50 Years With Peter, Paul and Mary

JIM BROWN

Join us for 50 years with Peter, Paul and Mary. It's an anniversary special featuring America's favorite folk group singing the songs that changed history and became the soundtrack of our lives. Fifty Years With Peter, Paul and Mary, on PBS. Explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this. Made available for everyone through contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you. Thank you.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

In the early sixties those of us who shared the village's crucible of creativity looked at ourselves with fresh eyes and listened to one another with fresh ears. The world was changing fast and traditional concepts of success were being turned upside down, and new ideas were forming around what was important, truthful, honest and worth pursuing in life. For the moment, money didn't matter, things didn't matter, security didn't matter. We were healthy, young and filled with the intoxication of the Village, which gave us this cloak of invulnerability. Once in kaki suits Gee we looked swell Full of that Yankee Doodle-dee Dum A half a million boots went sloggin' through hell I was the kid with the drum

PETER YARROW

When I was singing in Greenwich Village, Albert Grossman came to listen to me and people told me that when I sang, "Buddy Can You Spare a Dime," it brought tears to his eyes, and later he suggested that we form a trio, which became Peter, Paul and Mary.

MARY TRAVERS

There was a moment when Peter and Albert Grossman walked up the stairs into Izzy Young's Folklore Center (PNS: "Can I help you?") which sold guitar strings and guitars and what not, and on the wall there were pictures of everybody who had ever sung a note in folk music, and Peter is purported to have said, "She's interesting looking." And Albert said, "Oh, that's Mary Travers. She'd be good if you could get her to work."

PETER YARROW

When I had gone over to sing with Mary just alone, it was OK, but nothing real special. Mary and I went over to visit Noel Paul Stookey at his Lower East Side apartment. Noel was a brilliant Village comedian but also a terrific musician. So, when I sang with them, there was not only the musical edge, but each voice was its own character. And I -- in the sense that we are young and foolish and sure of ourselves -- I was sure, I was sure that this was it.

MARY TRAVERS

I, I had absolutely no idea whether it was going to happen or not. All I knew is these guys showed up at my apartment, and we would rehearse and I would cook lunch for them, and it was great.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

We're not familial-ly connected, we're heart connected. And so when we bend to each other it's because we care and have respect for each other, and I think you can really feel and hear that in the harmonies, in the texture of what we sing. If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles. You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles. Lord I'm one, Lord I'm two, Lord I'm three, Lord I'm four, Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home Five hundred miles, five hundred miles, five hundred miles, five hundred miles Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home. If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles (Sound of applause)

PETER YARROW

Lightning had struck. Almost every day we were thrust into a new spotlight. During our first year of touring, we performed six concerts a week for almost twelve straight months. Among other remarkable adventures, we sang for President John F. Kennedy, and met the president in person. Amazing.

AUSTRALIAN INTERVIEWER

How long did it take the group to be commercially successful in folk music?

PETER YARROW

Actually it was pretty phenomenal. We rehearsed for seven months and then we started to perform. Three months later we released our first album. Three months after that it was the number one best-selling album in America. Obviously it didn't happen because of a lot of promotion -- or because a lot of people had seen us; they hadn't. It was what we call an underground phenomenon.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

That first album rose to the top of the charts where it lingered and revisited the top ten for the next three years. You read about Sampson, and you read about his birth He was the strongest man that ever lived on earth One day Sampson was walking along He looked down on the ground and he saw an old jaw-bone He lifted up that jaw-bone and he swung it over his head And when he got to moving ten thousand was dead If I had my way If I had my way in this wicked world If I had my way I would tear this building down! Oh, Sampson and old lion they got in attack And oh, Sampson he crawled up the lion's back You read about this lion-- he killed a man with his paw Sampson he got his hands around that lion's jaw And he ripped that beast until the lion was dead And the bees made honey in the lion's head If I had my way If I had my way in this wicked world If I had my way I would tear this building down! Delilah she was a woman, she was fine and fair And she had lovely looks, and she had cold black hair Delilah she climbed up on Sampson's knee And said, "Tell me where your strength lies, if you please" She talked so fine, she talked so fair, And oh,Sampson said, "Delilah, cut off my hair, You can shave my head just as clean as your hand And my strength will be like a natural man" If I had my way If I had my way in this wicked world If I had my way I would tear this building down! (Sound of applause)

PETER YARROW

Having grown up in the Village, Mary was one of the most notable and admired denizens. A single mother of 23, and recently separated from her writer husband, Mary was on "Mommy Duty" as we called it, most of the day, caring for one-year-old Erica.

