Peter, Paul and Mary

Left to right

Paul Stookey - Guitar, Baritone Vocals

Sole surviving member

Peter Yarrow - Guitar, Tenor Vocals

Passed away in 2025

Mary Travers - Contralto Vocals (Lowest vocal range)

Passed away in 2009

Formed in New York City in 1961

Years active - 1961-1970 ... 1972 ... 1978 ... 1981-2009

Genres considered - Folk, Pop

Vocal Group Hall of Fame, 1999

Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award (Songwriters Hall of Fame, 2006)

- Discography -

- Early Years & Popularity -

1961 - 1969

Peter, Paul and Mary - Debut album

Included such songs as "Lemon Tree," "500 Miles," etc.

Billboard Top 10

Over 2 million copies sold

Most notable songs -

"Puff, the Magic Dragon" (1963)

"If I Had a Hammer" & "Blowin' in the Wind"

- Pete Seeger original/Bob Dylan original

- Performed by Peter, Paul and Mary in August 1963

- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

(Remembered for "I Have a Dream" Martin Luther King, Jr. speech)

"The Times They Are a-Changin'" (Bob Dylan original)

"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (Bob Dylan original)

"When the Ship Comes In" (Bob Dylan original)

The trio's success with "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" helped boost Bob Dylan's album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, into the Top 30.

"Leaving on a Jet Plane" - 1969, Lyrics by John Denver, No. 1, Final Top 40 hit, 6th million-selling gold single

- Breakup -

1970 - 1978

In 1970, the trio broke up to pursue solo endeavors.

In 1970, Peter Yarrow was imprisoned for molesting a 14-year-old girl.  In 1981, he was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter.  (I am not sure where the rationale was with a presidential pardon and, generally speaking, do not agree.)

Mary Travers' ventures - Concerts, Lectures, Produced/Wrote/Starred in a BBC-TV series

Paul Stookey's ventures - Formed a Christian music group (the Body Works Band)

1972 reunion for Together for McGovern - a concert at Madison Square Garden to support George McGovern's presidential campaign ... (Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel also performed at this concert)

1978 reunion concert to protest nuclear energy

Followed by a 1978 summer reunion tour

Followed by a 1978 album, Reunion

- Reunion -

1981 - 2009

The success of the trio's 1978 summer tour led to Peter, Paul and Mary permanently reuniting in 1981.

They recorded albums, toured, and played roughly 45 shows a year until Mary Travers's passing in 2009.

New members included double-bassist Dick Kniss (involved in the trio's studio sessions and 1960s tours) and multi-instrumentalist Paul Prestopino (joined in 1990).

In 2004, Mary was diagnosed with leukemia.  In mid-2009, she was unable to perform in concert and remain on tour.  Peter and Paul continued on as a duo, naming the show "Peter & Paul Celebrate Mary and 5 Decades of Friendship".

On September 16, 2009, Mary Travers passed away from complications to chemotherapy.

On January 7, 2025, Peter Yarrow passed away from bladder cancer.

Noted honor -

In 2009, Peter, Paul and Mary were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

(Wikipedia)

Peter, Paul and Mary were known best as a folk trio.  They had certified albums by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).  Their performances were successful, if for songs original to other artists of their era.  Mary especially had solid influences, such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and others.  They had a fanbase.

I am not in that fanbase, mainly because of genre disinterest.  This does not mean to say I haven't heard of their music.  I am most aware of "Puff, the Magic Dragon."  (A song insisted not to be related to drug use.) 

With that said, my research pulled up short where I was expecting more.  Is folk an antiquated genre?  The 1960s and 1970s saw the British rise and invasion, Motown in the United States, the rise of American rock, drugs...

...These notions did not impact Peter, Paul and Mary.  So why did they not receive a more in-depth story prior to Mary and Peter's deaths?

Very peculiar.

Should you desire, leave a comment with your thoughts!