At Newport 1963-1965

by Peter, Paul and Mary

Overview

In the wake of a new interest in folk music sparked by the success of the Kingston Trio, the Newport Folk Festival was launched in 1959, and it soon became a combination coming-out party and annual gathering of the tribes for folk and blues artists of all stripes. After the release of their first album in 1962, Peter, Paul and Mary effectively supplanted the Kingston Trio as the user-friendly face of the new folk community, as the lively Greenwich Village scene caught the public's fancy. There was a particular resonance to Peter, Paul and Mary's 1963 appearance at Newport, as they were both the biggest stars in folk, having broken through to massive mainstream popularity, and also the singers who had helped popularize a number of rising songwriters, most notably Bob Dylan, who would redefine the notion of folk musically and culturally. PP&M were also on the Newport bill in 1965, the year Dylan plugged in his electric guitar and unwittingly signaled the end of folk's time as a voice for conscious youth. PP&M's 1963 and 1965 appearances at Newport were recorded and filmed, and At Newport 1963-1965 pulls together highlights from their performances. It's an entertaining and compelling set that also captures them at a specific time and place; here they were at their peak, with nowhere to go but down. If the sheer earnestness of Peter, Paul and Mary's performing style seems a bit quaint several decades after the fact, it was also a genuine reflection of the tenor of the times, as well as the sense of political and social importance that was so much a part of the salad days of '60s folk. It wouldn't be long before much of America became too cynical to accept songs like "If I Had a Hammer" and "Because All Men Are Brothers" at face value, but the courage and vigor of this music is a reminder of a time before the '60s turned bitter, and the conviction that informs this music is a genuinely remarkable thing. Even more importantly, this album is a vivid reminder of why Peter, Paul and Mary enjoyed such enduring popularity -- they were excellent at what they did. Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers were all fine lead vocalists, and together they were a superb ensemble, with marvelous harmonies and faultless instincts about where and how to weave their voices together. While these recordings were clearly cut live, with occasional technical flubs to remind us, PP&M's vocals practically never falter and their singing has lost little of its luster even if their style has fallen out of fashion. At Newport 1963-1965 is valuable as a musical snapshot of a very different time in American history, but it's the simple, unadorned beauty of Peter, Paul and Mary's voices that makes this worth coming back to. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	08/16/2019
Label:	Shout! Factory
UPC:	0826663192766

Tracks

1. If I Had a Hammer
2. San Francisco Bay Blues
3. Wasn¿¿¿t That a Time
4. Because All Men Are Brothers
5. If I Had My Way
6. Jesus Met the Woman at the Well
7. On a Desert Island
8. Rising of the Moon
9. Puff, the Magic Dragon
10. Miner¿¿¿s Lifeguard
11. Blowin¿¿¿ in the Wind
12. When the Ship Comes In
13. Tryin¿¿¿ to Win
14. Hangman
15. Go Tell Aunt Rhody
16. Betty & Dupree
17. Early in the Morning
18. The Times They Are A-Changin¿¿¿
19. Come Go With Me to That Land

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Peter, Paul and Mary   Primary Artist
Odetta   Featured Artist,Lead
Joan Baez   Featured Artist
Pete Seeger   Featured Artist
Peter Yarrow   Featured Artist
Ronnie Gilbert   Featured Artist
Theodore Bikel   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Lee Hays   Composer
Leonard Lipton   Composer
Michael Ribas   Project Supervisor
Karrie Stouffer   Package Supervision
Brian Blum   Project Supervisor
Walter Lowenfels   Composer
Andrew Robinson   Package Design
Joel Hendler   Composer,Adaptation
Traditional   Composer
Noel Paul Stookey   Arranger,Composer,Adaptation
Sonny Terry   Composer
Bob Dylan   Composer
Kevin Salem   Mixing,Producer,Mastering
Pete Seeger   Composer
Peter Yarrow   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Adaptation
Jesse Fuller   Composer
Mary Travers   Arranger,Composer,Adaptation
Rev. Gary Davis   Composer
Milton Okun   Arranger,Composer,Adaptation
Tom Glazer   Composer
Brownie McGhee   Composer
Jeff Palo   Production Supervisor
Dick Kniss   Composer