BETTY STOOKEY

To be that popular, that young, that early, that fast, Was pretty heady.

ALICIA TRAVERS

She read, she sang. She wasn't a social person. Nobody thought she would make anything of herself. Um, she didn't finish high school. So I think she always felt...like an underdog.

ETHAN ROBBINS

Her mother was a writer, and when she grew up with her mother in the Village, her mother brought all kinds of interesting people to the home. And Mary lived around Washington Square so there were a lot of interesting people from artists of painting, to singing, to writers, so she developed an ethic.

AUSTRALIAN INTERVIEWER

Do you like be identified with the so-called " coffeehouse beatniks"?

MARY TRAVERS

I think -- I assume that their definition for beatniks are someone who is non-constructive, someone who is basically negative to society, somebody who does not wish to work, who has no interest in any specific thing, and someone who is basically unwashed. I am none of these things, therefore I can't take Time's definition of what a beatnik is. Does it mean that I'm a little bit of a rebel in certain areas, I certainly am.

GLORIA STEINEM

For young women, me included, watching Mary, I'm sure it was helpful for me to know that, uh, a woman could be strong and have her own voice, and uh, be her own self, and, uh, be fully...expressive of what she really thought. Instead of what we were trained to do in the fifties and into the sixties which was to sort of giggle and laugh and say, "How clever of you to know what time it is."

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

Visually when we sang together it was Mary who commanded the stage. Albert used to say that when people first attended a PP&M concert all they could really see or hear was Mary's performance, and in many ways he was right. The first time ever I saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave To the dark and the empty skies, my love To the dark and the empty skies The first time ever I kissed your mouth I felt the earth move in my hand Like the trembling heart of a captive bird That was there at my command, my love That was there at my command The first time ever I held you near and felt your heart beat close to mine And I thought our joy would fill the world And would last 'til the end of time, my love And would last 'til the end of time (Sounds of applause)

MARY TRAVERS

There's a quote of Charles Ives, uh,...and he says a song has a few rights. And I think one of the things that makes Peter, Paul and Mary special is that we always felt that way about each song that we, uh, attempted to arrange.

PETER YARROW

From the beginning, Peter, Paul and Mary were very interested in discovering the music of others. In Greenwich Village when we started it wasn't a matter of saying,(gruffly) "This is my song-- don't steal my song." It was a compliment if you went across the street, you found a song somebody else did and then you did it and they said, "Oh, it's a great version!" In the early morning rain with a dollar in my hand And an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sand I'm a long way from home and I miss my loved ones so In the early morning rain with no place to go Hear the mighty engines roar See the silver wing on high See the silver wing on high She's away and westward bound -- far above the clouds she'll fly Where the morning rain don't fall and the sun always shines She'll be flying over my home in about three hours time This old airport's got me down -- it's no earthly good to me 'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground as cold and drunk as I might be You can't jump a jet plane like you can a freight train So, I'd best be on my way in the early morning rain So, I'd best be on my way in the early morning rain (Sound of applause) Puff the Magic Dragon is not specifically a children's song. From an adult's perspective it's about the sadness that occurs when that innocence of childhood goes. It was just a sweet song that all of a sudden captured the imagination of young people, of kids. Oh, Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancystuff, oh Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee, a little louder, Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee A dragon lives forever but not so little boys Painted wings and giant's rings make way for other toys One gray night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave, oh Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee, last time now! Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee (Applause) (Applause) Come and go with me to that land Come and go with me to that land where I'm bound For four days in July on the coast of Rhode Island, the space between artist and listener ceased to exist. Newport became a beacon, a demonstration of our collective hopes and dreams for a better, more equitable and fairer world. If I had a hammer I'd hammer in the morning I'd hammer in the evening All over this land I'd hammer out danger I'd hammer out a warning I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land, oooh If I had a bell I'd ring it in the morning I'd ring it in the evening All over this land I'd ring out danger I'd ring out a warning I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

