No Easy Walk to Freedom

Without a label, Peter, Paul and Mary signed with Gold Castle Records to record No Easy Walk to Freedom. Released in 1986, it marked the trio's 25th anniversary.^[2] The album was their first in almost nine years.^[3] The title track was written for Nelson Mandela.^[4] The group sought to connect the causes of Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.^[2] A few years later, Peter, Paul and Mary performed "No Easy Walk to Freedom" at an event in Tokyo honoring Mandela, shortly after his release from prison.^[4] A music video for the song, directed by George Gage and Jim Shea, features archival footage depicting the group's involvement in human rights issues, along with performance clips.^[5] Other songs on the album include "El Salvador", a protest song about the United States' involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War, and "Light One Candle", written for Jewish dissidents in the Soviet Union.^[6]

Billboard noted the group's "familiar formula of story-songs and socially conscious material" and described the album as "a pleasant return to form."^[5] A review in Digital Audio and Compact Disc Review observed that the album's songs are "each stamped with PP&M's unique voice and harmonies, that deal not only with protest, but also with love, friendship, and childhood."^[7] AllMusic's L. Katz wrote, "This is one of the trio's later releases and, if their fire is a bit dimmed, one can't blame them. However, if you want a CD that brings you back to the dawn of the flower-child generation, this probably isn't the one."^[1] Keith Tuber of Orange Coast said: "Makes you wonder why it took 10 years and a new label to showcase the talent of these legendary performers."^[6] A review in the Reno Gazette-Journal called the album "an extraordinary comeback, a set of 10 political broadsides and topical ballads. The arrangements are clean and fresh and the performances are genuinely moving from start to finish."^[8]

No Easy Walk to Freedom received a 1987 Grammy Award nomination in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category.^[9]

Side one

1. "Weave Me the Sunshine" (Peter Yarrow) – 2:19
2. "Right Field" (Willy Welch) – 3:36
3. "I'd Rather Be in Love" (Pat Alger, Walter Carter) – 3:00
4. "State of the Heart" (Richard Kniss, Noel Paul Stookey) – 3:21
5. "No Easy Walk to Freedom" (Margery Tabankin, Yarrow) – 2:47

Side two

1. "Greenland Whale Fisheries" (traditional) – 4:13
2. "Whispered Words" (Yarrow) – 3:21
3. "El Salvador" (Stookey) – 3:58
4. "Greenwood" (Yarrow) – 4:03
5. "Light One Candle" (Yarrow) – 3:04

Credits adapted from LP liner notes.^[10]

• Peter Yarrow
• Noel "Paul" Stookey
• Mary Travers

Additional musicians

• David Brown – acoustic guitar (1–3, 5, 7–10)
• Anthony MacDonald – percussion (1–3, 5, 8, 10)
• Richard Kniss – acoustic bass (1–2, 4, 6, 10)
• Eric Weissberg – banjo (2)
• Warren Bernhardt – keyboards (3)
• Anthony Jackson – electric bass (3, 5)
• Ed Walsh – keyboards (4, 7–9)
• Mick Moloney – mandolin (6)
• Séamus Egan – penny whistle (6)
• Lori Cole – concertina (6)
• Jay Leonhart – acoustic bass (7, 9), electric bass (8)
• New York Choral Society – chorus (10)

Technical

• John McClure – producer, engineer
• Peter Yarrow – producer
• Robert De Cormier – musical director
• Malcolm Pollack – mixing
• Jeff Cox – assistant engineer
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• Milton Glaser – album cover design
• George Leavitt – cover art associate designer
• Gregory Heisler – album cover photo
• John Robb – black and white photo
• Matthew Klein – composite album photo