Peter, Paul and Mary--Blowin' In the Wind (1963)

     In the early 60's there had been a revival of folk music in America. Led by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and the Kingston Trio, the airwaves could be filled with traditional music along with the more strident, social conscious music being made from a new generation of songwriters.

      Manager Albert Grossman had his finger on the pulse of this movement and it's commercial possibilities. At one time he had Dylan, Odetta, Phil Ochs, Gordon Lightfoot, Richie Havens and many others. He brought Peter, Paul and Mary together in 1961 after holding auditions among several singers in the New York folk scene. Their debut album, "Peter, Paul, and Mary" was released the following year and was an immediate hit on the strength of the singles, "Lemon Tree", and "If I Had a Hammer". The next album was 1963's, "Moving" which contained the trio's first top 5 hit, "Puff, the Magic Dragon".

     That same year, Bob Dylan released the song, "Blowin' in the Wind" to wide acclaim within the music community although it never charted (the B side was, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"....a pretty cool combo). The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded it next, but there were problems with the record company releasing it because of the word, "death" in the song. This gave Grossman the opportunity to have Peter, Paul and Mary record and release it. Not only was it became their signature song (Dylan's too), but was adopted by both the civil rights and anti-war movements.