Love was in the air. And the music of hope and emotion was giving birth to new ways of viewing the world that would ultimately reshape all of our destinies, as individuals, and as a society. I'd sing out danger I'd sing out a warning

PETER YARROW

The messages were personal, of course. But also by implication, political. All over this land, oooh I got a hammer And I got a bell And I got a song to sing, all over this land It's the hammer of Justice It's the bell of Freedom It's the song about Love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land It's the hammer of Justice It's the bell of Freedom It's the song about Love between my brothers and my sisters All over this land (Sound of applause)

MARTHA HERTZBERG

In 1963 they had three albums in the top ten. They were enormously successful, a huge commercial success, and they knew that they were reaching millions of people. At that time, they joined Dr. Martin Luther King for the March on Washington.

OSSIE DAVIS

And now, a group of singers who have come to help express in song what this great meeting is all about. I give you now, Peter, Paul and Mary. (Audience applauds and cheers) How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? How many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

We were overwhelmed by the remarkable and powerful ways Blowin' In The Wind spoke to the social and political movements of our time.

PETER YARROW

Now music began to inspire America. Tweak its conscience, and articulate its dreams. How many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? How many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind

MARY TRAVERS

I remember being up on the steps of the Lincoln Monument and I truly believed at that moment that it was possible, proof-positive possible, that human beings could join together, for their greater good. The answer is blowin' in the wind (Applause)

PETER YARROW

We were three young people in our twenties, who had known popularity for less than two years, but when we sang Blowin' In The Wind that day, it changed the way we saw the world and our role in it.

MARY BETH YARROW

There was an epiphany that happened at that moment, that they had an importance, that their music, and this entity of Peter, Paul and Mary had a responsibility beyond being successful.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

We knew that our involvement in some events could cost us fans and sales. Our record company predicted that if we participated in the Selma-Montgomery Civil Rights March we would lose a significant part of our record-buying audience in the South. To their credit, they never discouraged us from participating in such appearances. And the first one now will later be last For the times, they are a-changin'

MARTHA HERZBERG

They received death threats, uh, they got hate mail. But this didn't deter them. They kept singing and they kept singing for things that they believed in.

PETER YARROW

We were told that we would be all killed if we went to the civil rights march in Frankfurt, Kentucky. In the end a bomb did go off, but it was only a smoke bomb, designed to frighten and intimidate the participants. (Chanting, "Peace -- Now") The Vietnam anti-war movement emerged right out of the civil rights movement. There emerged in America a hunger to be proud of who we were, and insist that we were not just to give lip service to being a moral nation.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

Folk music and its inclusive message allowed us to make an appeal to a very broad spectrum of people across partisan and ideological divides. The Cruel War is raging, Johnny has to fight I want to be with him from morning 'til night I want to be with him, it grieves my heart so Won't you let me go with you? No, my love, no. Tomorrow is Sunday, Monday is the day That your captain will call you and you must obey Your captain will call you, it grieves my heart so Won't you let me go with you? No, my love, no. Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, I fear you are unkind I love you far better than all of mankind I love you far better than words can e'er express Won't you let me go with you? Yes, my love, yes

PETER YARROW

The oppositional split in America deepened as the war progressed. Those of us who opposed the war viewed its continuation as immoral, based upon mistaken thinking, or outright lies. Oooooh, yes, my love yes (Sound of applause)

MARY BETH YARROW

The first time I met the group... it was in 1968. It was the Gene McCarthy primary. They had been campaigning for Gene all summer long. They had written the campaign song "If You Love Your Country and the Things for Which It Stands." When we will not pursue a peace to end an unjust war We are all responsible for what's done in this war Democracy means we can decide, that's what our vote is for! If you love your country and the things for which it stands Vote for Gene McCarthy, and bring peace to this our land There was a huge movement against the war. Because we had the draft at that time there were students who, who were stepping up to say, "We want to end this war."

