# The SBHonline Community Daily > Music >  >  Blowin' in the Wind

## fins85258

A sad day for Boomers everywhere.............

DANBURY -- Mary Travers, one-third of the iconic 1960s folk-music trio Peter Paul and Mary and for years a resident of Redding, died Wednesday at Danbury Hospital. She was 72. 

"(Redding) is where she came to relax and be with friends," said former Redding First Selectman Mary Ann Guitar, who was a friend of Travers' mother and who attended the singer's first performance at the Village Vanguard in New York City.

Travers joined Peter Yarrow and Noel "Paul" Stookey in the early 1960s.

She and her husband, Ethan Robbins, lived on Lime Kiln Road for at least 30 years, Guitar said.

Travers had battled leukemia for several years, undergoing a successful bone marrow transplant in 2005 that allowed her to return to 

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performing before her condition worsened earlier this year.

Travers was a longtime friend of noted artist Jimmy Grashow of Redding, and his wife, Guzzy.

"The world lost a treasure today, and we've lost an irreplaceable friend," Guzzy Grashow said. "Everybody knows she made incredible music, but she also made a loving home and magnificent gardens."

Peter, Paul and Mary was one of the seminal folk music groups of the 1960s and beyond, and its members were stewards of a folk music tradition of liberal activism.

They rose to fame with renditions of socially conscious songs such as "If I Had a Hammer" and Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind," but also scored hits with non-political numbers including "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Puff the Magic Dragon."

And they were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the American mainstream. 

At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement. 

It was heady stuff for a trio that had formed in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village, running through simple tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb." 

They debuted at the Bitter End in 1961, and their beatnik look -- a tall blonde flanked by a pair of goateed guitarists -- was a part of their initial appeal. As The New York Times critic Robert Shelton put it not long afterward, "Sex appeal as a keystone for a folk-song group was the idea of the group's manager, Albert B. Grossman, who searched for months for 'the girl' until he decided on Miss Travers." 

Their debut album came out in 1962, and immediately scored a pair of hits with their versions of "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree." The former won them Grammys for best folk recording, and best performance by a vocal group. 

"Moving" was the follow-up, including the hit tale of innocence lost, "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" -- which reached No. 2 on the charts, and generated since-discounted reports that it was an ode to marijuana. 

Album No. 3, "In the Wind," featured three songs by the 22-year-old Bob Dylan. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Blowin' in the Wind" both reached the top 10, bringing Dylan's material to a massive audience; the latter shipped 300,000 copies during one two-week period. 

"It wasn't unexpected, but it's still incredibly sad," said Ridgefield selectman and folk music concert producer Barbara Manners of Travers' death. "She had such an incredible impact on young people and was really responsible for folk music flowering back in the '60s."

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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## Voosh

Sad, again.

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## Earl

They were great...I will miss her and their music.

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## andynap

Folk music.

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## fins85258

It's for "Folks" who fall asleep in the recliner every night

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## andynap

> It's for "Folks" how fall asleep in the recliner every night




Funny and that will do it for sure-  but actually it's for pot smoking, long hair anti-war protesters who wear tie-dye shirts and drive VW buses. That was PP&M's audience when they were popular.

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## Eddie

They helped introduce Bob Dylan to the general public. Their place in music history is (rightly) secure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t4g_...eature=related

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## andynap

Whatever. Doesn't make their music any better tho. I'm sure Dylan would have been discovered sooner or later.

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## JEK

And they stayed popular for decades. My 20-30 something kids went to their concerts as recently as this past summer without Mary.

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## andynap

LOL

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## Biscuit

> Originally Posted by fins85258
> 
> It's for "Folks" how fall asleep in the recliner every night
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Funny and that will do it for sure-  but actually it's for pot smoking, long hair anti-war protesters who wear tie-dye shirts and drive VW buses. That was PP&M's audience when they were popular.



Sorry to burst the stereotype. I was in grade school and loved their music. Had a crew cut and thought maryjane was a type of shoe girls wore. Lived outside Philly and saw the soldiers coming and going from Ft. Dix.

