No Easy Walk to Freedom
No Easy Walk to Freedom is a 1986 studio album by American folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Its release coincided with the group's 25th anniversary. Produced by John McClure and Peter Yarrow, the album was nominated in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards. Background and composition. 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. The album was their first in almost nine years. The title  track was written for Nelson Mandela. The group sought to connect the causes of Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. A few years later, Peter, Paul and Mary would perform "No Easy Walk to Freedom" at an event in Tokyo honoring Mandela shortly after his release from prison. 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. 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. Critical reception. "No Easy Walk to Freedom" received a 1987 Grammy Award nomination in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category. "Billboard" noted the group's "familiar formula of story-songs and socially conscious material" and described the album as "a pleasant return to form." A review in "Digital Audio and Compact Disc Review" wrote 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." 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." 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." 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."