Capitol Collectors Series

Kingston Trio | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 30, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00000DRAA
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,832 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Capitol Collectors Series is a compilation of the American folk music group The Kingston Trio. Recordings are from their time with the Capitol Records label. It contains songs from both the Dave Guard and John Stewart trios. All the songs included were released as singles by the group with two ("The Tijuana Jail", Coo Coo U") having never appeared on any of their principal recordings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Twenty Folk/Pop Gems, April 16, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Capitol Collectors Series (Audio CD)

Let's get this straight up front, the Kingston trio were a squeaky clean folk group with no real political agenda (leftist or otherwise), but for the five years represented on this single-disc collection they recorded a substantial body of high caliber work. [And don't let the matching striped shirts and clean-cut looks turn you off--in fact, the cover photo reminds me a lot of the Beach Boy publicity shots from the early Sixties.]

They charted seventeen songs on Billboard's Top 40 chart and they're all here, beginning with the No. 1 "Tom Dooley" in 1958 and ending with "Ally Ally Oxen Free" which charted at No. 62 in 1963.

This disc's first ten tracks feature the original classic lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds. While the Trio may be seen more as popularizers than innovators, they hit the charts consistently with traditional fare like "Tom Dooley," "Raspberries, Strawberries" and "A Worried Man," along with novelty material like "M.T.A." and "Bad Man's Blunder." [Their humor could be subtle, too. Listen to the end of "Everglades" when they sing "Runnin' through the trees from the Everlys" and close out with the intro to "Bird Dog"!]

In 1961 Guard left the band and was replaced by John Stewart (who came from The Cumberland Three, another folk group whose manager also managed the Trio). This version of the group would hit the charts with Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," Hoyt Axton's "Greenback Dollar" and their only Stewart-era Top 10 "Reverend Mr. Black," which featured Glen Campbell on banjo. While Stewart (after leaving the Trio in 1967) would be known primarily as a songwriter--notably the Monkee's "Daydream Believer--his only hit with the Trio was the string-laden "One More Town." The biggest surprise was to find a version of "Seasons in the Sun," recorded a decade before Terry Jacks would take it to No. 1 in 1974.

Overall, this is a concise collection of the cream of the Trio's output which should satisfy all but the most dedicated fans. [They can revel in the 4-CD The Capitol Years box set--with more than three dozen previously unreleased songs.] But this disc is a real treat for casual fans and the uninitiated as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The one to own, April 25, 2001

By 

"pspa" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Capitol Collectors Series (Audio CD)

There are all sorts of Kingston Trio compilations out there, but this one is as good as it gets, both in terms of sound quality and selection of songs. From satire to serious to gorgeous ballads to downright funny material, the Kingston Trio did it all, with wonderful harmonizing, great acoustic guitar and banjo playing, and infectious enthusiasm; they never overdo anything and in fact are often understated, letting the music speak for itself; and even on standards such as Where Have All the Flowers Gone they manage to put their own unique stamp on a song. An indispensible CD to any lover of folk music.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine overview of the Trio's repertoire..., December 29, 2001

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Capitol Collectors Series (Audio CD)

I am old, and discovered the Kingston Trio when "Tom Dooley" first was issued as a 45 rpm single in the l950's. I ended up buying every KT record issued until they left Capitol for Decca. I don't have the vinyl ones anymore, they wore out long ago, but I do have this CD collection. While many of my favorite Trio songs are not on it, because they were never issued as singles, what is presented here is excellent. The album booklet is wonderful as well...almost the quality of Smithsonian-Folkways research. You really can't go wrong buying this collection.