Peter, Paul and Mary - This land is your land

FROM CALIFORNIA TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND

En su aniversario natal recordamos a Mary Travers, voz solista del trío folk Peter, Paul and Mary con su versión de This land is your land (Woody Guthrie), contenida en el segundo álbum de estudio del grupo, Moving (1963).

Peter, Paul & Mary - The cruel war

WON'T YOU LET ME GO WITH YOU?

El primer álbum del trío folk estadounidense Peter, Paul & Mary, publicado en mayo de 1962, incluyó Cruel war, composición de Peter Yarrow y Noel 'Paul' Stookey que hacía una clara alusión a la guerra de Vietnam: la enamorada de un soldado no quiere dejarle partir sin ella. Con esta emotiva canción recordamos a la tristemente desaparecida cantante Mary Travers en su 85 aniversario natal.

Cruel war  (lyrics)

The cruel war is raging, Johnny has to fight
I want to be with him from morning to 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.

I'll tie back my hair, men's clothing I'll put on,
I'll pass as your comrade, as we march along.
I'll pass as your comrade, no one will ever know.
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're express
Won't you let me go with you?
Yes, my love, yes.

 

Yes, my love, yes.

 

Peter, Paul & Mary - Where have all the flowers gone?

YOUNG GIRLS HAVE PICKED THEM EVERY ONE

El primer álbum de Peter, Paul & Mary fue editado en mayo de 1962 y se mantuvo cinco semanas en el nº 1 de las listas de Billboard. Finalizaba con esta versión de Where have all the flowers gone?, composición de Pete Seeger que devino todo un clásico antibelicista multiversionado del folk americano. Mary Travers, la voz solista femenina del trío, habría cumplido hoy 83 años.

Peter, Paul & Mary - If I had a hammer

IT'S THE HAMMER OF JUSTICE, IT'S THE BELL OF FREEDOM

Recordamos el aniversario natal de la desaparecida Mary Travers, integrante del trío Peter, Paul & Mary, con If I had a hammer, una de las canciones más conocidas del grupo neoyorquino, incluida en su primer álbum en 1962. La vibrante versión de éstos de la composición de Pete Seeger y Lee Hays trece años anterior apareció asímismo como su segundo single, llegó al nº 10 en las listas estadounidenses, se la utilizó como un himno por los derechos civiles y en 1963 fue premiada con un Grammy. La vigencia de su carga emotiva es, a día de hoy, incuestionable.

If I had a hammer   (lyrics)

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 the danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out the love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

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 the danger
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out the love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a song
I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening
All over this land
I'd sing about the danger
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out the love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Well I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's a song about the 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 a song about the love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Peter, Paul & Mary - Early morning rain

TRIBUTE TO PAUL STOOKEY (Baltimore, Maryland, US, 30-12-1937)

Hoy cumple 79 años el cantante y compositor Paul Stookey, quien, junto a Peter Yarrow y Mary Travers, formó parte del trio folk Peter, Paul and Mary entre 1961 y 1970 en una primera etapa y entre 1978 y 2008 en una segunda. Lo recordamos con Early morning rain, versión en las voces del terceto neoyorquino de una canción de Gordon Lightfoot publicada en 1966.

Early morning rain  (lyrics)

In the early morning rain
With a dollar in my hand
With an aching in my heart
And my pockets full of sand
I'm a long way from home
And I missed my loved one so
In the early morning rain
With no place to go

Out on runway number nine
Big 707 set to go
Well I'm out here on the grass
Where the pavement never grows
Where the liquor tasted good
And the women all were fast
There she goes my friend
She's rolling down at last

Hear the mighty engines roar
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 ol' airport's got me down
It's no earthly good to me
'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground
Cold and drunk as I may 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

 

Peter, Paul and Mary - Blowin' in the wind

RECUERDO A MARY TRAVERS

Hoy cumpliría 81 años la cantante estadounidense Mary Travers (fallecida a los 72), del grupo folk Peter, Paul and Mary. En 1963 la versión a cargo del trío de Blowin' in the wind, la (luego) célebre composición de Bob Dylan, fue la más exitosa de cuantas grabaciones se hicieron de ella, llegando a los más altos puestos en las listas de Billboard. 

