Peter, Paul, and Mary Best Of Peter, Paul & Mary: Ten Years Together CD

Though some purists dismiss Peter, Paul & Mary as the calculated, commercial face of the 1960s folk boom, there is no denying the large-scale impact and cultural importance of the trio's music. With that in mind, it's difficult to fault 1970's TEN YEARS TOGETHER: THE BEST OF, a concise, superbly selected sampler of PP&M. The album plays, even all these years later, like pure honey from beginning to end, thanks entirely to the group's lilting three-part harmonies (in which Noel Stookey's baritone and Peter Yarrow's tenor perfectly offset Mary Traver's lovely alto).

The group's voices and arrangements made shiny, cleaned-up hits out of some of the era's slightly rougher-hewn folk classics, and the best of those are here, including their version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain," and Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer." Other tunes in the collection--"Lemon Tree" and "Puff the Magic Dragon," among them--have become classics in their own right, with the occasional full-band rocker, such as the group's take on Dylan's "Too Much of Nothing," included for good measure. BEST OF makes a strongly persuasive case for Peter, Paul & Mary's superstardom, and is essential listening for anyone remotely interested in folk.

From its original release in 1970, this has remained probably the most popular single album in Peter, Paul and Mary's extensive catalogue. This reissue as part of Rhino's ongoing budget line series of great pop anthologies provides all of the folk-pop trio's most beloved songs at a popular price. Highlights include the Latinesque "Lemon Tree," the trio's breakthrough cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," and perhaps their most popular track, their version of John Denver's "Leaving On A Jet Plane."