Rather than a compilation of their hits, this 1999 album of yet-to-be-discovered treasures contains 15 songs not found on any 'best of' albums, few previously released on CD. All but the new Don't Laugh At Me, which was recorded specifically for this release, are drawn from 20 albums recorded during their nearly 4-decade association -- the lesser-known songs that inspired the 3 to keep on keepin' on. Includes Sally Fingerett's Home Is Where the Heart Is, Phil Ochs' There But For Fortune, Woody Guthrie's Pastures of Plenty, and Pete Seeger's Wasn't That a Time.

Songs of Conscience and Concern: A Retrospective Collection is a 1999 compilation album by folk group Peter, Paul and Mary. It was the group's second compilation, following 1970's Ten Years Together: The Best of Peter, Paul & Mary. Drawn primarily from the trio's '80s and '90s material, it's a profile of the group's most serious songs from their second phase. The sole new song, "Don't Laugh At Me", has since become a classic in its own right, evidenced by its inclusion on their most recent greatest hits album from Rhino Records.

References

Category:1999 compilation albums

Category:Peter, Paul & Mary albums

Category:Albums produced by David Kahne

Category:Albums produced by Phil Ramone

Category:Warner Bros. Records compilation albums

This text has been derived from Songs of Conscience and Concern on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0

Artist/Band Information

Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio who ultimately became one of the biggest acts of the 1960s. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers.

Influences

Mary Travers has said she was influenced by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the Weavers. In the documentary Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy members of The Weavers discuss how Peter, Paul and Mary took over the torch of the social commentary of folk music in the 1960s. The group paid tribute to some of their folk mentors and contemporaries in their "Lifeline Concert" in 2004.

History

Early Years (1961–69)

Manager Albert Grossman created Peter, Paul and Mary in 1961, after auditioning several singers in the New York folk scene. After rehearsing them out of town in Miami, Grossman booked them into The Bitter End, a coffee house and popular folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. They recorded their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "500 Miles", "Lemon Tree", and the Pete Seeger hit tunes "If I Had a Hammer" (subtitled "(The Hammer Song)") and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The album was listed in the Billboard Magazine Top Ten for 10 months, including seven weeks in the #1 position. It remained a main catalog-seller for decades to come, eventually selling over two million copies, earning Double Platinum certification from the RIAA in the United States alone.

The group made its television debut in either 1961 or 1962 on the PM East/PM West talk show hosted by Mike Wallace and Joyce Davidson. By 1963, Peter, Paul and Mary had recorded three albums. All three were in the Top Ten the week of President Kennedy's assassination.

In 1963 the group also released "Puff the Magic Dragon", with music by Yarrow and words based on a poem that had been written by a fellow student at Cornell, Leonard Lipton. Despite urban myths that insist the song is filled with drug references, it is actually about the lost innocence of childhood. On January 14, 1964 they performed on the Jack Benny television program, with the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' In the Wind".

That year the group performed "If I Had a Hammer" at the 1963 March on Washington, best remembered for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. One of their biggest hit singles was the Bob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind". They also sang other Bob Dylan songs, such as: "The Times They Are a-Changin'"; "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"; and "When the Ship Comes In", perhaps their most memorable piece. Their manager, Albert Grossman, was also Dylan's manager. Their success with Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" aided Dylan's "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" album into the Top 30. (It had been released four months earlier.) The Times Obituary of Mary Travers September 18, 2009

"Leaving On A Jet Plane" became their only #1 hit (as well as their final Top 40 Pop hit) in December 1969, and was written by the group's friend John Denver. It was the group's only million-selling Gold single. The track first appeared on their million-selling Platinum certified Album 1700 in 1967 (which also contained their #9 hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music"). "Day Is Done", a #21 hit in June 1969, was the last Hot 100 hit that the trio recorded.

Breakup (1970–78)

The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue solo careers, but found little of the success which they had experienced as a group—although Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There is Love)" (written for Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senator Eugene McCarthy) was a hit and has become a wedding standard since its 1971 release.

Reunions (1978–2009)

In 1978, they reunited for a concert to protest against nuclear energy, and continued to record albums together and tour, playing around 45 shows a year, until the 2009 death of Mary Travers.