In addition to their popular music PPM were icons of the sixties. They entertained at the Lincoln Memorial with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, et al, during the march on Washington (MLK "I Had A Dream" march). Mary Travers later also had a syndicated radio show and did the famous interview with Bob Dylan where he opened up for the first time about his iconic "Blood on the Tracks" album. 

Eddie is right. Their legend is secure.

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## andynap

You just proved there are exceptions to everything.

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## JEK

My kid born in 1973 is another exception. Could be that the exception is . . .  :)

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## Jeanette

> Originally Posted by fins85258
> 
> It's for "Folks" how fall asleep in the recliner every night
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Funny and that will do it for sure-  but actually it's for pot smoking, long hair anti-war protesters who wear tie-dye shirts and drive VW buses. That was PP&M's audience when they were popular.



Andy,

I'll join Biscuit and JEK's kid as yet another exception to your stereotype.  I loved PP&M AND the Beatles. And I've never been high in my life... 

The good Sisters of Nazareth Academy kept me too busy with my head down in my school books.

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## JEK

Maybe it's an Andy-otype. He is entitled to his opinions, even if they are at loggerheads to the mainstream :)

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## andynap

First of all I never said I didn't like them- I didn't and second most of the posters were not born when PP&M first came on the scene- so what do they know- all after the fact.  Maybe my opinion was formed while I was in the Army and they were attracting the protest groups, flag burners, and draft dodgers. Let's hear it for flower power. That's my opinion and it's not going to change now because Mary Travers died.

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## JEK

I just don't know what to say, so I won't say a thing. Voosh?

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## MIke R

the _real_ question is..was Puff the Magic Dragon about drugs??..or  is it just a cute childs fable???

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## andynap

It wasn't about drugs as it turns out but everyone thought it was- so it didn't matter.

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## Jeanette

Hey, didn't they sing If I Had a Hammer?   :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: 

Now if we can link this thread to cupcakes and speedos, we will have gone full circle this summer!  Missy?  Fraz?  Bev?  Martin?

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## GramChop

> Hey, didn't they sing If I Had a Hammer?   :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: 
> 
> Now if we can link this thread to cupcakes and speedos, we will have gone full circle this summer!  Missy?  Fraz?  Bev?  Martin?



puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
and frolicked in the morning mist
on the island, st. barthelemy.

the beaches are amazing
the vistas make one "oh!"
especially when the sexy men
romp around in their speedo!

puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
and frolicked in the morning mist
on the island, st. barthelemy.

i wish i were on the island
so much my heart just aches
instead i'll go to the bakery
and have a few cupcakes

puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
and frolicked in the morning mist
on the island, st. barthelemy.

...happy now?!!!

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## Voosh

> I just don't know what to say, so I won't say a thing. Voosh?




I could say a lot of things.  

_What a long strange trip it's been_ - Getting a Jesuit education. Flying into weird, funky places. Playing some of *that* music because it made sense *and* brought a taste of home. Hearing, in the strangest places, men and women in uniform (with all sorts of attitudes) singing along, ... with the the next day to face. --  I'll just leave it at that. 


FWIW, I went to an impromptu reunion (way too many years to mention) today at UM's radio astronomy site (originally built in 1958 and funded by the "Office of Naval Research" (nope, I didn't show up there until years after 1958.) It was one of the largest radio telescopes at the time. Mostly used by NASA and others for supporting research these days.) 

Fun afternoon. Coolest thing was that people brought kids (and grandkids). The director and "chief" both let the kids run around in the control room and let them press buttons (They let the kids do it, not before they killed the system for the few hour visit, no problem, LOL. *AND*, the young lady, in the wheelchair, who was brought by her mother, got a personal tour by the director/department head.) Everyone loved the big dish just going through it's motions all over the sky as a demo.

