Local triplets celebrate connection with iconic folk trio
By Jerry Callaghan, Contributing Photographer
Grafton – Peter Yarrow, one third of the iconic 1960’s folk group, Peter, Paul and Mary, performed to a sold out audience Aug. 17 at the Apple Tree Arts Great Hall in Grafton. And while the concert featured great music (and a bit of politics), it also celebrated some wonderful memories, especially for two local brothers who have a special connection to the musician.
When the Davidson triplets were born in 1964 while their family was living in California, their mother chose the biblical names of Peter, Paul and Mary for the babies. Because it was unusual for a triplet birth back then, a local newspaper ran a front page story. Paul Stookey’s mother happened to see that and told her son about it. The musical trio, charmed by the story, then visited the newborns in the hospital and presented them with a note and savings bonds. The musicians noted at that time they hoped to see the little Davidsons again someday when they were grown up.
In 2001 the Davidson trio did get a chance to meet the musical trio at a concert in Massachusetts. And then to the delight of all, Peter and Paul Davidson, who now live in Northbridge, were able to attend the Apple Tree Arts concert and once again meet Yarrow. (Their sister Mary is in Arizona and was unable to attend.)
Yarrow’s son Christopher accompanied him during the Aug. 17 concert on vocals and washboard bass (a washbasin, a broom stick and a piece of clothesline according to Christopher).
As he has done so many times before, Yarrow took the opportunity to share not only music but his passionate views on certain issues. During the concert, he spoke about the plight of refugees from central America and likened it to his parents flight as Jewish refugees from the Ukraine in the early 1900s.
“I would not be here if not for the United States,” he said.
He spoke of the divisiveness in our country and how destructive it can be to us as a nation. He noted that he wants to “show that we are not that different from each other” and spreading that message is why he “gets his aging body out of bed in the morning.”
“I don’t know who you voted for but we can still be friends,” he added.