MARY TRAVERS

Into each generation or two must come great organizers.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

One of our members, Peter, in particular, he reminds you when he asks you, that this is an important cause, and that it's important for us to come together. (Sounds of protest march)

PETER YARROW

We kept a pretty low profile as organizers, because there was an enemies list, and there were repercussions.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

We joined people like Pete Seeger at rallies, particularly the one in sixty-nine in Washington.

MARY TRAVERS

Peter organized that one and it was incredible. There were thousands upon thousands of people. Is this your first one?

BOY

(Nods) Mmmhhh

MARY TRAVERS

My Mommy took me marching at about your age. It's a good beginning.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

By the end of the war, some three million people had died. The United States had lost more than fifty-eight thousand soldiers.

MARTHA HERTZBERG

One of the most, uh, powerful songs -- anti-war songs, to my mind, is the Great Mandala. Tell the jailer not to bother With his meal of bread and water today He is fasting 'til the killing's over He's a martyr, he thinks he's a prophet But he's a coward, he's just playing a game He can't do it, he can't change it It's been going on for ten thousand years Take your place on the Great Mandala As it moves through your brief moment of time Win or lose now, you must choose now And if you lose you're only losing your life

MARY BETH YARROW

I know that you drop a stone in the water, and it has a ripple effect.

And one never knows how far that reaches...

but one of the most meaningful ripples of that effect... was the mother... of a soldier who died

in Vietnam...

who called and asked Peter if she

could put the words to The Great Mandala

on her son's tombstone. And if you lose you've only wasted your life

PETER YARROW

If we were to be so focused on political activism and making the world a better place that we didn't love to be together and laugh at the absurdity of the world together, our lives would be totally out of balance.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

You know when the idea was first proposed that we do a rock and roll tune, and we were the ones that proposed doing it, the information was volunteered that it would be over Albert's dead body. See Albert Grossman is our manager, and that was his body. And we thought that was a groovy idea for the title of the tune. We were gonna call it I Dig Albert's Dead Body -- but we knew it wouldn't get played on the radio so, so we decided to call it instead... Hey!Ha! uh-huh, Hey! Well I dig rock and roll music And I love to get the chance to play, and sing it I figure it's about the happiest sound goin' down today The message may not move me Or mean a great deal to me But hey!

It feels so groovy to say

I dig the Mamas and the Papas...

MARY TRAVERS

I remember a lot of people when they first

heard I Dig Rock and Roll Music

"Are you making fun of those people?" I said, "Absolutely not.": I mean Cass Elliot was a dear friend of mine, and I adored her. Hey! They really nailed me to the wall, yeah!

MARY TRAVERS

I loved Donovan, you know, we saw Donovan

several times

up at the Newport Folk Festivals. You know, these were all people we admired. But it was all tongue in cheek. And when the Beatles tell you They've got a word "love" to sell you They mean exactly what they say

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

The Beatles of course was a send-up, but it was so much fun of course to emulate the sound. I dig rock and roll music I could really get it on in that scene. I think I could say somethin' if you know what I mean But if I really say it, the radio won't play it Unless I lay it between the lines Ba-ba-ba... (Singers scat) (Sound of applause) f applause)

MARY TRAVERS

When you talk in the plural all the time, you know, "we did this," "we did that,": you never say I!: And... it was time to develop an "I."

BETTY STOOKEY

It was very hard, you know, to have a cohesive family unit, when there were all these other people coming and sort of pulling Noel away in different directions.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

I'm trying to put up a wall between, uh, what I do for a living and...and how I get away from it at home, because it's really important to get away from it, you know?

BETTY STOOKEY

Noel kind of had a, a re-born experience, and he went into that very deeply.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

You write a song like I Dig Rock and Roll Music, which is a groovy song on one level but on another level it's got nothing to do with this, man, this is water!

ANNA STOOKEY

There was a real shift toward...oh, what if this is about more than just me?

