I used to love to make mix tapes from my album c.d. and cassette collections. Often I would record an album spotlight where I would feature 4 or 5 songs from the same album and mix it in with other songs on a 45 minute cassette. I found I can basically do the same thing in a much shorter time on Spotify. I am also less limited by space so instead of choosing 45 minutes of songs I chose 20 songs.
The first album I decided to do this with is Peter Paul and Mary’s award winning Children’s album Peter Paul and Mommy. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover this gem of an album in 1969 when it first came out. This is too bad, as I was 5 in 1969 and at the perfect age for many of the wonderful songs on this album I did eventually discover it when my own children were at the perfect age to listen to it.
Click here to listen to the entire playlist.
My favorite 5 songs on the album (in alphabetical order) are …
An additional 5 songs featured on the playlist are …
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan
Grandma’s Feather Bed – John Denver
The entire album has a singing around the campfire feeling. I guess it’s not surprising that many of the songs I chose to accompany songs from the album were songs that I sang around the campfire over the years. Grandma’s Feather Bed is a song that I learned over the campfire years before I ever heard Denver’s rendition
Wedding Song (There is Love) – Noel Paul Stookey
On my album spotlight playlists, I like to feature songs by the artist or solo songs from the group that are not on the album. Noel Paul Stookey is the Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary and The Wedding Song was performed by my sisters at my and my wife’s wedding, so it was a slam-dunk choice for the playlist.
Snuggle Puppy – Eric Stoltz
I also like to include songs from the album’s same genre on my playlist. Snuggle Puppy is a song from the book c.d. combo Philadelphia Chickens featuring the lyrics and artwork of Children’s author Sandra Boynton. Like Peter Paul and Mommy this song (and the entire album) was a favorite of my kid’s growing up. I could totally see doing an album spotlight in the future on this amazing project.
Carolina in My Mind – James Taylor
I think groups like Peter, Paul and Mary paved the way for the folk-pop music of the 70’s. This is why I added a little JT to the mix.
I hope you enjoyed this look back at one of my favorite albums. I hope to do another one here real soon.
