Peter, Paul and Mary – In Concert (1964/2014) [AcousticSounds DSF DSD64/2.82MHz]

Peter, Paul and Mary – In Concert (1964/2014)
DSF Stereo DSD64/2.82MHz | Time – 01:23:21 minutes | 3,29 GB | Genre: Folk, Rock
Official Digital Download – Source: AcousticSounds | Front Cover | © Warner Bros. Records Inc./Analogue Productions XAPF1555D64
Recorded live 1964, San Francisco, California; Sacramento, California; Long Beach, California; Dayton Beach, Florida; Terre Haute, Indiana
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, DSD files created from the Analogue Productions SACD cutting master.

The In Concert set, which was released on July 24 (the second day of the 1964 Newport Folk Festival), gave a good idea of the on-stage abilities of an act that had become a worldwide success. A trade ad for the album noted that, since forming, the trio had played over 400 concerts to more than two million people.

More than half of the 18 selections had not appeared previously on a Peter, Paul and Mary album. And the nearly 82-minute running time allowed space for the whole range of the group’s talents, from its mastery of traditional and thoughtful new material to Stookey’s previously unrecorded comic sensibility.
“I think that the In Concert album in it’s own way had something very, very special,” said Peter Yarrow. “There was a sense of really being there at the concert, and there really was a sense of capitulation of the flow of the concert. It had a point of view. It had a consistency in sound terms.”

At a time when double-LP sets were practically unheard of, In Concert peaked at #4 in September of 1965, staying on the charts for 54 weeks, and becoming Peter, Paul and Mary’s fourth straight gold record in the process.

This double album opens with a then-new Bob Dylan song, “The Times They Are A’ Changin’,” and closes with the best-known song ever written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hayes, “If I Had a Hammer.” That seems to sum up Peter, Paul & Mary, but In Concert offers a lot more than that. The surprises include vignettes in blues and gospel, and, most notably, the group’s humorous digressions. Peter, Paul & Mary spared few opportunities for a good laugh on-stage, beginning with the introduction to “A’ Soalin’,” which shows off a lightheartedness that was an essential part of who they were, even as it leads into an exquisitely sung round-like piece that should have found its way into the repertory of Steeleye Span. “Blue” gives the trio a chance to play around with rock & roll, from doo wop to British Invasion, through the song “Old Blue” (satirizing folk music purists at the same time), and Paul Stookey adds his own sound effects to Woody Guthrie’s “Car-Car.” The solo spots are also worthwhile, particularly Peter Yarrow’s introspective version of “Le Deserteur,” followed by his dazzling, rousing singalong on “Oh, Rock My Soul,” and Mary Travers’ rendition of “Single Girl,” a low-key proto-feminist song. The group’s rendition of “It’s Raining” achieves an exquisite mix of gossamer-textured harmonizing and thematic innocence, and their rendition of the Reverend Gary Davis’ “If I Had My Way” is a bracing re-interpretation for three interwoven voices. Finally, the version of “If I Had a Hammer” that closes this album is superior to their hit single of the same song. -AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder

Tracklist:
1 The Times They Are A’ Changin’ 3:16
2 A ‘Soalin’ 5:28
3 500 Miles 3:02
4 Blue 4:01
5 Three Ravens 3:54
6 One Kind Favor 3:12
7 Blowin’ In The Wind 3:36
8 Riding In My Car (Car Song) 5:01
9 Puff (The Magic Dragon) 6:18
10 Jesus Met The Woman 4:24
11 Le Deserteur 4:32
12 Oh, Rock My Soul 5:47
13 Paultalk 12:38
14 Single Girl 2:31
15 There Is A Ship 3:00
16 It’s Raining 5:23
17 If I Had My Way 2:51
18 If I Had A Hammer 2:35