{"id":3115,"date":"2010-11-27T12:41:29","date_gmt":"2010-11-27T17:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acousticmusicscene.com\/?p=3115"},"modified":"2010-11-27T12:41:29","modified_gmt":"2010-11-27T17:41:29","slug":"the-peter-yarrow-sing-along-special-airs-on-pbs-stations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticmusicscene.com\/2010\/11\/27\/the-peter-yarrow-sing-along-special-airs-on-pbs-stations\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Peter Yarrow Sing-Along Special’ Airs on PBS Stations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Peter Yarrow Sing-Along Special<\/em>, featuring some of America\u2019s favorite folk songs performed by Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary, Yarrow\u2019s daughter Bethany and cellist Rufus Cappadocia, Grammy Award-winning artists Mary Chapin Carpenter and Keb\u2019 Mo’, and percussionist Billy Jonas, airs on PBS stations through December 2010. Yarrow spoke with AcousticMusicScene.com<\/em> recently.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Peter Yarrow (Photo: Augusta Quirk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>Taped in August during a family-oriented performance at the Concert Hall of the New York Society of Ethical Culture, that marked Peter and Paul\u2019s first major show since Mary Travers died last year, the Sing-Along Special<\/em> opens with Yarrow singing \u201cWeave Me the Sunshine\u201d and closes with the audience joining all the performers on stage in singing a \u201cThis Little Light of Mine\u201d medley. In between, there is an array of duo, trio and ensemble performances. <\/p>\n

Bethany Yarrow joins her father for a beautiful rendition of \u201cThe Cruel War,\u201d which he says is the first song that Peter, Paul & Mary ever sang. Keb\u2019 Mo\u2019 sings lead on \u201cLullaby Baby Blues\u201d and joins Yarrow on \u201cBeautiful City,\u201d while his steel guitar resonates on \u201cPolly Wolly Doodle.\u201d Mary Chapin Carpenter joins Yarrow and Stookey on the classics \u201c500 Miles\u201d and \u201cStewball.\u201d Billy Jonas, a creative percussionist (or \u201cindustrial re-percussionist\u201d), bangs on cymbals and plastic garbage cans during \u201cThis Old Man\u201d and sings \u201cSome Houses\u201d as well. Yarrow joins Bethany & Rufus, whose musical stylings fuse folk, roots and jazz, on \u201cAll Hid.\u201d He and Stookey sing \u201cAll the Pretty Little Horses\u201d and the Peter, Paul & Mary classic \u201cPuff, The Magic Dragon,\u201d that resonates today as much as it did when he wrote it some 50 years ago. The entire ensemble is joined by the audience in singing \u201cBlowin\u2019 in the Wind.\u201d A video of their rendition of the song can be viewed by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Many of Yarrow\u2019s songs and those by other songwriters that Peter, Paul & Mary covered over the past five decades have a timeless quality to them and a multigenerational appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a time for the resuscitation and rejuvenation of the interest in music shared \u2013 where people are feeling close and comfortable, not alienated,\u201d said Yarrow in an interview prior to a recent performance and book signing on Long Island. \u201cThis is a music that, when sung together, brings people together. This is a music that can help heal the hearts of Americans. When people sing together, they feel part of a community and they feel very welcome,\u201d he continued, noting that \u201cspirit of community is what it\u2019s about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Noel Paul Stookey and Peter Yarrow (Photo: Augusta Quirk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cThe kind of crisis that we\u2019ve seen among people today, with kids teasing and bullying each other and being so injured and tragically hurt by this type of treatment is far less likely to occur if you\u2019re sitting around singing together,\u201d maintains Yarrow. Ten years ago, he established Operation Respect, a nonprofit organization and program that seeks to teach children about tolerance and respect for each other\u2019s differences, using music, video, and conflict resolution curricula developed by Educators for Social Responsibility. During The Peter Yarrow Sing-Along Special<\/em>, Noel Paul Stookey joins Yarrow in singing \u201cDon\u2019t Laugh at Me,\u201d a powerfully moving song by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin, which is the anthem of and inspiration behind Operation Respect. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t laugh at me. Don\u2019t call me names. Don\u2019t get your pleasure from my pain. In God\u2019s eyes, we\u2019re all the same. Someday, we\u2019ll all have perfect wings.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yarrow asserts that \u201call kids deserve to grow up accepting each other,\u201d expressing concern that 160,000 American children refuse to go to school because of cruelty, according to the American Association of School Psychologists. Citing our \u201cneed to inherit a peaceful world,\u201d he notes that peace education was regarded as \u201cseditious\u201d when the Operation Respect program came out ten years ago. It has since been incorporated into the curriculum of more than 22,000 elementary and middle schools throughout the U.S. and is being brought to hundreds of schools in the Middle East and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Peter Yarrow with AcousticMusicScene.com's Michael Kornfeld in 2009 (photo:Walter Hansen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cMusic can be used as a powerful force in a world where we desperately need it,\u201d maintains Yarrow. \u201cThe genius of our country is that, despite mistakes, we have a great reservoir of decency and goodness that rescues us from being imbecilic\u2026Once you\u2019ve been part of changing the perspective of the country, you know it can be done,\u201d says the longtime social and political activist, who was an active participant in the civil rights and anti-war movements, among others. \u201cMusic is something that binds the hearts and can bring us together. We have a nation with a bruised heart that it\u2019s my task to resuscitate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamenting a \u201cmusic business that has become so saturated with money and jiggle rock, [that doesn\u2019t] have time for this kind of music anymore,\u201d Yarrow says \u201cbut this [folk music] is what we need.\u201d Thanks to PBS, television viewers can enjoy the music of Peter Yarrow and friends through December. Check your local TV listings or PBS station\u2019s website for dates and times in your area.<\/p>\n

The Peter Yarrow Sing-Along Special<\/em> was directed by three-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jim Brown, who also produced and directed Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On<\/em>; Wasn\u2019t That a Time<\/em>, the critically acclaimed 1981 documentary about The Weavers; American Roots Music<\/em>, the four-part PBS series that aired in 2001; Pete Seeger: Power of Song<\/em>, and other programs as part of PBS\u2019 American Masters series of specials delving into the lives, works and creative processes of some of our cultural icons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Peter Yarrow Sing-Along Special<\/em>, featuring some of America\u2019s favorite folk songs performed by Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary, Yarrow\u2019s daughter Bethany and cellist Rufus Cappadocia, Grammy Award-winning artists Mary Chapin Carpenter and Keb\u2019 Mo’, and percussionist Billy Jonas, airs on PBS stations through December 2010. Yarrow spoke with AcousticMusicScene.com<\/em> recently.<\/p>\n

[To read the entire article, click on the headline.] 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