June 26, 2026 —– Chart #356
Hello music friends,
Welcome back to another edition of Chart of the Week. This week we are going back to 1967 for a song that is fun, clever, and just a little bit unusual for the artists who recorded it.
Today’s feature is “I Dig Rock and Roll Music” by Peter, Paul and Mary.
Now, when most folks think of Peter, Paul and Mary, they probably think of folk music, protest songs, beautiful harmonies, acoustic guitars, and maybe a dragon named Puff who has been unfairly accused of all kinds of things for about sixty years.
They were not exactly known as a rock and roll band.
And that is part of what makes this song interesting.
A folk group takes a look at rock and roll
Peter, Paul and Mary were one of the defining acts of the American folk revival. The trio of Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers formed in New York City in the early 1960s and quickly became one of the most successful and recognizable groups of that era.
They had major hits with songs like “If I Had a Hammer,” “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” Their harmonies were clean, their message was usually thoughtful, and their stage presence was more coffeehouse than sock hop.
Then in 1967 they released “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” and suddenly this polished folk trio was singing about rock music, the Mamas and the Papas, Donovan, and the Beatles.
That must have caused a few folk purists to spill coffee on their corduroy jackets.
The song
“I Dig Rock and Roll Music” appeared on the 1967 album Album 1700. It was written by Noel Paul Stookey, James Mason, and Dave Dixon, and it became a Top 10 hit, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was one of the group’s last big singles before “Leaving on a Jet Plane” took them back to the top of the charts in 1969.
The song is not really Peter, Paul and Mary turning into a rock band. It is more like they are standing just outside the rock and roll circus, looking in with curiosity, amusement, and maybe a little suspicion.
The lyrics name-check the sounds of the day, including the lush California harmonies of The Mamas and the Papas, the mystical folk-rock style of Donovan, and of course The Beatles, who by 1967 were no longer just a band but a full-blown weather system.
It is part tribute, part parody, and part social commentary. In other words, very 1967.
Why it worked
The funny thing is, for a song about rock and roll, it still sounds very much like Peter, Paul and Mary. The harmonies are right out front, the arrangement is tidy, and nobody sounds in danger of knocking over an amplifier.
But the groove is catchy, the references are clever, and the whole thing has a wink to it. They were not trying to out-rock the rockers. They were commenting on a musical world that was changing fast.
By 1967, folk music, pop, rock, psychedelia, and social protest were all bumping into each other. Some of it was brilliant. Some of it was self-important. Some of it probably made more sense if you had not slept in three days and were wearing a vest with fringe.
Peter, Paul and Mary were smart enough to notice all of that and turn it into a hit record.
A quick note for the guitar crowd
This one is a fun change of pace. It is not difficult, but it does need energy and a little attitude. The key is to keep it moving and not make it too precious. The song has humor in it, and it should feel that way.
It is also a good reminder that folk musicians can have a sense of humor. Sometimes we forget that, especially when the song has thirteen verses and everyone in it ends up cold, hungry, or working in a mine.
So this week we tip our hats to Peter, Paul and Mary, three great folk singers who briefly looked over at the rock and roll crowd and said, “Yeah, we dig that too.”
And they did it with three-part harmony.
Keep Rockin,
Stan
Couldn’t resist including this video of Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence. What a hoot!