The group was created by manager Albert Grossman, who sought to create a folk "supergroup" by bringing together "a tall blonde (Travers), a funny guy (Stookey), and a good looking guy (Yarrow)." He launched the group in 1961, booking them into the Bitter End, a coffee house in New York City's Greenwich Village that was a favorite place to hear folk artists.
The group recorded their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "500 Miles," "Lemon Tree","Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and the hit Pete Seeger tune "If I Had a Hammer," ("The Hammer Song"). The album was listed on Billboard Magazine Top Ten list for ten months and in the Top One Hundred for over three years.
By 1963 they had recorded three albums; released the now-famous song "Puff the Magic Dragon", which Yarrow and fellow Cornell student Leonard Lipton originally wrote in 1959 and was on the charts in 1963; and performed "If I Had a Hammer" at the 1963 March on Washington, best remembered for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Their biggest single hit came with the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind," which was an international #1 hit. It was the fastest selling single ever cut by Warner Brothers Records. For many years after, the group was at the forefront of the civil rights movement and other causes promoting social justice. Their later hit "Leaving on a Jet Plane" was actually written by the then unknown John Denver.
The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue separate solo careers, but found little of the success they did as a group, although Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (written for Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senator Eugene McCarthy) was a hit and has become a wedding standard since its 1971 release.
In 1978, they reunited for a concert to protest nuclear energy, and have recorded albums together and toured since. They currently play around 25 shows a year.[1]
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 2005, Travers was diagnosed with leukemia, leading to the cancellation of the remaining tour dates for that year. She received a bone marrow transplant and She and the rest of the trio resumed their concert tour on December 9, 2005 with a holiday performance at Carnegie Hall and were scheduled for several additional concerts in 2006.Sadly she passed away in Sept 2009.
Peter, Paul and Mary received in 2006 the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievment Award from Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Three Ravens
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics
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Down-a-down, Hey! Down-a-down,
And they were black as they might be, with a down
The one of them said to his mate:
"What shall we for our breakfast take?"
With a down, derry derry derry down, down
Down in yonder green field,
There lies a knight slain under his shield, with a down
Down there comes a fallow doe,
As great with young as she might go
With a down, derry derry derry, down, down
She lifted up his bloody head,
Down-a-down, Hey! Down-a-down,
And kissed his wounds that were so red, with a down
She got him up across her back
And carried him to the earthen lack [Note]
With a down derry derry derry down, down
She buried him before his prime
Down-a-down, Hey! Down-a-down,
She was dead herself, ere evening time, with a down
God send every gentlemen
Fine hawks, fine hounds and such a loved one
With a down derry derry derry down, Hmmm
The Three Ravens is a traditional English folk ballad that Peter Paul & Mary covered in their self-titled album of 1962. The song's lyrics narrate the story of three ravens who are contemplating their breakfast when a fourth one is killed. They discuss among themselves what they might eat, and one of them suggests a knight who has just been slain in a nearby green field. A doe comes to the field, lifts the knight's head, and kisses his wounds. She then carries him on her back to be buried before dying herself. The lyrics end with a prayer for every gentleman to have hawks, hounds, and a loved one.
The Three Ravens lyrics depict the romantic notion of nature's beauty and death that the Medieval period often celebrated. The ravens represent the existential realities of life, and the knight they eat symbolizes how fleeting our time on earth can be. The doe that carries the knight and gets buried with him represents the idea of loyalty and love that transcends death.
Line by Line Meaning
There were three ravens sat on a tree
Three black ravens perched upon a tree
And they were black as they might be, with a down
The ravens were as black as black can be
The one of them said to his mate: 'What shall we for our breakfast take?'
One raven asked its mate what they should have for breakfast
Down in yonder green field, there lies a knight slain under his shield, with a down
In the nearby green field, lies a knight killed in battle with his shield still on
Down there comes a fallow doe, as great with young as she might go, with a down
A pregnant doe appeared and walked by the knight's body
She lifted up his bloody head, and kissed his wounds that were so red, with a down
The doe lifted the knight's head and kissed his wounds, which were bleeding and red
She got him up across her back, and carried him to the earthen lack, with a down derry derry derry down, down
The doe put the knight on her back and took him to a shallow grave in the ground
She buried him before his prime, down-a-down, Hey! Down-a-down,
The doe buried the knight before his time, prematurely
She was dead herself, ere evening time, with a down
The doe died herself before evening arrived
God send every gentlemen fine hawks, fine hounds and such a loved one, with a down derry derry derry down, Hmmm
May every gentleman have good hunting falcons, dogs, and a loved one
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARY ALLIN TRAVERS, MILTON T. OKUN, NOEL C. PAUL STOOKEY, PETER YARROW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind