Yeah, Captain, Peter spent some time in jail. The story goes that he had a one-nighter with a groupie who announced in the morning that she was underage and wanted hush money. He called her bluff, she called the cops. At least that's the story I heard. But I also heard that, years afterwards, he was formally pardoned by Jimmy Carter.

The accepted version is that Peter's jail sentence is what broke up the trio in 1972, but it's also true that Noel/Paul had become a Christian and was uncomfortable about spending so much time away from his children, on the road. Either way, the years passed and they reunited in 1978.

I'd hesitate to call them "banal" and "nice," as Will Fly did above. PP&M were the most political of the 60's folk groups in the US, deeply involved in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam movements, the anti-apartheid efforts, nowadays the gay rights movement, and other issues. They sang of compassion for the poor in El Salvador...and for the kid who gets bullied on the playground. They sang of love for a child with Downs Syndrome. They appear to be deeply sincere about these things. And they didn't just sing about issues, they marched in the protests, got arrested, confronted the military junta leaders in Central America face to face. They even sang at the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "Dream" speech.

I think they're good musicians, good singers (well, at least the men), and good people. I don't always agree with their causes, but I wish I had their intensity.