Hard Times

Peter Yarrow was a central figure in Peter, Paul & Mary, one of the groups that represented America’s 1960s folk movement. They began in 1961, then later had a period of inactivity during an approximately eight-year hiatus beginning in 1971. During that time each member made solo records; Peter released four, beginning with this 1975 album.

The more rock-oriented sound PP&M had already developed in the late 1960s is pushed further here, and that change makes Peter’s vocal stand out differently. Of the trio he had always leaned toward the gentler, more sentimental side. On this first solo album that quality becomes still more pronounced, giving the music an introspective, personal flavour. It may share an atmosphere with Paul Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years, released in the same year. Fellow member Paul Stookey and Libby Titus appear, and their harmonies sometimes recall PP&M.