Mary remembers heyday with Peter and Paul

Kirk Baird

Friday, May 19, 2000 | 8:49 a.m.

Forget her age. At 63 Mary Travers still has a fiery passion that burns as bright as it did nearly 40 years ago.

Better known as the woman in the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, Travers has been a part of the social landscape since 1961, beginning with the Bitter End coffeehouse in New York's Greenwich Village, where the group made its debut.

Peter, Paul and Mary will perform at 8 p.m. today through Sunday at the Orleans hotel-casino showroom.

Through that period she's seen upheaval (both politically and socially), death (many of her contemporaries have passed on due to age, illness or other circumstances) and a creeping cynicism in the nation that seems to be undercutting many of the positive vibes generated from the '60s.

But the eternally optimistic Travers refuses to give ground and concede what she considers a question of humanity's survival.

"Sometimes human beings don't make a lot of sense -- dogs would never do what we do," Travers said in a recent phone interview from her home in Connecticut. "On the other hand, we're the only game in town."

It's that statement that perhaps seems most telling about Travers. A radical force for change in the '60s with songs such as "If I Had a Hammer" "Blowin' in the Wind" and "We Shall Overcome," Travers admits to changing with the world around her as she grows older, and in the process becoming either more patient or more tired.

"I'm not sure which," she joked. "I'm still very passionate, but I don't expect everybody to change instantly just because I want to do it today.

"Social change happens, and it takes people who are impetuous to get it moving. As you get older you learn that it won't change in a day. But don't tell the younger people."

Actually, her message is getting out. Travers said that the group's concerts routinely play to third- and fourth-generation audiences, as well as the original fans.

But in 1961 could she have envisioned the band being at this state -- playing a Las Vegas casino?

"We worked in nightclubs in our very beginning," she said. "What's the difference?"

Very little, apparently. Peter, Paul and Mary both now and then have almost always had an audience, she said. And during the '60s her fame provided the singer the opportunity to run with a different crowd -- the politicians, the authors, the crusaders -- than most Marys in the world at that time. Although a heady experience, it's something for which she expressed true gratitude.

"I've had a fabulous life. That's not to say there haven't been a few bumps, but I've had a spectacular life. I've been very lucky -- I've met the most wonderfully interesting people."

That includes her partners, Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey. All close to the same age, the three joined forces at the behest of Albert Grossman, who would become the band's manager, and proceeded to become the biggest acoustic folk group of the '60s.

The three not only shared a love for the music and a very liberalized view of the world -- "if you scratch a folk singer, you're going to find a Democrat," she said -- but a harmonious sound complete with soaring vocals and a penchant for upbeat, at times fanciful, lyrics that spoke of what could and should be.

Peter, Paul and Mary were, in many ways, the alpha of the peace and love generation, before hedonism and reckless disdain for the government and those in power caused many of the dissenting voices to stumble and fall -- people such as Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

And for four decades the trio have withstood the changing times -- in both the musical attitudes and social mores -- as well as each other.

When told that the group's tenure together is longer than some marriages, Travers simply laughed. "Can you believe it? I don't believe it."

Asked for the secret of the band's longevity, Travers had three quick answers:

"You have to come to terms with people's idiosyncratic behavior," she said. "It's just that: idiosyncratic behavior -- it's not a plot to get you. And that the whole world doesn't revolve around you."

You have to believe in the work you do, she said. "In our case we have to believe the sum has a value beyond what we could individually create."

You have learn how to respect other, she said. "Everybody when they begin a relationship thinks they respect the other guy, but life always has a way of asking you to prove it.

"It's trite stuff," Travers said of the band's reasons for staying together, "but that's why it's true."

It also helps, as Travers said, that both Yarrow and Stookey are "very incredibly decent human beings, and that they both want to do good. How fabulous for me to be surrounded by two guys like that."

No wonder that she wants to continue on with the band.

Beginning with a summerlong tour that kicks off in Las Vegas, the trio are performing across the United States in support of a new disc -- a compilation of what she said record companies call "fillers" -- that also features one new tune.

"Songs about war, songs about nuclear power, songs we loved," Travers said. "We didn't pick the hits, we picked songs we felt had something to say about humanity."

Which explains the disc's title, "Songs of Conscience and Concern."

There also is the probability of a box set at some point, but the band hasn't decided when to begin work on the project. All the group's recordings have been remastered except one, she said, and all of the solo albums would need to be remastered as well.

"I guess it'll be like five records," she said. "That's a lot of records."

Then again, 40 years is a lot of time. And a lot of memories.

Kirk Baird is an Accent feature writer. Reach him at kirk@lasvegassun.com or 259-8801.

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