Peter, Paul & Mary - Puff, the magic dragon

TRIBUTE TO PETER YARROW (Manhattan, New York, US, 31-5-1938)

Hoy cumple 79 años el cantante y compositor Peter Yarrow, quien, junto a Paul Stookey y Mary Travers, formó parte del trio folk Peter, Paul and Mary entre 1961 y 1970 en una primera etapa y entre 1978 y 2008 en una segunda. Lo recordamos con Puff, the magic dragon, canción con la que Yarrow musicó un poema de Leonard Lipton de 1959 y que, en las voces del terceto neoyorquino, alcanzó el nº 2 en Billboard a comienzos de 1963.

Puff, the magic dragon
(Lipton / Yarrow)

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff, oh!
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail
Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puff's gigantic tail
Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came
Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name, oh!
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee
A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys
One grey 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 Honnah Lee
Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
in a land called Honnah Lee

Peter, Paul and Mary - Leaving on a jet plane

TELL ME THAT YOU'LL WAIT FOR ME
 

El paradigmático trío estadounidense de folk-song Peter, Paul & Mary, creado en 1961 en el Greenwich Village neoyorquino, estaba compuesto por Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey (guitarras y voces) y la incomparable voz solista de Mary Travers, que dejó este mundo en 2009 a los 72 años, a causa de una leucemia diagnosticada cinco años antes.
Con influencias musicales de Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie y The Weavers, la aparición de su primer álbum en 1962 obtuvo un éxito inmediato: permaneció diez meses en las listas USA, estuvo varias semanas en el número uno de LPs, con temas tan emblemáticos como "If I had a hammer", "Where have all the flowers gone?", "The cruel war", etc... y fue Doble Platino, se vendieron más de dos millones de ejemplares, amen de legar a la posteridad varios himnos-bandera para los movimientos por la paz y los derechos civiles.
El trío, ya icónico para los amantes de la canción folk, se mantuvo en activo entre 1961 y 1970, fecha de su primera disolución y, reagrupado en 1978, continuó su trayectoria durante tres décadas más hasta la desaparición de Mary Travers.
A finales de 1969 se editó su single con "Leaving on a jet plane", una preciosa y emotiva canción escrita en absoluto estado de gracia y grabada en 1966 (con otro título, "Baby, I hate to go") por John Denver, amigo del grupo. La obvia conexión de su texto con la simultánea contestación masiva en los Estados Unidos a la Guerra de Vietnam disparó las ventas del disco a seis millones de copias y la canción, naturalmente, fue número uno en Billboard.

LEAVING ON A JET PLANE  (lyrics)

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn
The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry

So 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
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I'll think of you
Every song I sing, I'll sing for you
When I come back, I'll wear your wedding ring

So 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
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Then close your eyes, I'll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say

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
I don't know when I'll be back again
Leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Peter, Paul and Mary - 500 miles

LORD I CAN'T GO A-HOME THIS A-WAY

La reciente visión de la película "Inside Llewyn Davis" de los Coen, ha rescatado en mi memoria "Five hundred miles", preciosa canción de sencillo y repetitivo pero emotivo texto, que particularmente me provoca honda emoción. Se trata de un tema escrito por la cantautora estadounidense Hedy West y publicado en 1961, a comienzos del gran revival de la música folk de aquella época, que tuvo infinidad de versiones, entre las cuales ésta, que Peter, Paul & Mary incluyeron en su álbum de debut en 1962, es mi preferida.

500 MILES (lyrics)

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 500 miles from my home.
500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles
Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home.
Not a shirt on my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way
This a-away, this a-way, this a-way, this a-way,
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way.
If you miss the train I'm on you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.


(Dedicada a todos aquellas personas que, alejadas de su hogar por mucho tiempo, aún lo siguen añorando)