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BORN IN Manhattan, Yarrow was singing in Greenwich Village when entrepreneur and manager Albert Grossman signed him for folk-poppers Peter, Paul And Mary in 1961. The group were an instant hit with their polished performances – the goateed, sharp-suited Peter and Paul Stookey flanking Mary Travers – and a song catalogue which ranged from civil rights to love songs. They hit the Top 10 with Pete Seeger’s If I Had A Hammer, likewise John Denver’s Leaving On A Jet Plane, and introduced audiences to numerous early Dylan songs.
Yarrow co-wrote big hit Puff, The Magic Dragon, which he swore was about lost innocence, not weed. After the trio split for the first time in 1970, Yarrow released five solo LPs, and continued his activist work. In 1981 he was pardoned by President Carter after being convicted of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 1970.
Sylvie Simmons