Mary Ellin Travers is a renowned American folk rock singer and songwriter who has performed with the band "Peter, Paul and Mary". Their popularity fell in the 60s, then the collective broke up, but in 1978 the musicians gathered again and continued their joint work.
early years
Mary was born on November 9, 1936 in the family of American journalists Robert Travers and Virginia Coini. In addition to their main activity, the parents were active participants in the trade union movement of newspaper workers. The girl spent her first years in the city of Louisville - the largest settlement in Kentucky. The family then moved to the Greenwich Village area of New York. There Travers went to school, but in the 11th grade she decided to complete her education and devote herself to creativity. She decided to become a singer and chose the folk-rock style for her performances. Mary stood out among the Greenwich Village music scene, which is fond of this direction. She was one of the few who spent her childhood and adolescence on the outskirts of New York.
Carier start
During her school years, Mary became a member of The Song Swappers. The band performed as an opening act for the famous Pete Seeger at performances in honor of the reissue of the collection of his hits. In 1955 "The Song Swappers" collaborated with Sidge on 4 albums for Folkways Records. Despite the success, Travers treated vocal performances as a hobby. Friends supported her when the singer decided to participate in auditions for one of the Broadway productions.
Peter, Paul and Mary
The group "Peter, Paul and Mary" was formed in 1961 and quickly gained popularity. In addition to Mary Travers, it also includes Peter Yarow and Paul Stookey. The team manager agreed to be Albert Grossman, who was then working with Bob Dylan. The band's musicians, together with Dylan, recorded a song from the album "Freewheelin '", which for several months entered the top 30 of America's best compilations. The hit itself was in the top ten for a long time and for 2 seasons - in the top 20.
A year later, "Peter, Paul and Mary" released their first album. The debut was successful, especially the hits “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree”. One of the songs earned the band a Grammy Award for Folk Song and Best Vocal. Together with the team, Mary became the owner of this prestigious music award five times.
In 1963, two more collections were released: "Moving" and "In The Wind". Composition "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" - a hit about lost innocence, many considered as an ode to marijuana. She caused a storm of discussion in society, but this did not prevent her from taking the second line in the music charts. The collections also include several songs by 22-year-old Bob Dylan. The compositions firmly took their places in the top 10 and increased the sales of discs to 300 thousand copies. All three albums of the group in the same year entered the six best-selling American compilations, and the band's musicians were declared stars in the revival of folk.
The musical activity of the group was inextricably linked with active participation in the social and political life of the country. They demonstrated their civic position during mass events. The song "If I Had a Hammer" is still considered the anthem of fighters for the equality of all races. The musicians contributed to the protection of the rights of Americans of all skin colors and condemned the military action in Vietnam. Fans of the group will remember the Washington March of the Protesters in 1963, where the musicians performed the song of the young civil rights activist Bob Dylan, supporting his work. The event was attended by over half a million people.
Solo projects
The musicians tried to diversify their repertoire with rock compositions, but not all experiments were successful. Ambitions among the band members grew, each dreamed of his own musical biography. Like many bands of those years, the group "Peter, Paul and Mary" disbanded.
So, in 1970, Mary Travers began an independent career. One after another, her 5 solo collections appeared, she performed a lot with concerts and lectures in the USA. Paul created his own band and dedicated himself to Christian music. Peter won an Emmy Award for the TV Animated Series. His song "Torn Between Two Lovers", created for Mary McGregor under the influence of Boris Pasternak's novel "Doctor Zhivago", in 1977 rose to the highest step of the national charts. But the success of each musician individually could not overshadow the glory of the collective.
Group reunion
The reason for the joint performance was a concert in honor of the reduction of the US nuclear program, organized in 1978. After the reunion, the group toured the country a lot and recorded several new albums. One of the trio's records was directed against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The musicians collected donations for homeless citizens, and one of the concerts was dedicated to the development of public television. Two children's albums earned them another Grammy and a comeback under the Warner Bros. label. In the 90s, the group received several prestigious music awards and entered the Music Ensemble Hall of Fame. The final chord in the ensemble's work was the 2006 Lifetime Achievement award.
Personal life
For a long time, Mary was unlucky in her personal life. Her first three marriages were unsuccessful and ended in divorce. In 1991, the singer married restaurateur Ethan Robbins. This family union became a saving one for her - the fourth husband supported her husband in all endeavors. From previous marriages, Travers left two daughters - Erica and Alicia, who gave her grandchildren.
In 2005, the doctors diagnosed Mary with a terrible diagnosis - leukemia. The most complicated bone marrow transplant operation was successful and suspended the course of the disease for a certain period of time. Until the last days, the folk singer went on stage and delighted the audience with her creativity. The 72-year-old folk star died in 2009 at the Denbury hospital due to complications that arose after another course of chemotherapy.
