Peter, Paul and Mary Concert -- August 5, 2006

Having posted a blurb on April 24 about the Peter, Paul and Mary concert at the Westbury North Fork Theater on, August 5th, we waited until 11:00 am on August 5th before deciding to go (we like to plan ahead) and got two tickets. I told Susan that given that the median age of the audience was likely to be 63.4, chances were really good that we'd run into someone we knew, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone from camp. Glad to report that Happy Willens and his wife made an honest man out of me - ran into them in the lobby during intermission! The concert was both sad and exhilarating at the same time - sad because Mary has been struggling, so far successfully, with leukemia, and the remarkable fire and energy that the group had is not quite there any more, which is understandable after 46 years of entertaining and energizing 3 generations of fans. On the other had, for those of us who used to sit around the Playhouse and sing "If I Had a Hammer" during the summer of 1963, it meant we were seeing and hearing a true legend of American folk music, political and social activism, and children's entertainment. It was wonderful. There's a DVD they made of a retrospective that was originally broadcast on PBS called Peter, Paul and Mary - Carry It On: A Musical Legacy. You can find it on Amazon or Deep Discount DVD. If you are a fan, don't miss it. It contains so many of their songs and follows their extraordinary career - especially their activist efforts - from the very beginning.