Yeah, I wasn't on a lake or on SBH today. Wouldn't have missed this for anything. (Fletch loved romping in the secured woods, too) 

** - For some reason, I can't post some pics. Will try the "old fashioned" way -

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## Voosh

For some reason, I couldn't add a couple more pics from Sunday. So - 



 



 



 


Yeah, that isn't your usual Peter, Paul and Mary venue. But, I suspect that she wouldn't object. And would say - shoot even higher. RIP Mary.  

Ain't ever seen a good reason not to go "Blowin' In The Wind."    :thumb up:   :Frown:

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## Voosh

And, yes, I believe all deserve the best we can do. 



[picture deleted by request - a beautiful young lady who's life won't last.   :Frown:   :Frown:   :Frown:   ]

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## Voosh

Pic taken yesterday at a "ground site." Special.

I deleted the pic by request. Let's hope all the best for those who are suffering. Remember Deb! 

I've worked with a number of folks who's idea of a good day was just getting out and sensing the outdoors and struggling with health issues most of us can't comprehend. Most of them, smarter and better at day-to-day things than me, are not just "special," they are *special*. 

Their daily struggles, from "naturally born crud" or happenstance makes me feel like a chump sometimes. I've had the privilege of working with some of these folks. Like I said, I couldn't keep up with those brains and gumption most days.

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## andynap

You didn't have to take JEK literally you know.  :p

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## Voosh

> You didn't have to take JEK literally you know.  :p




I don't. I just watch where I step. Plenty of doo-doo. I try to keep my shoes clean and enjoy the next sunrise.

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## Jeanette

> Originally Posted by Jeanette
> 
> Hey, didn't they sing If I Had a Hammer?   :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: 
> 
> Now if we can link this thread to cupcakes and speedos, we will have gone full circle this summer!  Missy?  Fraz?  Bev?  Martin?
> 
> 
> 
> puff, the magic dragon, lived by the sea
> ...




Only you!!    :thumb up:   :thumb up:   :thumb up:   :thumb up:

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## MIke R

oh I get the metaphor now..

Puff is a miserably depressed suburban desperate housewife whose husband is a workaholic, alcoholic impotent fool who is never home, and when he is  home, he might as well not be, whose kids stay mostly locked up in their rooms doing God knows what....Jackie Paper is the gardener who comes by once a week to trim the bushes and pluck the flowers.....Jackie got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and husband fired him and got a restraining order out on him when the gardener threatened to weed whack the husbands willie.....

now it all makes sense...and American Beauty was the film version of Puff only they somewhat reversed the gender roles....

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## MartinS

> now it all makes sense



So where does the speedo and hammer fit in with all of this ?    LOL

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## MIke R

QUOTE: So where does the speedo and hammer fit in with all of this ? LOL


the pool boy and the "handy" man who are all on deck waiting for a piece of the action

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## Fraz

> now it all makes sense
> 			
> 		
> 
> 
> So where does the speedo and hammer fit in with all of this ?    LOL



It's a long story. . .    :Embarrassment: ffline:

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## Fraz

> Hey, didn't they sing If I Had a Hammer?   :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: 
> 
> Now if we can link this thread to cupcakes and speedos, we will have gone full circle this summer!  Missy?  Fraz?  Bev?  Martin?



Love it.  :laugh: Have a lovely photo of a cupcake wearing a speedo while being hit by a hammer (yes - I really do), but am unable to post it.  You'll just have to use your immagination.

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## Jeanette

> Originally Posted by Jeanette
> 
> Hey, didn't they sing If I Had a Hammer?   :laugh:  :laugh:  :laugh: 
> 
> Now if we can link this thread to cupcakes and speedos, we will have gone full circle this summer!  Missy?  Fraz?  Bev?  Martin?
> 
> 
> 
> Love it.  :laugh: Have a lovely photo of a cupcake wearing a speedo while being hit by a hammer (yes - I really do), but am unable to post it.  You'll just have to use your immagination.



OMG...priceless.  Could you hear me cracking up over your response all the way over in California?  

And what an imagination I have...

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