Once a month I listen to a few songs by Peter, Paul, and Mary, a popular folk group whose fame seems to rest on their recording of Puff, the Magic Dragon. Yet the more I listen to this wonderful group of singers, the more I become enamored with the singing of Mary Travers. Her rich, low voice in a contra alto range with just a touch of a gravely sound enhanced the smooth qualities of the other two singers. Her career in Peter, Paul, and Mary plus her time as a soloist was filled with an authentic approach to songs, bringing out the text in a personal way on every song.
The quality that stands out in her singing is not necessarily her lead singing but rather in her harmony. When singing harmony to the melody, she shines with a glow that emanates throughout the song and throughout her career. Unlike most supportive harmony parts, Mary's harmony singing takes on melody of its very own. Not dissimilar to the age-old concept of polyphony, her harmony is both congruent and independent, with a sensitive yet strong quality to it. Freely moving around but somehow staying within the scope of the song, Mary's harmonic support perfectly fits the melody being sung. When she takes her turn at the melody, she is of course quite accurate and appealing, honest, full, and heartfelt. Then she moves back to the role of support while either Paul or usually Peter takes the melody. The result is a vibrant musical expression that is contrapuntally complex yet oddly simple in its construction.
Somehow she infused her gentle personality in each song while retaining her musical strength. Matching vowel sounds and consonants with her ensembles, she also keeps her distinctive and original inflections of the text, finding that phrase point that brings out the meaning of the line. Marrying text with music, she explores dynamic direction of every phrase and we never hear anything stagnate. Instead each phrase, each song takes on an energy and power that finds the depth of the musical moment.
Take a few minutes to listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary sing Blowin in the Wind, Puff, the Magic Dragon, The Lemon Tree, The Cruel War, or Leaving on a Jet Plane. All of it is special, honest, tender, musical, and powerful. One of my favorite recordings is that of "I Have a Song to Sing-Oh" by Gilbert and Sullivan. It is from the opera "Yeoman of the Guard." Their odd folk-like interpretation is both funny and profound as the song weaves around adding notes and lines all the way to end. Listen not to the melody but to the harmony as sung by the marvelous Mary Travers.
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