Editing Peter, Paul and Mary (section)

===Early years and popularity (1961–1969)===
[[File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Entertainment, Vocalists Peter, Paul, and Mary.) - NARA - 542019.jpg|250px|thumb|left|The trio performing at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.]]]]
[[File:Peter Paul and Mary 1963.JPG|thumb|1963 publicity shot]]
Manager [[Albert Grossman]] created Peter, Paul and Mary in 1961, after auditioning several singers in the New York folk scene, including [[Dave Van Ronk]], who was rejected as too idiosyncratic and uncommercial, and [[Carolyn Hester]]. After rehearsing Yarrow, Stookey and Travers out of town in Boston and Miami, Grossman booked them into [[The Bitter End]], a coffee house, nightclub and popular [[folk music]] venue in New York City's [[Greenwich Village]].

The group recorded their debut album, ''[[Peter, Paul and Mary (album)|Peter, Paul and Mary]]'', and it was released by Warner Bros. the following year. It included "[[Lemon Tree (Will Holt song)|Lemon Tree]]", "[[500 Miles]]", and the [[Pete Seeger]] hit tunes "[[If I Had a Hammer]]" (subtitled "The Hammer Song") and "[[Where Have All the Flowers Gone?]]" The album was listed in the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' Top Ten for 10 months, including seven weeks in the No. 1 position. It remained a main catalog-seller for decades to come, eventually selling over two million copies, earning [[RIAA certification|double platinum]] certification from the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] in the United States alone.

In 1963 the group released "[[Puff, the Magic Dragon]]", with music by Yarrow and words based on a poem that had been written by a fellow student at [[Cornell University|Cornell]], [[Leonard Lipton]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=FINKLE |first=DAVE |date=July 25, 1970 |title=Milt Okun On: Compiling the Great Songs of the Sixties |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/70s/70/RW-1970-07-25-OCR-Page-0028.pdf#search=%22paul%20stookey%22 |magazine=Record World}}</ref> Despite rumors that the song refers to drugs, it is actually about the lost innocence of childhood.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSYD1071420080306|title=Just A Minute With: Peter Yarrow|work=Reuters|date=March 6, 2008 }}</ref> The same year, they appeared as the "mystery guest" on the [[CBS]] TV game show ''[[What's My Line?]]'' in which [[Dorothy Kilgallen]] correctly guessed their identity.<ref>{{cite web |title=What's My Line? |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw90sezjgCI&ab_channel=What%27sMyLine%3F | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/aw90sezjgCI| archive-date=November 10, 2021 | url-status=live|website=[[CBS]] | date=July 14, 2014 |access-date=December 28, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

That year the group performed "If I Had a Hammer" and "[[Blowin' in the Wind]]" at the August 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], best remembered for [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech. The [[Bob Dylan]] song "Blowin' in the Wind" was one of their biggest hit singles.<ref name=pc19>{{Pop Chronicles |19| 3| Peter Yarrow}}</ref> They also sang other Dylan songs, such as "[[The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)|The Times They Are a-Changin']]", "[[Don't Think Twice, It's All Right]]",<ref name=pc19/> and "[[When the Ship Comes In]]". Their success with Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" helped Dylan's ''[[The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan]]'' album rise into the top 30; it had been released four months earlier.<ref>{{Citation | newspaper = [[The Times]] | type = obituary | title = Mary Travers | date = September 18, 2009}}</ref> In 1963 while in [[London]], on one or possibly more occasions they recorded 5 songs in front of a live television audience for the UK regional television folk and blues music series [[Hullabaloo (British TV series)|Hullabaloo]], presented by the Scottish folksinger [[Rory McEwen (artist)|Rory McEwen]]; these sessions were released on DVD in 2020.<ref name="mainlynorfolk">{{cite web|url=https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/records/hullabaloo.html|title=Hullabaloo|website=Mainly Norfolk|access-date=2025-03-19}}</ref>

In December 1969 "[[Leaving on a Jet Plane]]", written by the group's friend [[John Denver]], became their only No. 1 single (as well as their final top 40 pop hit) and the group's sixth million-selling gold single. The track first appeared on their million-selling platinum certified ''[[Album 1700]]'' in 1967 (which also contained their No. 9 hit "[[I Dig Rock and Roll Music]]"). After [[Eugene McCarthy]]'s strong showing in the 1968 [[New Hampshire]] presidential primary, the group recorded "Eugene McCarthy For President (If You Love Your Country)" endorsing McCarthy, which was released without a record label.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7pR0yTGOiA| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/N7pR0yTGOiA| archive-date=November 10, 2021 | url-status=live|title=1968 45-RPM Eugene McCarthy Campaign Recording: Peter, Paul, & Mary| date=September 4, 2010|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>  "[[Day Is Done (Peter, Paul and Mary song)|Day Is Done]]", a No. 21 hit in June 1969 from the trio's Grammy Award-winning album ''[[Peter, Paul and Mommy]]'', was the last Hot 100 hit the trio recorded.