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One last Puff on the Magic Dragon for Mary of Peter Paul and Mary...
Quote:
Mary Travers, a striking figure of power and glamour in the early-1960s folk music movement, died Wednesday at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut after suffering from leukemia for several years. She was 72.
She was best known as the blond with the bangs who commanded the middle microphone with Peter, Paul and Mary, a trio that brought folk music from coffeehouses to top-40 radio.
They also gave much of America its first taste of the young Bob Dylan by helping to turn his "Blowin' in the Wind" into a national anthem.
The group reunited several years ago to begin touring, and Travers performed with them until a few months ago, even when she needed assistance on stage.
Travers, like Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow, saw folk music both as an art and as an instrument for change. They sang a number of sociopolitical songs, which Travers later defended.
"I'm not sure I want to be singing 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' when I'm 75," she said in one interview. "But I know I'll still be singing 'Blowin' in the Wind.' "
She was born in Louisville, Ky., but grew up in Greenwich Village and came up through the New York coffeehouse circuit, singing on her own before she was put together with Stookey and Yarrow by famed manager Albert Grossman, who also managed Dylan.
The trio took considerable criticism from fellow folk singers for developing a sound that some considered too "commercial" and not "authentic" enough.
Travers always strongly defended the trio's sound, saying that they were in the folk tradition by making music accessible to everyone, not just academic collectors.
Peter, Paul and Mary were inducted into the Sammy Cahn Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. Travers is survived by two daughters.
Everyone I talked to thought she would have died from a so-called " fat girl disease " like diabetes or a stroke. We were all concerned when Mary ballooned up past 275, and knew she may have been seeking counseling to address the out of control eating issues.
We'll all miss you, Mary.
Location: Where Trouble Melts Like Lemon Drops High Above the Chimney Tops...
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She was 72, and I don't think it matters all that much if she was fat or not, even if it had anything to do with her death...that's her life to live, her choices to make, her demons to battle. She lived quite the long life and her music and voice are awesome and timeless.
tbh, puff the magic dragon isnt even about marijuana. it's a common misconception. too bad she didnt believe in or use marijuana. it could have helped ease the pain and suffering she most undoubtedly went through the last years/months/weeks/days of her life.
Good point. Mary maybe wasn't the revolutionary the world thought.
Now Paul Stookey probably smoked weed, to forget that his first name was actually Noel. (for real)
You know, Bearsy, I think I did know Mary. . .on a spiritual level. Maybe even on a fantasy sexual level when I was 12. (She was thin once.) I try to repress those thoughts.
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