Folk music revisisted

Outside of NPR and a dedicated fan base, folk music doesn't get the kind of attention a new Beyonce, Guns N' Roses or American Idol's album gets. Rhino and Shout! Factory have just released four folk oldies on CD for the first time.

The first three albums are gathered onto one 3-CD boxed set, exclusive to Barnes & Nobles stores. Peter, Paul & Mary: The Solo Recordings 1971-1972 (Rhino) does what its title says, it gathers the first solo albums from Peter Yarrow (Peter), Noel Paul Stookey (Paul &) and Mary Travers (Mary). Stookey's was the only one to yield a Top 40 single in the wedding staple, The Wedding Song (There Is Love). Travers gave voice to then-young, not yet household name songwriters John Denver (Follow Me, Rhymes and Reasons) and Elton John-Bernie Taupin (Indian Sunset) thanks to her recording of their material.

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Shout! Factory reissues Carly & Lucy Simon Sing Songs for Children, an album originally released as Sing the Lobster Quadrille and Other Songs for Children in the late 1960s after The Simon Sisters had ended their act but before Carly started her solo career and Lucy became an acclaimed Broadway songwriter (The Secret Garden, Dr. Zhivago). Sing Songs for Children is a charming little folk album, features a version of their catchy single Wynken, Blynken & Nod and even a gentle tune that might be worth throwing onto an iPod Playlist for your family Christmas gathering, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.