KATE STOOKEY

Faith is something that unites us,

all of us...

which is, at its core, what a lot of my father's music was about. Passing conversations Where they mentioned Your existence And the fact that You had been replaced by Your assistants The discussion was theology And when they smiled and turned to me All that I could say was I believe in You

LIZ STOOKEY

He had to get back to the earth. He had to get back to his family. He needed some grounding. My sense is that it broke him up.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

I just came to the point where I said, hey I've gotta make a right-hand turn, I've gotta save my family...I've got to get to know them again... and I've got to move to the coast of Maine.

PETER YARROW

We didn't plan to stop performing, we needed to, and on a gut level it just seemed like the right thing to do.

MARY TRAVERS

When we had our seven-year hiatus of not working together, and not being pressured by Peter, uh, I mean life got a little dull there! (Peter laughs) And I remember the phone rang and Peter said, "I'm putting together this really important anti-nuclear event in California. We've got to do it together."

PETER YARROW

In the case of Survival Sunday, the objective was the prevent Diablo Canyon, a new Northern California plant that had been built, right next to the San Andreas earthquake fault, from going on-line.

JULIE THOMPSON

Peter, Paul and Mary were the glue that held the whole day together. They hadn't performed in seven years... And they lifted the audience with their music, and just the whole sense of community, to a different level. Just give me the restless power of the wind Give me the comforting glow of a wood fire But please take all of your atomic poison power away (Applause)

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

Hearing us sing together after such a long hiatus, the crowd greeted us like long lost friends. Activity and advocacy were in our blood, and the call to action was all but irresistible.

PETER YARROW

And of course we'd grown... And I think we all felt excited about it. Not just because it felt so comfortable doing it again, but because it had meaning -- because it wasn't a matter of looking back. It was current, and going forward!

MARY TRAVERS

By the time we got back together again, we had grown up, and we had a much better idea about what we need for emotional sustenance...and what we needed for intellectual sustenance... and how to, to get the balance.

PETER YARROW

Twenty-fifth anniversaries are rare for musical groups. So when our trio reached age twenty-five, we decided we would celebrate in several special ways.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

We made a series of visits to homeless shelters. Our intent was to add our voices to the efforts of many others who sought to correct the public's misconceptions about homelessness. Show me the alley, show me the train Show me the hobo, who sleeps out in the rain And I'll show you a young man With so many reasons why There but for fortune, go you or go I You and I... Show me the famine, show me the frail Eyes with no future, that show how we've failed And I'll show you the children With so many reasons why There but for fortune, go you or I Show me the country Where bombs had to fall Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall And I'll show you a young lad With so many reasons why There but for fortune, go you or go I You and I... You and I... There but for fortune Go you or go I You and I... You and I... (Applause)

MARY TRAVERS

There's the old adage, you know, does life imitate art or does art imitate life? I'm not sure which comes first, I only know that Noel read an article, uh, and then wrote a song. I listened to the song, night after night, and said, "I have to go." There's a sunny little country south of Mexico Where the winds are gentle and the waters flow The breezes aren't the only things that blow In El Salvador If you took the little lady for a moonlight drive Odds are still good you'd come back alive But everyone is innocent until they arrive In El Salvador

PETER YARROW

We made a human rights delegation trip to El Salvador and Nicaragua and we saw things that we thought were so horrific, in terms of the results of American foreign policy, that we were really ashamed of what our government was doing. Why doesn't the president do something to stop the military and the death squads from making these assassinations, disappearances and murders? (A man speaks in Spanish)

TRANSLATOR

The repression is no longer massive, it is very selective. They will watch someone, they will put a spy on his trail, and when they gather enough information, they will then pick him up at night, and assassinate him.

MARY TRAVERS

Do you feel that it will always be this struggle, or do you feel that someday there will be a different kind of Salvador? (A man speaks in Spanish)

TRANSLATOR

Yes, we do have faith that someday we will have a new El Salvador, and we want you to tell your people, through the churches, through whatever means you have, that the money being sent here is money that kills people. The day the United States stops sending aid to El Salvador, things here will change. Do you ask why I'm sighing my son? You shall inherit what mankind has done And in a world filled with sorrow and woe When you ask me why is this so, I really don't know And if you take my hand, my son All will be well when the day is done And if you take my hand, my son All will be well when the day is done When the day is done When the day is done When the day is done When the day is done (Sound of applause)

MARY TRAVERS

There are certain things that it's very important to experience together when you're an artistic entity. Things that stay with you, and that inspire you, for the rest of your lives.

