|
|
December 24, 1999/15 Tevet 5760, Vol. 52, No.17
Peter Yarrow remains dedicated to goal of improving world
ANDY ALTMAN-OHR
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
Almost every kid who went to a Jewish summer camp in the late 1960s and 1970s remembers singing the Peter, Paul and Mary hit, "If I Had a Hammer."
Peter Yarrow - the Peter of the trio - postulates why the Jewish community was so quick to embrace that song, and several others by the 1960s folk legends.
"It expresses the idea of making the world a better place -tikkun olam," Yarrow said by phone last week from his New York City home. "You can't assign to yourself the task of healing the world all by yourself, but you can't shrink away from trying to make it a better place, either."
Yarrow was part of the famous group that also popularized "This Land is Your Land," "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" and "Blowin' in the Wind." He spoke with the Jewish Bulletin while in San Francisco recently with his 28-year-old daughter, Bethany, for a concert at Congregation Emanu-El.
The 61-year-old folk singer and longtime activist for countless causes has dedicated his life to tikkun olam since the 1960s, even though he didn't know the term until a Jewish awakening about 15 years ago.
"I didn't grow up a practicing Jew at all," the native New Yorker said. "My mom despised organized religion because of all the killing that was done in the name of religion."
While Peter, Paul and Mary were recording hit after hit, singing anthems for civil rights and other movements, Yarrow's Judaism was very much on the back burner.
"But the acceptance of Peter, Paul and Mary by the Jewish community always meant a lot to me," he said.
Peter, Paul and Mary's debut album in 1962 ranked in the Top 20 for two years and didn't drop off the Hot 100 album charts until three years after its release. The group formed in 1960 in New York's Greenwich Village and went on to sharpen its act at folk clubs around the country.
By the time the trio broke up in 1970, they had earned eight gold and five platinum albums, with hits such as "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"
But for Yarrow, it always was about more than just the music.
"Music has had a very profound role in raising social consciousness," said Yarrow, who still plays about 40 dates per year with Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers.
In 38 years of music-making, Yarrow has consistently countered hatred with song, and continually tried to use his power as a performer to overcome social injustice. "My life has always been focused on that kind of mission," he said.
In the 1960s, he stood with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., and Washington, D.C. In 1969, he co-organized the March on Washington, a landmark event in the anti-Vietnam War movement. In more recent times, Yarrow has lent his clout and spirit to other causes, fighting against apartheid, homelessness, gun violence, hunger and exploitation of farm workers.
His biggest current project, called "Don't Laugh At Me," focuses on teaching children not to tease or ostracize their peers. Based on a former No. 1 country song that Peter, Paul and Mary recorded last year, the project has many aspects, including a teachers' guide, video, songbook and a public service announcement to be screened in 6,000 movie cinemas in January and February.
Yarrow also has become a spokesman for Holocaust remembrance programs, and in 1995, he received the Greater Miami Jewish Federation's Tikkun Olam Award in recognition of his continual efforts to help repair the world.
Yarrow's legacy in the Jewish community has been assured, thanks to the song "Light One Candle," which he wrote in 1985 in support of the peace process in Israel. The song has been embraced by the Jewish community, "particularly in the Reform movement," Yarrow said.
"When I wrote the song, I was forced to look inside myself," he said.
He and his daughter, Bethany, travelled to the Middle East at the height of the intifada, and visited the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syria plus other sites in Israel.
"I found myself in a very powerful way on the side of those who want to make peace," he said. "And now I'm active in this arena."
When performing with his daughter, a "special event" that happens only 10 or 12 times a year, he likes to sing "songs that are about the mutual vision that we share - our ideology and hopes and dreams."
|
