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Peter Yarrow Peter, Paul & Mary singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist Peter Yarrow passed away January 7 at age 86. . . .
"Puff, the Magic Dragon," which reached No. 2, was the first of three Top 100 singles written or co-written by Yarrow for the Warner Bros. trio. Their 1963 flip side, "The Cruel War," was reissued as an A side in 1966, as opposition to America's involvement in the Vietnam War grew. Bob Cowsill told Goldmine, "For The Cowsills, before The Beatles, we were folk music performers and Peter, Paul & Mary were the standard for us. We even rode our bikes as kids to the Newport airport in Rhode Island just to watch them deplane as they arrived each summer for the annual Newport Folk Festival. Their sad and poignant song, "The Cruel War," was sung by our mom and was a highlight in our live shows for years. We even recorded it for our 1969 In Concert album. Peter Yarrow's passing reminds us of those times as young aspiring artists when groups like Peter, Paul & Mary showed The Cowsills what three-part harmony was all about and that social commentary in songs was a good thing."
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