KEN FRITZ

They never change, you know, heh. There's a cause and they're there.

PETER YARROW

In January of 1986 we participated in a rally in Washington, D. C., that supported the U.S. boycott of South Africa. That boycott had become a means to successfully pressure the South African government to end apartheid's near-slavery oppression of blacks.

BETHANY YARROW

We were going to join hands and we would start singing, and we would link arms like this and we would sing, "We shall overcome."

ALICIA TRAVERS

You know, we broke the five hundred feet rule, and got arrested.

KEN FRITZ

It was an expression of the way we, felt, and being supportive.

BETHANY YARROW

It was a mini training in civil disobedience.

ALICIA TRAVERS

My mother said, you know, it was three generations in handcuffs... And proudly so.

MARY TRAVERS

When I'm crazed with on-the-road, I get in the car, and I come to the country. I want to cook for myself, my family, my friends, I want to play with my grandchildren - you know I wanna live like a real person.

ALICIA TRAVERS

She wasn't your conventional mother, but she was always in the house, always available. She was strict --uh, you know, we all had curfews, and rules to live by. She didn't ask you to do something...more than once.

ETHAN ROBBINS

Mary's passions were her children, her family, her friends... her work.

ALICIA TRAVERS

I think that she enjoyed...being in a position to make a difference.

PETER YARROW

In 1998 our manager Martha Hertzberg, urged us to visit the United Farm Workers in Watsonville, California. Pesticides were causing widespread health problems and the vastly underpaid stoop labor work was backbreaking.

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

They embraced us as brothers and sisters and our hearts went out to them. We returned from that trip refreshed, reenergized and ready to carry on the work and sing our songs with a clearer understanding of the challenges we faced.

MARY TRAVERS

And in this song, Woody deals with the plight of migrant farmers. It was a great song when he wrote it almost forty years ago. Today, unfortunately, it seems even more relevant, as America turns its face on its immigrants, and its migrant workers. (Guitar) The crops are all in, and the peaches are rotting The oranges piled in their creosote dumps They're flyin' us back to the Mexican border To pay all our money just to wade back again Some of us are illegal and some of us are not wanted Our work contract's out and it's time to move on Six hundred miles to that Mexican border They chase us like outlaws, like thieves on the run Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane All they will call you will be deportee The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos canyon A fireball of lightning that shook all the hills Who are these friends now all scattered like dry leaves? The radio says they were just deportees Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye Rosalita Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria You won't have a name when you ride the big airplane All they will call you will be deportee (Guitar) (Applause)

PETER YARROW

In our PBS special, Lifelines, we wanted to focus on the family of folksingers with whom we grew up, who we loved, and who we admired. Oh Stewball was a racehorse, and I wish he were mine He never drank water, he always drank wine --His bridle was silver-- His bridle was silver --his mane it was gold-- his mane it was gold --And the worth of his saddle-- And the worth of his saddle -- has never been told-- has never been told-- Oh the fairgrounds were crowded-- The fairgrounds were... The family of folk is a special group of people with special relationships. ...and Stewball was there --But the betting was heavy, let me hear you sing-- on the bay and the mare In the family of folk there was a strong mutual support in times of personal trials. There's also trust and genuine love and a deep appreciation of each other as artists and friends. The grey mare she stumbled And fell to the ground And a-way up yonder, ahead of them all Came a-prancin' and a-dancin' my noble Stewball I bet on the grey mare, I bet on the bay If I'd have bet on my Stewball, I'd be a free man today Oh Stewball was a racehorse, and I wish he were mine He never drank water, he always drank wine (Applause) (Applause)

MARY TRAVERS

Mr. Pete Seeger (Sound of applause) Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago Where have all the flowers gone? The young girls have picked them ev'ry one Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn? Where have all the young girls gone? Long time passing Where have all the young girls gone? Long time ago Where have all the young girls gone? Gone to young men every one Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn? Where have all the young men gone? Long time passing Where have all the young men gone? Long time ago Where have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers every one Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn?

