The Kingston Trio/...From the "Hungry i" [Extra tracks]

Kingston Trio | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 9, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00005MHVI
• Also Available in: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,856 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Three Jolly Coachmen

2. Bay of Mexico

3. Banua

4. Tom Dooley

5. Fast Freight

6. Hard, Ain't It Hard

7. Saro Jane

8. Sloop John B.

9. Santo Anno

10. Scotch and Soda

11. Coplas

12. Little Maggie

13. Tic Tic Tic (The Lost Watch)

14. Gue Gue

15. Dorie

16. South Coast

17. Zombie Jamboree

18. Wimoweh (Mbube)

19. New York Girls

20. They Call the Wind Maria

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Original Folksmen, May 7, 2004

By 

Glen Engel Cox (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingston Trio/...From the "Hungry i" (Audio CD)

When my mother was in high school she joined the record club where they automatically sent you that month's selection unless you told them not to by sending back the selection card saying 'not this month.' Because of this, when I was growing up there was a strange melange of records in our home: Elvis Presley, the Ventures, John D. Loudermilk, Bobbi Gentry, Homer and Jethro, and the Kingston Trio. I listened to every one of them, and some so much that they have left catchphrases in my vocabulary that can be traced directly to certain recordings.

The two live albums in the collection were most responsible for this, not solely for the bits where the artists chat with audience, but because they come from the era of intimate settings when you could actually experience the camaraderie of the performers (something MTV's Unplugged and VH1's Storytellers series tried to recapture). From Homer and Jethro at the Country Club I picked up sayings like, "You're blackballed! Put on your shoes and go!" long before I understood the sorry history of racism and elitism that the two, supposed, hicks were playing on in their club setting and "You don't look mad," right after badgering someone into anger and forcing them to admit their ire.

It's not too surprising that a comedy album might provide memorable lines, but the other major influence was The Kingston Trio's ...from the "Hungry i". From that album, I acquired, "You're all alone, you know," from the novelty tune "Zombie Jamboree," as well as some of the general cynicism of "Merry Minuet" best expressed in the line "...and I don't like anybody very much." Those two songs do represent the more humorous portions of the album and lend themselves to quotation, I admit.

For those not familiar with the Kingston Trio, they burst onto the music scene in the early 1950s with a coffee-house update to traditional folk music, paving the way for the folk-rock movement. (The faux trio, The Folksmen, from the recent mockumentary A Mighty Wind, is a parody of the Kingston Trio, matching their instruments, voices and musical style if not their lives.) Prior to this live album, they had released two albums and had a major radio hit ("Tom Dooley"), but those studio albums just don't do justice to their easy camaraderie onstage and their imprompto musicianship, which does come through in this recording.

Unlike modern live albums, which tend to showcase the band's hits, every song here had yet to appear on a Kingston Trio album, although some are traditional songs ("When the Saints Go Marching In"). Most of the songs are taken from the pre-Dylan folk idea, where ancient texts or melodies were updated. Songs like "Wimoweh" (aka "The Lion Sleeps Tonight") and "Gue, Gue" are modern adaptations of African and French folk songs, respectively. The songs switch between light-hearted, amusing songs such as the opener, "Tic, Tic, Tic," the up-tempo "New York Girls" and the aforementioned "Zombie Jamboree" to the morose story-song like "South Coast" and the biblically-inspired "Dorie." My favorite song on here is the haunting "They Call the Wind Maria," with its fascinating opening lyric, "Way out here they have a name / for rain and wind and fire / the rain is Tess, the fire is Joe / and they call the wind Maria."

Unlike other, more popular albums from the late 1950s, ...from the "Hungry i" doesn't sound very dated at all, although other Trio albums from the time period do due to the production. There's something timeless, however, about three guys on a stage with acoustic instruments and great harmonies, a trend that popular music has embraced in each decade since the Kingston Trio's heyday, from Crosby, Stills and Nash to last year's Thorns.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I would call it "definitive", October 20, 2003

By 

Robert S. Truesdell (Costa Mesa, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kingston Trio/...From the "Hungry i" (Audio CD)

They are both great albums, but ...From the "Hungry i" defines this group and their broad appeal. Great rapport with the audience, great topical wit, and outstanding preformance. A very talented group indeed. Each song from this set is just pure gold.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is where the Folk Era begins...., June 3, 2002

By 

"jjpesq" (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingston Trio/...From the "Hungry i" (Audio CD)

The debut album from The Kingston Trio is one of the best debut records ANYWHERE by any artist in any genre of music. It's that good. Not perfect (mono sound quality is okay, but not as good as later Trio albums would be), but half of the songs here are still featured in Kingston Trio concerts to this very day.
"Scotch And Soda" is folk-lounge at its very best, and possibly Bob Shane's greatest and best-loved vocal of all time. "Fast Freight" is Dave Guard's equivalent, and was a song that completely captivated me at age 6, when I inherited this album from my father. Very haunting. "Three Jolly Coachmen" is witty and rather British-sounding. "Bay of Mexico" is a tad bit shrill, but has interesting key changes and percussion. "Saro Jane" features a unique kind of banjo picking (fingers instead of picks?), "Sloop John B", while not as polished or intricate as the Beach Boys hit 1966 remake, remains an influence on the BBoys (let's not forget about the striped shirts either!). "Coplas" is.........well, a good example of what life was like in the pre-politically correct era of the late 50's, when apparently Mexican-bashing was considered hillarious, but I still like it.....

Every song is great, ending with the banjo-thumper "Little Maggie" . Then this cd continues with the 2nd K Trio record, the "Live At The Hungri I". This album, in my opion, excells at showcasing the personalities in the Trio, from Dave Guard's sarcastic, 'intellectual' leanings, to Bob Shane's good-old-boy routine, to Nick Reynolds' enthusiasm. Highlights include "They Call The Wind Maria", a worthy follow-up to 'Scotch & Soda', the calypso "Zombie Jamboree", and the pseudo-ethnic "Dorie". The material is not as strong as the debut record, but the humor and personality carry the day. Combined, this set is the blueprint for their entire career to come.