Amazon.com

There was a brief moment in the early '60s when the folk-pop movement--a canny blend of Appalachian song and glee club harmonies--escaped from its leftist-bohemian ghetto and broke into the pop top 10. Peter, Paul & Mary--the earnest, sweet-sounding trio that scored two number-two hits in 1963 ("Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Blowin' in the Wind")--have come to personify folk-pop's brief moment of glory. The trio celebrated the movement's longevity by recording "PP M& (Lifelines)," with their predecessors (Ramblin' Jack Elliott and the Weavers), their contemporaries (Dave Van Ronk and Judy Collins), and their successors (Emmylou Harris and John Gorka). The result is a disc that spotlights the genre's assets as well as its liabilities. The strengths include the striking clarity of the austere, acoustic arrangements and the sharply defined melodies and the highly personal vocals made possible by such simplicity, along with the genre's willingness to address political issues that affect every pop listener no matter how the radio avoids such questions. One is reminded of the power of such charged material when Richie Havens, Carly Simon, and Lucy Simon join the trio for the antiwar fable, "The Great Mandala," and when Holly Near joins Mary Travers for a duet on Sally Fingerett's antihomophobia song, "Home Is Where the Heart Is." The weaknesses include a desexualized vocal style, an extremely limited harmonic palette, and plodding rhythms. These musical limitations become painfully obvious whenever the trio tackles a song without a compelling melody and a strong storyline, as they do on Buddy Mondlock's "The Kid," Noel Paul Stookey's "For the Love of It All" and Peter Yarrow's "Take the Chance." --Geoffrey Himes