Peter Yarrow’s Musical Gift to America

Peter Yarrow, of the iconic folk-singing trio Peter, Paul, and Mary, will usher in the season of giving with a PBS special and a new version of America's most beloved ode to the holiday, "The Night Before Christmas."

Yarrow will kick off his book tour for "The Night Before Christmas" with both a  concert and a book signing at Book Revue, 313 New York Ave., Huntington on Monday at 7 pm. For information, call (631) 271-1442.

For almost 50 years the legendary folk-singing trio used the power of song to ignite the social conscience of a nation, inspiring millions of Americans to dream of a better world. Although Mary Travers' voice was stilled by complications from leukemia in September 2009, Yarrow will carry on the group's legacy with a sing-along special, which will air on PBS from Nov. 27 through December. Starring Yarrow and Noel "Paul" Stookey, The Peter Yarrow Special will headline moving performances by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Keb 'Mo,' Yarrow's daughter, Bethany and cellist Rufus, and singer/percussionist Billy Jonas.

The special, which is as much about audience participation as the performances, was taped in New York and directed by Emmy Award-winning producer/director James Brown.

Of his motivation for the PBS special, Yarrow said that music remains one of the most effective tools for sharing our "deepest cares, hopes, dreams, and passions."

This "language of the heart" cuts across  generations in a time that it  is sorely needed, he added.

Yarrow said that viewers' pleasure will be augmented by the heartwarming kinship of the young and old reveling in a feast of America's most beloved folk songs. Highlights include "Weave Me the Sunshine," "The Cruel War," "Blowin' in the Wind," "500 Miles," "Puff, the Magic Dragon," and "This Little Light of Mine."

Performers come together in duets, trios and ensembles, and there are lessons  to be gleaned from the interaction of those onstage as well as the songs,  Yarrow indicated.

The sing-along resonates with the performers' love and respect for each other.

"They are there for each other, and manifest what we [Peter, Paul, and Mary] shared years ago.  Music influences people. It is a model of caring and giving that is palpably moving," Yarrow explained.

As the founder of Operation Respect, Yarrow hopes that music can heal the chasms caused by bullying and intolerance.

"We have a bruised heart in our country," Yarrow said. "According to the National Association of School Psychologists, 160,000 children stay home from school each day to escape from cruelty."

As part of an effort to bring the nurturing power of music back into children's lives, Peter Yarrow Books, an imprint of Imagine Publishing, has released a new version of Clement C. Moore's poem, "The Night Before Christmas."

The book, a collaborative effort on the part of Peter, Paul and Mary, comes complete with a three-track CD which contains Travers' last recording.

"Christmas Eve with Mary," a moving tribute to Travers, was taped in an improvised studio in her Connecticut home. Although Travers would soon succumb to her illness, she narrated Moore's poem over a special background score composed by Yarrow. She was accompanied by her longtime partners, and got it right in one take.

"She rallied. It was very moving, and I am very proud of it," Yarrow said of the performance of his dear friend who was very weak and in a wheelchair.

The CD also includes Stookey's self-penned version of Moore's poem set to music and "A' Soalin," one of the trio's longtime holiday favorites.

The book is illustrated by Eric Puybaret, the French artist whose use of color and imaginative illustrations made Peter Yarrow Books' "Puff the Magic Dragon" and "Over the Rainbow" into New York Times bestsellers.

Yarrow said that Charles Nurnberg, president of Imagine Publishing, turned him on to multimedia presentation as the way of recapturing the "center stage popularity" that folk music once had.

That such a book can make the story "come alive in a special way" is something Yarrow knows from experience with his own granddaughter.

"Children see the relationship between the music and the tangible work of art that they can hold. It is important to bring music into children's lives in a way that encourages them to sing along," Yarrow said. "Culture nurtures children's goodness."