The Kingston Trio (album)
Encyclopedia
The Kingston Trio is The Kingston Trio
's debut album, released in 1958 (see 1958 in music
). It entered the album charts in late October 1958, where it resided for nearly four years, spending one week at #1 in early 1959. It was awarded an RIAA gold album on January 19, 1961.
, Nick Reynolds
, and Bob Shane
formed the Kingston Trio in Palo Alto, California in June 1957. By 1958 they had a recording contract with Capitol Records and were in the studio by February. From their first recording sessions, the single "Tom Dooley
" was released and became a number one hit in the US. The single's success helped propel their debut album to the number one spot of the Billboard Pop chart. "Tom Dooley" was the Trio's second single—the first was "Scarlet Ribbons" b/w "Three Jolly Coachmen" —and it would remain on the charts for five months and earned the group their only gold single.
The members were quoted in various articles, even the liner notes of the first album, separating themselves from more traditional folk artists. Reynolds stated ""We don't collect old songs in the sense that the academic cats do. Each one of us has his ears open constantly to new material or old stuff that's good." Guard is quoted "We are not students of folk music; the basic thing for us is honest and worthwhile songs, that people can pick up and become involved in... When the performance is over the piece is not significant anymore."
"Scotch and Soda
" was discovered by the Trio through Tom Seaver
's parents, who had first heard it when on their honeymoon. One member of the trio was dating Seaver's older sister at that time, and heard the song on a visit to the Seaver home. Although it is credited to Dave Guard, the trio never did discover the real songwriter's name, though they searched for years.
During these same sessions, the trio recorded "Dodi Li" which was left off the album. It later appeared on ...from the Hungry i
as "Dorie".
album charts in late October 1958 and stayed there for nearly four years. It spent one week at #1 in early 1959. It was awarded an RIAA gold album on January 19, 1961.
In his Allmusic review, critic Bruce Eder called the Kingston Trio's debut album less polished than other current folk music groups, but noted their debut release made up for it with "with youthful spring, exuberance, freshness, and a number of song choices that spoke of a new generation of folk singing." He also notes "one also gets a sense of just how strong the trio was musically right out of the starting gate—The Kingston Trio was essentially an idealized version of the group's stage show of the era, recorded over three days in the studio, and a fine, bracing body of music."
Production notes:
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
's debut album, released in 1958 (see 1958 in music
1958 in music
-Events:*February - 45,000 peoplein one week watch performances of "rokabirī" music by Japanese singers at the first Nichigeki Western Carnival....
). It entered the album charts in late October 1958, where it resided for nearly four years, spending one week at #1 in early 1959. It was awarded an RIAA gold album on January 19, 1961.
History
Dave GuardDave Guard
Donald David "Dave" Guard was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio.Guard was educated in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Punahou School in what was then the pre-statehood U.S....
, Nick Reynolds
Nick Reynolds
Nick Reynolds was an American folk musician and recording artist. Reynolds was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, whose largely folk-based material captured international attention during the late fifties and early sixties.- Early life :Growing up in Coronado, California, his...
, and Bob Shane
Bob Shane
Bob Shane is an American singer and guitarist and, with Nick Reynolds' passing in October 2008, the only surviving founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the U.S...
formed the Kingston Trio in Palo Alto, California in June 1957. By 1958 they had a recording contract with Capitol Records and were in the studio by February. From their first recording sessions, the single "Tom Dooley
Tom Dooley (song)
"Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio. This version was a multi-format hit, reaching #1 in Billboard, the...
" was released and became a number one hit in the US. The single's success helped propel their debut album to the number one spot of the Billboard Pop chart. "Tom Dooley" was the Trio's second single—the first was "Scarlet Ribbons" b/w "Three Jolly Coachmen" —and it would remain on the charts for five months and earned the group their only gold single.
The members were quoted in various articles, even the liner notes of the first album, separating themselves from more traditional folk artists. Reynolds stated ""We don't collect old songs in the sense that the academic cats do. Each one of us has his ears open constantly to new material or old stuff that's good." Guard is quoted "We are not students of folk music; the basic thing for us is honest and worthwhile songs, that people can pick up and become involved in... When the performance is over the piece is not significant anymore."
"Scotch and Soda
Scotch and Soda (song)
"Scotch and Soda" is a song recorded by The Kingston Trio in 1958 and first released on the album The Kingston Trio; it also appeared on the live album Once Upon a Time and on various compilations....
" was discovered by the Trio through Tom Seaver
Tom Seaver
George Thomas "Tom" Seaver , nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "The Franchise", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1967-1986 for four different teams in his career, but is noted primarily for his time with the New York Mets...
's parents, who had first heard it when on their honeymoon. One member of the trio was dating Seaver's older sister at that time, and heard the song on a visit to the Seaver home. Although it is credited to Dave Guard, the trio never did discover the real songwriter's name, though they searched for years.
