Near the end of “A Complete Unknown,” the Bob Dylan biopic that centers on his move into rock in 1965, an earnest, slim, bearded, clearly nervous M.C. struggles to pacify a wildly divided crowd that has just heard Dylan sing three plugged-in songs at the Newport Folk Festival. Boomers will immediately recognize that M.C. as Peter Yarrow, himself a festival headliner in the folk-revival trio Peter, Paul and Mary.
Legacy of Peter Yarrow
Yarrow, who died on Tuesday at 86, was also a member of the Newport Folk Festival board that had been striving to balance the event’s founding mission — bringing traditional music to a wider audience — with the preferences of that wider audience, which was more drawn to pop than purism. Among the festival organizers, Yarrow was an advocate for the topical songwriting and contemporary sounds that some old-line folk aficionados resisted.
According to “White Bicycles” by the producer Joe Boyd, who was running the sound system at Newport in 1965, Yarrow was also at the control board during Bob Dylan’s loud, divisive electric set, and refused to turn it down as other board members demanded. And in the early, idealistic years of the folk revival, Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers (who died in 2009) strummed and harmonized their way toward that conscientious balance of folk and pop. It was sincere, and fleeting.
Remembering Peter Yarrow
Peter Yarrow's contributions to the folk music movement and his advocacy for blending traditional and contemporary sounds will always be remembered. His dedication to his craft and his willingness to push boundaries left a lasting impact on the music industry.
