A Fond Farewell

I was rather sad recently when I heard about the passing of Mary Travers. I'm guessing that most of you won't recognize that name, but I'm also willing to bet nearly everyone will recognize the trio she sang with, Peter, Paul, and Mary. I grew up listening to this Peter, Paul, & Mary album.

I remember putting it on the record player and listening to it over and over and over. I still have it somewhere. I knew the album practically by heart. (I still do.) I knew exactly at what place during "In the Early Morning Rain" the record was scratched and would begin to skip and repeat and just how hard to press on the needle so that it would play through instead.

Somewhere in my teens or twenties I picked the album up on CD as well as one or two more. I love the harmonies, the beautiful guitar melodies, and the infinitely singable lyrics. I'm sure that Peter, Paul, and Mary have influenced my preference in music far more than I've ever given them credit. They are fantastic singers and great storytellers. To this day I'm rather fond of folk music on the whole and also of kindred styles like New Grass/Blue Grass (but NOT most country :P). I love great vocalist with songs that tell stories like Alison Krauss, Sam Payne, Norah Jones, and Sting.

I think that music has lost one of the greats in Mary Travers. I hope she's not forgotten. In fact, I'm going to make sure that I rip my Peter, Paul and Mary albums to MP3 and add them to my kids' MP3 playlists. I hope they love the music as much as I do.

I took a few minutes to search about for songs from the album that I love so much. I was able to find 8 of 13, not too bad. I hope you take a few minutes to enjoy some of the best music ever recorded. :)