During these same sessions, the trio recorded "Dodi Li" which was left off the album. It later appeared on ...from the Hungry i
...from the Hungry i
-Personnel:*Dave Guard – vocals, banjo, guitar*Bob Shane – vocals, guitar*Nick Reynolds – vocals, tenor guitar, bongos, conga*David "Buck" Wheat – bass-Chart positions:-External links:* *...
as "Dorie".
Reception
The album entered the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
album charts in late October 1958 and stayed there for nearly four years. It spent one week at #1 in early 1959. It was awarded an RIAA gold album on January 19, 1961.
In his Allmusic review, critic Bruce Eder called the Kingston Trio's debut album less polished than other current folk music groups, but noted their debut release made up for it with "with youthful spring, exuberance, freshness, and a number of song choices that spoke of a new generation of folk singing." He also notes "one also gets a sense of just how strong the trio was musically right out of the starting gate—The Kingston Trio was essentially an idealized version of the group's stage show of the era, recorded over three days in the studio, and a fine, bracing body of music."
Reissues
- The Kingston Trio was reissued on LP under the title of Tom Dooley with "Banua" and "Santy Anno" deleted.
- Some tracks from The Kingston Trio were reissued in 1961 by Capitol on Encores, a duophonicDuophonic*In synthesizers, capable of sounding two voices, or notes, at a time. Compare: monophonic, polyphonic.*Duophonic is also a term used to refer to a sound process by which a monaural recording is turned into a kind of "fake stereo" by splitting the signal into two channels, delaying the left and the...
reissue of cuts from the first two albums. - The Kingston Trio was released on CD by Capitol Records in 1992 paired with ...from the Hungry i...from the Hungry i-Personnel:*Dave Guard – vocals, banjo, guitar*Bob Shane – vocals, guitar*Nick Reynolds – vocals, tenor guitar, bongos, conga*David "Buck" Wheat – bass-Chart positions:-External links:* *...
. It has since been withdrawn by Capitol. - In 1997, all of the tracks from The Kingston Trio were included in The Guard YearsThe Kingston Trio: The Guard YearsThe Kingston Trio: The Guard Years is a compilation of The Kingston Trio's recordings when Dave Guard was a member of the Trio along with Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds....
10-CD box set issued by Bear Family RecordsBear Family RecordsBear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...
. - Collector's Choice Records reissued The Kingston Trio / ...from the Hungry i as a two-album CD in 2001.
Side one
- "Three Jolly Coachmen" (Traditional)
- "Bay of Mexico" (Traditional)
- "Banua" (Traditional)
- "Tom DooleyTom Dooley (song)"Tom Dooley" is an old North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina. It is best known today because of a hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio. This version was a multi-format hit, reaching #1 in Billboard, the...
" (Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, Frank Warner) - "Fast Freight" (Terry GilkysonTerry GilkysonHamilton H. Gilkyson III , better known as Terry Gilkyson, was an American folk singer, composer, and lyricist.-Biography:...
) - "Hard, Ain't It Hard" (Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
)
Side two
- "Saro Jane" (Traditional)
- "(The Wreck of The) 'John B' The John B. Sails"The John B. Sails" is a folk song that first appeared in a 1917 American novel, Pieces of Eight, written by Richard Le Gallienne. The "secret" narrator of the story describes it as "one of the quaint Nassau ditties," the first verse and chorus of which are:-1950 to 1963:Among others, the song has...
" (Traditional) - "Santy AnnoSantianna"Santianna", also known as "Santiana", "Santy Anna", "Santayana", "Santiano", "Santy Anno" and other variations, is a sea shanty relating to the Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. Supposedly, the last whaler to return to New Bedford hauled in to this tune...
" (Traditional) - "Scotch and SodaScotch and Soda (song)"Scotch and Soda" is a song recorded by The Kingston Trio in 1958 and first released on the album The Kingston Trio; it also appeared on the live album Once Upon a Time and on various compilations....
" (Dave Guard) - "Coplas" (Guard, Traditional)
- "Little Maggie" (Guard)
Personnel
- Dave GuardDave GuardDonald David "Dave" Guard was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio.Guard was educated in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Punahou School in what was then the pre-statehood U.S....
– vocals, banjo, guitar - Bob ShaneBob ShaneBob Shane is an American singer and guitarist and, with Nick Reynolds' passing in October 2008, the only surviving founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the U.S...
– vocals, guitar, banjo - Nick ReynoldsNick ReynoldsNick Reynolds was an American folk musician and recording artist. Reynolds was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, whose largely folk-based material captured international attention during the late fifties and early sixties.- Early life :Growing up in Coronado, California, his...
– vocals, tenor guitar, bongos, conga - Elmer "Buzz" Wheeler – bass
Production notes:
- Voyle GilmoreVoyle GilmoreVoyle Gilmore was an American record producer and arranger. He was best known for his work with Frank Sinatra and The Kingston Trio on Capitol Records...
– producer - Curley Walters – engineer
- Paul Speegle – original liner notes
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Billboard Pop Albums | 1 |