PETER YARROW

This is one of the songs that we sing virtually every time we do a concert.

MARY TRAVERS

But to sing it with Pete was...incredible. Because here you had the, the genesis of the song, and then another generation of it, and of course the audience singing it as well. And the audience was comprised of people who were in their eighties, as well as people who were eight. Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn? And where have all the graveyards gone? Long time passing Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time ago Where have all the graveyards gone? Gone to flowers every one

PETE SEEGER

Way back in 1955 I'd come across three lines out of a famous book. "Where are the flowers -- The girls have plucked them. Where are the girls -- They're all married. Where are the men -- They're all in the army. I did not realize when I put the song together, an ancient, ancient question, was phrased so poetically. Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago Where have all the flowers gone? The young girls have picked them ev'ry one Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn? (Applause)

PETER YARROW

We were particularly inspired that night. It was one of our really great performances of our last years together. (Guitar)

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

In November of 2004 Mary received devastating health news. She had acute myelogenous leukemia.

PETER YARROW

The trio continued performing for another four years at Mary's insistence.

ETHAN ROBBINS

Mary got emails from people all over the world. Uh, from adults, from children. She got twenty-eight volumes of uh letters from schoolchildren, wishing her well, and missing her. And you have grown suspicious of the past And you wonder if the dreams we shared together Have abandoned us or we abandoned them And you cast about and try to find new meaning So that you can feel that closeness once again Carry on, my sweet survivor Carry on, my lonely friend Don't give up your dream Don't you let it end Carry on, my sweet survivor Though you know that something's gone For everything that matters, carry on What an extraordinary gathering, I, I, I think if Mary were here she'd look out at all of you and say, "This is like a class reunion of the Nixon enemies list." (Laughter and clapping from audience)

JOHN KERRY

Bob Dylan said that a song is like...a dream. Well, Mary believed that too, but she also believed... that songs could make dreams a reality, and she believed deeply that you, and me, and all of us had a responsibility to make that happen. She was the voice of peace at a troubled time in the life of the country. She has always stood strongly against bigotry and racism. There was something really different about Mary Travers. She didn't look like anybody else, she didn't move like anybody else. She wasn't, she wasn't stiff when she sang. When she sang, she sang -- her body moved. And the guys were like, "Yeah, yeah." (Audience laughter)

MARTHA HERZBERG

Mary's memorial in New York City was... what she would've wanted it to be. It was very...uplifting. Now she has traveled on. But she has left us her songs, and in good faith, on a journey still unfinished, we must keep on singing, even if off key. It's what she... would have wanted. All my bags are packed I'm ready to go I'm standin' here outside your door One of the most poignant moments in Mary's memorial, was, uh, when Peter, and, Noel Paul, got up to sing Leaving On a Jet Plane... which, was a song where Mary always sang the lead... And...I think even before they encouraged the audience to sing, the audience started singing Mary's part. Kiss me and smile for me Tell me that you'll wait for me Hold me like you'll never let me go I'm leavin' on a jet plane Don't know when I'll be back again Leavin' on a jet plane Don't know when I'll be back again Leavin' on a jet plane Don't know when I'll be back again When Mary passed away, I, I think the guys realized that... the way to honor her was to continue singing. I'm a little boy with glasses, the one they call the geek A little girl who never smiles 'Cause I've got braces on my teeth And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep I'm that kid on every playground who's always chosen last A single teenage mother tryin' to overcome my past You don't have to be my friend, but is it too much to ask? Don't laugh at me, don't call me names Don't get your pleasure from my pain In God's eyes we're all the same Someday we'll all have perfect wings, don't laugh at me

BETHANY YARROW

I brought him this song, and the response to it was so overwhelming. So instead of just recording it, which is what a normal person would do, my dad started a......national movement using music to reach the hearts of schoolchildren, and formed Operation Respect.

