Mary Travers of Peter, Paul, and Mary died last week. She was a fine singer and a big reason for the folk revival movement in the 60s.

Doing a Cover Freak tribute to Peter, Paul, and Mary presents a bit of a challenge because most of their hits were covers themselves. PP&M had hits with all these songs even though most of them are credited to other performers.

Chantal Kreviazuk “Leaving On A Jet Plane” (John Denver)
For better or worse PP&M’s version of this song introduced John Denver to a wide audience. Ms. Kreviazuk does a wonderful job here, seamlessly blending dreamy keyboard washes, syncopated rhythms, and a harmonica.

Update: Alert Reader tells me that this wonderful recording is actually by Chantal Kreviazuk, not Dido.

Earth Wind and Fire “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” (Marlene Dietrich)
I knew that Pete Seeger wrote this song but I was a little surprised to learn that it was first recorded by Marlene Dietrich. In French, no less. Earth Wind and Fire takes this one far from its origins, turning it into an epic slow jam.

Trini Lopez “Lemon Tree” (Peter, Paul, and Mary)
The Wikipedia entry for “Lemon Tree” is uncharacteristically vague on who recorded this song first. It mentions that it was written by Will Holt and that it’s based on a Brazilian folk song. Wikipedia then lists some of the people and groups that have recorded the song but never says who the original artist was. So I’m just going to credit PP&M as the original artist until somebody gives me better information.

At any rate, Trini Lopez rocks. And I’ll fight anybody who says different.

Harry Belafonte “If I Had A Hammer” (The Weavers)
Another Pete Seeger song. While she was still in high school, Mary Travers provided backing vocals on five albums Pete Seeger recorded for Folkways Records in the mid 50s. This wonderful song just makes me realize all over again that I will never be as cool as Harry Belafonte.

Spike Jones “Puff The Magic Dragon” (Peter, Paul, and Mary)
Spike Jones is your go-to guy if you’re looking for a weird arrangement of a song. This one starts out as a straightforward acoustic number and then takes a hard left turn into Dixieland jazz. The genius of Mr. Jones as a bandleader is that this song works.