VIDEO: Legendary folk singer, activist Peter Yarrow to perform in Franklin on Saturday
Singer-songwriter and activist Peter Yarrow comes to Franklin’s Circle of Friends Coffeehouse this Saturday, April 14, 2012. Yarrow, now 73, is known as one part of the famed folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary. But he also is known for his commitments to equal rights, the environment, homelessness, education, gender equality and other social issues.
Peter Yarrow will perform Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin, Mass.
Yarrow’s long career launched in the early 60s, after he met Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers in Greenwich Village. Peter, Paul & Mary were among the seminal voices of the “folk revival,” and the group’s first album scored commercial success in 1962. Of course, one of Yarrow’s most famous songs is “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” co-written with Leonard Lipton, but he has gone on to be a producer as well as an activist.
Musically he helped found the “New Folks Concert” series at the Newport Folk Festival and at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Aside from “Puff,” he is also known for writing “Day is Done,” the cry for freedom for Soviet Jews in “Light One Candle” and “The Great Mandala.”
As a social activist with Peter, Paul & Mary, the trio opposed the Vietnam War and participated in protests, including the March on Washington.
Over the years, Yarrow has achieved numerous awards and accolades and has fought to combat school violence through Operation Respect, a program that aims to teach tolerance and respect for differences among people, fostered by the song “Don’t Laugh at Me”:
The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse is a non-profit organization affiliated with Franklin’s First Universalist Society. Concerts are presented in a smoke free and alcohol free environment at the Society’s handicapped accessible meetinghouse, 262 Chestnut St. in Franklin, and begin at 8:00 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35. Call 508-528-2541 or visit http://www.circlefolk.org to purchase tickets or for more information.
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