Customer Reviews

No Easy Walk to Freedom

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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A few years back my car was broken into and my CD player was stolen. I could replace my CD player, but what I missed the most was this CD. It's excellent! Some of the best that Peter, Paul, and Mary have put out.

PP&M continues to evolve and take chances with new sounds and issues in this album. They dare to deliver their views on controversial topics . . . not a new idea for PP&M, but they certainly wouldn't HAVE TO break new ground in order to have a commercially successful album. The songs will remind the listener of PP&M's history together and their place in our social consciousness. Worthy of a place in every CD collection.

I was thirteen when I saw PP&M perform these songs when they went on the title's tour. I remember going with my parents and my little sister at the time, and my father bought the album on tape. On the way home from the concert, we ended up listening to the tape twice because it was so short but I had pretty much memorized all the lyrics by the time we got home. Over the following weeks and months, that tape must have been played hundreds of times.

On a business trip to Dublin last week, the music in the taverns reminded me so much of one particular song on this album - Greenland Whale Fisheries. When I got home I couldn't wait to order this CD and relive my childhood. Listening to the album has conjured up so many happy memories of singing these and other folk songs in the car with my family.

Buy this album, if for no other reason than to build a strong bond with your kids!

No Easy Walk to Freedom spotlights Peter, Paul & Mary at their best during the mid-1980s. This is indeed one of their better albums; they never miss a beat and each song is a winner! This is the very high level quality control music that you may already be used to from Peter, Paul & Mary; and that's grand. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is nicely done.

"Weave Me the Sunshine" starts the album with awesome singing; the music they play is incredible, too. Their excellent diction enhances their performance; and the guitar work makes the ballad shine! It's a ballad full of hope for a bright future. "Right Field" is a tune written by Willy Welch; this charming number reminds me of my own childhood experience--I was rotten at sports! When you hear Peter, Paul & Mary perform this ballad, it will bring a smile to your face--guaranteed! Now THIS is great folk music!

"I'd Rather Be in Love" starts off with some fine guitar work; and when Mary comes in to sing this number really takes flight! Her voice is terrific; and this gentle, sweet ballad is a highlight of the album. "State of the Heart" is another amazing song that gets the royal treatment from this very special trio; and "No Easy Walk to Freedom" is folk music flavor mixed with a small side-dish of soft rock as Peter, Paul & Mary sing passionately of their hope for a better future for anyone unjustly oppressed. "No Easy Walk to Freedom" is most upbeat and it's also my favorite song on this album.

"Greenwood Whale Fisheries" tells quite a story about a whaling voyage; and listen for Peter, Paul & Mary to do a splendid job on "Whispered Words." "Whispered Words" has a gorgeous melody and it's very memorable. "El Salvador" has Peter, Paul & Mary singing a protest song; that somewhat upbeat, pretty melody certainly belies the seriousness of the lyrics and they deliver this with panache.

"Greenwood" has wonderful music to accompany Peter, Paul & Mary as they sing this poignant song; and the album ends with a very upbeat, positive song about triumph over oppression, "Light One Candle." Although this is a song about Hanukkah, the "light" could easily be a reference to a ray of hope for any oppressed group "Light One Candle" is an excellent way to end the album.

Peter, Paul & Mary gave us a wonderful album with this release; and it's a must have for their fans. People who enjoy folk music in general will also want this for their collections.

In the era of mp3 players, one measure of an album's greatness is how many of its songs you want to save to your playlist. When I sat down recently to upload a bunch of Peter, Paul and Mary songs to mine, I figured the best-represented album would probably be one of the ones from their original run back in the sixties. If it did turn out to be one of their "new" albums, my best guess was LifeLines (which does feature my all time favorite PP&M song, "The Kid"). But it turned out to be No Easy Walk to Freedom.

On further reflection, that wasn't really such a surprise. This really is a gem of a folk album, perhaps not in spite of dating from two decades past the protest-song era but because of that. As its topical songs reflect, we needed this music more than ever in the 1980s and there's still a place for it today. Those topics are, admittedly, somewhat dated, but not beyond relevance today. The title track is an anti-apartheid song, but it draws a graceful line from the civil right era in the US through the then-current struggle in South Africa, and it still works well today as a call to arms for continuing the struggle for freedom everywhere. "El Salvador" is a surprisingly cheeky, almost sarcastic put-down of US involvement in that country's civil war; the parallels with today's quagmire in Iraq are depressingly easy to draw. The closing song, "Light One Candle," an all-purposes paean to vigilance for freedom, is a message we really needed to hear when this album came out. But it's anything but dated. It's as timeless as their early classics.

Of course PP&M were never all politics all the time, and this outing also features just the right amount of humor ("Right Field," about the kid who is picked last for the baseball team but saves the day in the end), love songs ("I'd Rather Be In Love," a really pretty solo outing by Mary), and traditional folksongs ("Greenland Whale Fisheries," borrowing heavily from The Weavers' version). Then there's the irresistibly cheerful "Weave Me the Sunshine," which would sound saccharine coming from any other group but is all pleasure and no guilt in their capable hands. Go ahead, sing along - we won't tell!

This is the album that came out just after I saw their concert at Pier 6 Pavilion in Baltimore in the late 80s. This was the first time one of their concerts was ever picketed. Their song El Salvador apparently brought anger from people because it was against the US government's support and ideas at the time. This album also has a nice assortment of PP&M newer songs (at the time)and not just a remix of old performances.

I bought this album on vinyl when it originally came out. There was an enormously popular PBS concert video, the promotional concert for this album, that was being broadcast at the time and it was phenomenal. Peter, Paul & Mary are artists who spark with more vitality before an audience than they do in the studio, but still, this album crackles! I remember seeing this album listed on Billboard's Top 200 album chart. Best tracks: "Weave Me the Sunshine," "Right Field," "No Easy Walk to Freedom," "Greenland Whale Fisheries," and "Light One Candle." Still a winner!