MARY BETH YARROW

Which of course is now in twenty-two thousand elementary school across America and many different countries, Israel, Palestine... In God's eyes we're all the same Someday we'll all have perfect wings Don't laugh at me

BETHANY YARROW

What...a gift it is to sing with my father. We shall not, we shall not be moved Like a tree, that's standing by the water We shall not be moved We shall not, we shall not be moved Like a tree, that's standing by the water We shall not be moved

MARTHA HERZBERG

One of the things I think people don't know, and I think is telling about him, is that, he is the same guy in private... He'll jump on a plane for a friend in need without a moment of hesitation.

CHRISTOPHER YARROW

He, he just takes the time with individuals that are in his life, and people that show up. And he has a huge heart.

BETHANY YARROW

For my dad there's no fear, you just have to go down the mountain. For him it was a journey, but it's just, come on, I'm not gonna let a little fear get in the way, let's go, he knows how amazing it is down there. And down at that waterfall he just feels free, and I don't know that he gets to do that so much. And to be able to spend the time like that with your family is such a gift.

BETTY STOOKEY

Every summer all of our children come together. So this year we have um, our three daughters, and our four grandchildren...and that's what we do. We just hang out.

LIZ STOOKEY

This is a family that really loves being together.

KATE STOOKEY

It's like a...commune (laughs).

LIZ STOOKEY

He is so whole, and grounded in his spirituality, it permeates everything he does, in such a lovely, nonjudgmental, um, loving way. I mean, love is his thing. (Sound of Noel Paul saying grace)

MARTHA HERZBERG

Noel is...a prolific writer and, uh, he's very involved in an organization called Music to Life which he runs with his daughter Liz.

LIZ STOOKEY

We design music-based experiences that move people to action.

YOUNG WOMAN

If you people think that music for social change is just some relic of sixties radicals like this handsome man to my right, well just think again. (laughter)

ANNA STOOKEY

And I think Mom grounds him and keeps his head from being too far, in the clouds, and tells him, who he really is.

BETTY STOOKEY

It just seemed very natural that with his spiritual music, that we would work together, and so, we do now, and we present this multi-faith program in word and song. But we dare to believe that God is there for everyone, and that at their best, the world's faiths all lead to the same ultimate reality, the reality of love. One world, many forests One forest, many trees One tree, many branches One branch, many leaves

LIZ STOOKEY

It moves just about everybody I've ever been in an audience with, who's witnessed this. It moves everybody to think in a different way. (Applause)

GLORIA STEINEM

It's, it's true that there's no more Peter, Paul and Mary in a new sense, you know continuing to do new songs and to perform again. As long as Peter, Paul and Mary are part of our cells and as long as we play Peter, Paul and Mary for younger people, as long as it's the soundtrack, not only of our lives but of lives in the future...there will be a Peter, Paul and Mary. How many roads must a man walk down Before they call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand?

MARTHA HERTZBERG

Mary used to say, if you're gonna sing the music, you gotta live the music...And I believe that they...did that, throughout their entire career. The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind

MARY BETH YARROW

They are a thread in the fabric of this country, of its music, of you know the political justice, um, the world is a better place. It's a different place because of the vibration of Peter, Paul and Mary. How many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? How many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn't see?

KEN FRITZ

Peter, Paul and Mary brought continuity of values... the values that we all embraced in the sixties, they brought to generation after generation after generation.

GLORIA STEINEM

I think they helped us, Americans, to be our authentic selves, because they were. They helped to bring empathy, and wholeness, I would say, as human beings, into the mainstream through their music. How many deaths will it take 'til he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind

NOEL PAUL STOOKEY

And so, I think we reach for a larger politic and the one that I think we've come to agree on, when we see it in each other's lives, and in deference to one another and in respect for one another... The word that comes the closest to it is probably love... It's the one that ties us together. The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer is blowin' in the wind The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind The answer... (Mary Travers) is still peace and justice and equality, and all of us, working for those things, together. And God bless you. (Sounds of applause, stomps and cheers) Go, tell it on the mountain Over the hills and everywhere Go, tell it on the mountain To let my people go Who's that yonder dressed in red? Let my people go Must be the people that Moses led Let my people go Who's that yonder dressed in red? Must be the people that Moses led Go, tell it on the mountain To let my people... Go, Explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this. Made available to everyone through contributions to your PBS station through viewers like you.