Customer Reviews

The Kingston Trio/...From the "Hungry i"

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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.

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.

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.

The Kingston Trio was instrumental in making the 60's folk revival take place. Their first album "The Kingston Trio" provided enough authentic folk material to satisfy the purists and allow the Trio to begin to introduce new material. And any song sufficiently popular ("John B") to make the Beachboys cover it has to be all right. Terry Gilkerson's modern folk classic "Fast Freight" is covered better (and with improved lyrics) that the original. "Scotch and Soda" is original Trio (Dave Guard) material that should last forever.
"... from the 'Hungry i'" is a very good for a live recording from those days, though sometimes the weakness of the pick-ups on one or more of the Trio is distracting. It is hard to beleive that Lerner and Loewe's "They Call The Wind Maria" was written by a Russian emmigrant for a Broadway play; it is more authentic folk than most of the real things and while the Trio can't quite do the justice to it that John Raitt did on Broadway, they are superb.

...From the "Hungry i" was a favorite of mine since I found it in my mom's LP collection many years ago, but I actually had never heard the first of the two albums on this CD, "The Kingston Trio," in its entirety, just some songs on other albums. It is just as great. Scotch and Soda is a beautiful song. But the real gem, I think, is the "Hungry i" portion of the CD. Gue, Gue is eerily beautiful; The Merry Minuet continues to be funny. I still chuckle at the commentary between songs ("For those of you who speak Creole French, it's Northwestern Creole French...as spoken in perhaps Utah").

If you like the harmonies of this album, you MUST buy their "The last month of the year", the greatest Christmas album ever written (now on CD).

Perhaps more than any other group, The Kingston Trio were responsible for bringing folk music to a mainstream audience. Moreover, in the late fifties (their heyday), they outsold everybody. Their first few albums would profoundly influence the music business. Bob Dylan and The Beach Boys, to name only two, were Trio disciples.

This is their first two albums on one CD.

I grew up on these albums. As a child, I played my dad's once-pristine vinyl copies to death, just enjoying the songs--the warm harmonies and often hilarious lyrics. I bought this as soon as I found it on CD. Now a musician and folklorist myself, I find the music sounds, if anything, better and more exciting now than it did to me nearly 30 years ago.

In later years, personnel changes, unfortunate forays into rock, the audience and the industry, and even death would leave the Trio a shadow of its former self. They would never be as perfect as they are on these two albums. I would recommend this one even over a greatest hits or anthology package.

Fella's, it just doesn't get any better than this. I call it perfect because
it is. American music with a light snap of latino twang just for flavor. This is college folk music that's actually fun to listen to.. And by "fun", I don't mean dance music or bubbly pop crap of the time. Not so. Folk music coming out of the 50's and 60's was often a bit of a bummer to listen to. The message often overode the ability to listen. Not so much the Kingston Trio. You can hear the "fun or nothing" rule in each cut. Dave Guard, Bob
Shane and Nick Reynolds were the perfect band, the perfect group. The latter day versions of the K.T were good but not the original receipe. They could
cover every emotion; fun, somber, sad, happy and happy drunk.

I only have one wish for Kingston Trio music; That "Fast Freight" will be
covered by Crosby Stills Nash and maybe Young. "Scotch and Soda" was the tune that would assure that you would be having breakfast with last nights date. All perfect.

This Collector's Choice CD brings together the first two albums by the Kingston Trio and gives you a perfect opportunity to see the difference between a studio album and a live album by one of the most celebrated groups of the folk revival at the very start of their recording careers. "The Kingston Trio" is the celebrated folk group's debut album from 1958 and the one that introduced the nation to "Tom Dooley." With that hit song,
Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds, and Bob Shane suddenly made folk music popular with the mainstream listening audience. If you are used to listening to a Kingston Trio hits collection you will find the sound on this first album rather primitive and certainly not as polished as later efforts, but that is to be expected. Over the next five years the group would put out twenty albums, half of which would make it to the top three of the Billboard charts.

The most familiar song from the rest of the album is "Scotch and Soda," written by guard, who also the comic song "Coplas" and "Little Maggie" (these are the last three tracks on the album). Half the songs on the album are traditional, specifically the first three on each "side" of the album (an indication, to me at least, that the order represents what the Kingston Trio were doing in concert at that point). The most notable of these is "Saro Jane," although fans of the Beach Boys will recognize that the Trio gets the credit for turning an old Weavers song into the rock standard "Sloop John B."

The Kingston Trio recorded their second album live at the Hungry i in San Francisco on August 15-16, 1958, which was just a few days after the release of their debut album. This was significant because it explains why you have a live album from a group that includes absolutely nothing from their previous album. That means the song selection is not as strong, but this hardly matters because the boys are singing live, getting the crowd involved in the fun (e.g., introducing "Zombie Jamboree" as "the song that killed calypso"). Shane shines in singing, "They Call the Wind Maria" from "Paint Your Wagon," but my favorite is the medley of "Shady Grove/Lonesome Traveler."

Listening to this second album, which made it to #2 on the Billboard charts (guess what album was keeping it from becoming #1), I am struck by how small the gap is between what the Kingston Trio are doing and what the Smothers Brothers were doing on their first album, "Live at the Purple Onion." No wonder the mixture of folk songs and humor captivated so many listeners. The only complaint with this album is that it was recorded in Mono (not to worry, their next live recording would be in Stereo), but that can still strike us as being quaint and in its own way authentic. The main thing is that together these two albums explain why the Kingston Trio became the hottest group in the country essentially overnight.

I bought all of the Guard Trio 2fers a short time ago. I was always a Stewart Trio fan(still am), but wanted to here the original Trio without all the scratches and things that go with the LP's. Beautiful music to say the least! One of the songs struck me right in the noggin. Tanga Tika/Toerau. Brilliant,just out and out brilliant. This is the original, recorded in 1958, not the version released on String Along in 1960. This song could be a hit today. Worth the price of the CD. Plus as a bonus you get 26 other tracks. Really, both these albums are a true test of time and can be enjoyed today on cd. Dave Guard had away about himself. He was a true professional. Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds are the perfect match. This cd is a KEEPER!

When I was an innocent teenager, an older cousin introduced my to the Kingston Trio and said very intelligent people like them. Well, she was right! This CD is a broad scope of their ability to perform all areas of folk music. I especially enjoyed the part of the album that is live from the Hungry i as there is the banter and humor and wild wit thrown in by the guys as they perform. The audience is having a wonderful time and show it. It's worth the price of the CD just to hear songs like "They Call the Wind Maria", the joyful cynicism of "The Merry Minuet"and the rousing "Zombie Jamobree". Macabre, but fun. While I later heard trios with a little tighter and closer harmony, such as Chad Mitchell Trio, Peter, Paul, and Mary, I will always love the Kingston Trio for being the first. So, if you are intelligent, go get this CD. Excellent!!