The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

The trio were prolific political activists for their involvement in the peace movement and other causes. They were awarded the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience on September 1, 1990.

In 2004, Travers was diagnosed with leukemia, leading to the cancellation of the remaining tour dates for that year. She received a bone marrow transplant. She and the rest of the trio resumed their concert tour on December 9, 2005 with a holiday performance at Carnegie Hall.

Peter, Paul and Mary received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.

The trio sang in Mitchell, South Dakota, for the George and Eleanor McGovern Library and Center for Leadership dedication concert on October 5, 2006.

The trio canceled several dates of their summer 2007 tour, as Mary took longer than expected to recover from back surgery and later had to undergo a second surgery, further postponing the tour.

Travers was unable to perform on the trio's tour in summer 2009 due to her leukemia, but Peter and Paul performed the scheduled dates as a duo, calling the show "Peter & Paul Celebrate Mary and 5 Decades of Friendship."

The Peter, Paul and Mary trio came to an end on September 16, 2009, when Mary Travers died at age 72 of complications from chemotherapy, following treatment for leukemia. It was the same year (2009) they were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Legacy

In 2010, Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, the surviving members of Peter, Paul and Mary, requested that the National Organization for Marriage stop using their recording of "This Land is Your Land" at their rallies, stating in a letter that the organization's philosophy was "directly contrary to the advocacy position" held by the group.

In popular culture

In Britney Spears's 2009 single "3", Peter, Paul and Mary are referenced.

Peter Yarrow mentions in the documentary Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy that they always tried to put at least one song on each album for children. The group is shown on the documentary singing a concert for children.

In Seinfeld episode 9 "The Phone Message" George sings the Peter, Paul and Mary hit "Lemon Tree" to warn Jerry that the woman he is dating is coming into the room.

In Will & Grace, Jack often refers to Peter, Paul and Mary.

In the major motion picture Armageddon, Ben Affleck starts singing "Leaving on a Jet Plane", before departing into outer space.

In Meet the Parents, Greg and Jack are listening to "Puff, the Magic Dragon" while driving to the store, and Greg is embarrassed trying to explain the supposed meaning of the lyrics.

In Stephen King's Desperation, in the very beginning of the movie, the local cop says to the couple (Peter and Mary) "You’re Peter…you’re Mary…so, where’s Paul? I mean how can you sing Puff the Magic Dragon – without Paul?"

In Saved by the Bell Zach Morris' mom attends a Peter, Paul, and Mary concert and brings Zach back a poster.

In Depeche Mode's 2001 song "Breathe", Peter, Paul and Mary are referenced.

The song "Early in the Morning" is used in an episode of Mad Men.

Discography

Singles

Albums

* 1962: Peter, Paul and Mary

* 1963: Moving

* 1963: In the Wind

* 1965: A Song Will Rise

* 1965: See What Tomorrow Brings

* 1966: The Peter, Paul and Mary Album

* 1967: Album 1700

* 1968: Late Again

* 1969: Peter, Paul and Mommy

* 1978: Reunion

* 1983: Such Is Love

* 1986: No Easy Walk To Freedom

* 1990: Flowers & Stones

* 1995: Once Upon The Time

* 1995: LifeLines

* 1996: LifeLines Live

* 2000: Don't Laugh at Me

* 2004: In These Times

* 2008: The Solo Recordings (1971–1972)

* 2010: "The Prague Sessions"

Compilations

* 1970: The Best of Peter, Paul and Mary: Ten Years Together

* 1998: Around the Campfire

* 1998: The Collection

* 1999: Songs of Conscience and Concern

* 2004: Carry It On

* 2005: The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary

* 2005: Platinum Collection

* 2006: Weave Me the Sunshine

Live albums

* 1964: In Concert

* 1983: Such Is Love

* 1988: A Holiday Celebration

* 1993: Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too

See also

*List of number-one hits (United States)

*List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

Videography

* 1986: Peter, Paul & Mary 25th Anniversary Concert

* 1988: Peter, Paul & Mary Holiday Concert

* 1993: Peter, Paul & Mommy, Too

* 1996: Peter, Paul & Mary: Lifelines Live

* 2004: Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy

References

This text has been derived from Peter, Paul and Mary on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0