“The Devil in Ohio” on Netflix (so-so, but some good performances) featured a wonderful piece of folk music that immediately grabbed my attention.
It has what sounds like difficult fingerpicking below lovely harmonies, and is both heartwarming and slightly menacing at the same. The overall effect is beautiful.
I discovered that it was “A’Soalin” by Peter, Paul & Mary, who have completely passed me by, other than “Puff the Magic Dragon”.
I’d love to hear a lot more from them, but Amazon has surprisingly few of their CDs, and some of those it does have are stupidly expensive. Do PP&M have any fans here, and if so, does anyone have any recommendations or favourite tracks/albums/compilations?
There’s a slightly grainy live version of “A’Soalin” here. As one of the YouTube comments says, imagine being able to sing and fingerpick luke this without having to look at your guitar…
Their version of Leaving On A Jet Plane is a personal favourite.
I was in a PP&M tribute band once, unimaginatively called Steven, Michael and Jean. Used to knock ’em dead at the youth club with our stirring renditions of Blowing in the Wind, Where Have All the Flowers Gone etc. PP&M were defiantly unhip though, particularly in the light of what Dylan was up to at the time. Most of my enthusiasm for them centred round Mary, I must confess.
After a short YouTube splurge I have to say they were bloody good, though. Those harmonies are rock solid. They had a sense of humour too…
When the came to Britain in 1963 or 64 there was enough hysteria for Melody Maker to run a ‘Peter, Paul & Mary Mania!’ headline (on the front cover, I think – I wasn’t around at the time but one comes across fascinating things like that, often forgotten by history, when researching other artists of the time). The uncoolness might be part of the latterday lack of reissues but wasn’t there something a bit Operation Yewtree about one of them? Which would hardly have helped.
Peter was convicted of abuse of a 14-yr-old girl, but received a presidential pardon from Jimmy Carter. Which didn’t go down well with the victim…
As coincidence would have it Noel (Paul) Stookey was recently interviewed by Ray Padgett on PP&M and their connection to Dylan.
https://dylanlive.substack.com/p/peter-paul-and-marys-noel-paul-stookey
Popular in the US, and amongst audiophiles, I have a rips of a couple of their albums reissued on the Audio Fidelity label, mastered by Steve Hoffman himself. Neither features the tune in the OP, though.
Those rips are sitting on a hard drive, let me know if you need ‘help’.
The track in question is the closing song on the album ‘Moving’* – there’s a link in my post below to a nice CD copy for about £13.
Recorded live in Honalee, with Puff on special effects.
They were a staple of holiday car journeys in my childhood. My mum loved them so, by exposure and by osmosis, so do I. We all used to sing Stewball together.
My favourites of theirs are 500 Miles and Too Much Of Nothing (better than Dylan’s original, MUCH better).
@captain-darling
Discogs is your go-to place for material of this vintage:
https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/1421379850?ev=bp_det
Mary was quite the trendsetter with her hairstyle, IIRC.
That’s really lovely. Like it.