Noel Paul Stookey hosts (Photo:Kevin Mazur)

Well-known figures in folk music perform their best-loved songs in the new PBS documentary, Legends of Folk: the Village Scene. Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary fame hosts the TV special celebrating the folk era in New York City’s Greenwich Village – the epicenter of the folk, folk-rock and singer-songwriter movements during the 1960s. The program premieres on PBS television stations in August. Check your local listings for air dates and times in your area.

Legends of Folk: The Village Scene intersperses archival performance footage of such folk luminaries as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, The Lovin’ Spoonful and Simon & Garfunkel, along with newly filmed interviews with Don McLean, Maria Muldaur, Tom Paxton, Michelle Phillips (of The Mamas and the Papas), The Spoonful’s John Sebastian, and Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary), as well as John Cohen (of The New Lost City Ramblers).

The Lovin' Spoonful (Photo courtesy of David Gahr)

Stookey, Yarrow and their late trio partner Mary Travers also will be heard and seen singing “If I Had a Hammer,” while McLean (best known for his songs “American Pie” and “Vincent”) performs “Castles in the Air.” Paxton sings his classic “The Last Thing On My Mind,” and The New Lost City Ramblers perform “Liza Jane.” Two singer-songwriters who died too young also are featured – Tim Hardin singing “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Phil Ochs” declaring “I Ain’t Marching Any More.”

Legends of Folk: The Village Scene was directed and produced by four-time Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jim Brown, who also produced and directed Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On;Wasn’t That a Time, the critically acclaimed 1981 documentary about The Weavers; American Roots Music, the four-part PBS series that aired in 2001; A Vision Shared: A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly; Pete Seeger: The Power of Song; and other programs as part of PBS’ American Masters series of specials delving into the lives, works and creative processes of some of our cultural icons.