical generation passed away due to complications with chemotherapy. The voice was that of Mary Travers of the famed folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary.


Mary performed during the early 50’s as a backup singer to folk legend Pete Seeger. In 1961 in Greenwich Village the group Peter, Paul and Mary was formed. The became an instant success and helped revive the genre of folk music. Their first album was released in early ‘62 with the Seeger classic “If I had a Hammer.” They shot up the charts and in early 1963 all three of their albums were in the top six selling LP’s on the billboard charts. Their most timeless song was the tale of a little boy’s innocence lost in “Puff the Magic Dragon.”


They also where instrumental in the career of musical pioneer Bob Dylan and supported his music. On their third studio album the released their version of two Dylan written songs, “Blowin in the Wind” and “Don’t Think Twice its Alright.” Peter Yarrow claims that it was Mary Travers who was the political champion of the group. She was a fierce defender of civil rights and one of the original voices of the anti war generation. During the famed March on Washington the trio performed Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind.”


The group split in 1971 to pursue solo careers. Mary released 5 solo albums that never resonated with critics or fans like the trio had. In 1978 the group got back together and over the past 30 years released 17 albums and toured extensively. Their new incarnation was known a lot more for recording progressive children’s music as education and racism among children became major causes for the group.


Travers and her partners were the unmistakable harmonious voices of a generation. Their music and activism helped shape the time they lived in and touched the music world forever. The death of Travers reminds us all that the generation that helped bring us so much social change and reform is getting older and they will be missed.

“If you miss the train I’m on, you will know that I am gone,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles”

MARY ALLIN TRAVERS
NOV. 9, 1936 - SEPT. 16, 2009