Yesterday I was looking for a record (vinyl)cover in my record collection to frame and hang over my CD collection and CD player in a corner of our bedroom. I had been shopping with my wife at a local craft store and saw they had glass covered frames for record covers and I needed the perfect cover to bring my music collection together. I ended up picking the above album cover from Peter Paul and Mary's first album. I picked it for a number of reasons: first, I liked the look and colors, it has a warm look; second, it was one of the first albums I purchased in 1962 after switching over from 45's; third, I like most of the music on it; and fourth, it conveys the feeling of the early folk era in New York's Greenwich Village. There are musical artist I like better but this album has always had a warm spot in my heart and whenever I look at it the cover has always brought a smile to my face. The picture was taken on front of the brick wall on the stage of The Bitter End in New York City. Just last summer I walked by The Bitter End on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village when our daughter took her mother and I on a trip to New York City. I had to make my "pilgrimage" to Greenwich Village as part of sites of the city. I have the CD too. This is what Wikipedia says about the album:
Peter, Paul and Mary is the first album by Peter, Paul and Mary, released in 1962. It's one of the rare folk albums to reach US#1 - staying for over a month. The lead-off singles "If I Had a Hammer" and "Lemon Tree" reached numbers 10 and 35 respectively on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.
At the Grammy Awards of 1963, their recording of "If I Had a Hammer" won the Best Folk Recording and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Grammies.
Track listing
Side One
"Early In The Morning" ( Noel "Paul" Stookey[1])
"500 Miles" (Hedy West)
"Sorrow" (Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
"This Train" (Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
"Bamboo" (Dave Van Ronk)
"It's Raining" (Paul Stookey, Peter Yarrow, Len Chandler)
Side Two
"If I Had My Way" (Rev. Gary Davis)
"Cruel War" (Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
"Lemon Tree" (Will Holt)
"If I Had a Hammer" (Pete Seeger, Lee Hays)
"Autumn To May" (Peter Yarrow, Noel Stookey)
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone" (Pete Seeger)
This is how allmusic.com reviews the album:
The debut album by Peter, Paul & Mary is still one of the best albums to come out of the 1960s folk music revival, a beautifully harmonized collection of the best songs that the group knew, stirring in its sensibilities and its haunting melodies, crossing between folk, children's songs, and even gospel ("If I Had My Way").... Peter, Paul & Mary, which hit the top spot on the album charts as part of a 185-week run, is the purest of the trio's albums, laced with innocent good spirits and an optimism that remains infectious even 40 years later
(click on the title for the rest of the review)
