Customer Reviews

The Very Best Of

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The Journeymen. I pride myself on being a true lover of the folk genre, but I had not included them on my "master list" of artists that I wanted to upgrade from vinyl to CD. Recently, I found an old issue of "Smoke Signals," the Florida State University magazine, from 1962 which contained an article covering their appearance on campus. A light went on, and I recalled that their concert was one of the best folk music events I had ever attended.

That said, I checked out Amazon to see if, by any chance (slim I assumed), there might be a CD available. Lo and behold, there was this one lonely emission listed.

I had to have it, and I'm truly glad I ordered it. In my review of Bob Gibson's "Joy! Joy!," I stated that he was the forgotten man of the folk era. Well, trust me, this is the forgotten group. I've always thought that The Brothers Four had a more melodic and harmonius style than The Kingston Trio (althought The KT remain my favorites), I discovered that The Journeymen probably had a better style, both vocally and instrumentally, than the Bros IV.

Their renditions of "River, She Comes Down," "Fennario," "Dark As A Dungeon," "All The Pretty Little Horses," and "What'll I Do" may be among the best presentations ever recorded of those titles. Their offering of "Ja-Da" is extremely compelling. But above all, listen to "Make Me A Pallet," and see if you don't feel that this is one of the most beautiful and moving songs (folk or otherwise) that you have ever heard.

While The Journeymen may not be familiar to most folk music buffs, two of their members will long be remembered by pop afficianadoes. John Phillips later became a member of The Mamas And The Papas, and Scott McKenzie had a Top 10 hit in the mid-'60s with the immortal "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)."

Highly recommended. Buy this one and you'll buy many hours of blissful music that won't be heard by many of your friends (unless they visit your home)>

Of the three Journeymen, Dick Weissman-- perhaps the group's finest musician-- is the least known. John Phillips (later of The Mamas & The Papas, of course) and Scott McKenzie ("Are you going to San Francisco?") complete a long-forgotten folk trio that, for a brief period, was the best of the best.

Their harmonies are as good as (or better) than The Brandywine Singers, and, like The Limeliters, they can make three voices sound like so many more. Like The Kingston Trio and The Highwaymen, they display a diversity and an honesty that is true and impressive. In their own way, they are more innovative than groups like Peter, Paul, & Mary; The New Christy Minstrels; and The Brothers Four, while retaining those groups' feel for what a crowd might like. But no folk group ever combined all these qualities at such high levels of excellence into one entity.

There are so many gems here: "I May Be Right", "Fennario", "Make Me a Pallet", "Cotton Mill Girls", and "Bay of Mexico" (what a gorgeous sound on that one) are my personal favorites, but they are all terrific.

Unfortunately, the folk gods did not bless The Journeymen with commercial success, but John Phillips (who wrote "San Francisco" for McKenzie, and also named his daughter after his friend Scott) proved that, given the right set of circumstances, he certainly had the knack. In The Mamas & The Papas, you can hear the echoes of those brilliant Journeymen harmonies, transformed into something new, different, and exciting.

Anyone who loves folk music, especially folk groups, has to own this one. I only wish that more of The Journeymen's songs were available, as this CD is but a selection from their albums. Gems all, but there may be others out there...

This excellent compilation of The Journeymen's best work defines the 60s folk idiom. Never to realize the comercial success of the Kingston Trio or PP&M, The Journeymen nevertheless had the tight vocal and instrumental polish necessary to make it "big" and they amply demonstrate it on this CD. Although their musical arrangements are sometimes unnecessarily complex, they are always enjoyable. My favorite selection from this CD is "Dark as a Dungeon" and, to me, best illustrates this group's potential. I unhesitatingly recommend this disc for any devotee of 50s-60s American folk music. It's a keeper!

If you're an old folkie like me, you might vaguely remember their sound: smooth, sensitive, powerful, and VERY pretty. Start with Dick Weissman on banjo and 12-string, add John Phillips (yes, of the Papa's & Mamas a bit later), and finally the incredibly fine voice of Scott McKenzie (later to record "San Francisco" in '67). The audio quality of the CD is perfect, and the tracks are a selection of previously released vinyl, singles, and some unreleased tracks. There are a lot of good songs here from their only three albums. I still own the original vinyl recordings, but if they ever release the original albums on CD, I'm buying.

This album sounds like the Journeymen I listened to in the dorm in the mid-60's. I loved the clean sound and great arrangements by the trio.
Toward the end of the CD you can hear John Phillip's arrangements mature toward those of the Mamas and the Papas, the group John founded. Only one song was missed (that I can remember)---One Quick Martini (answer to Scotch and Soda by the KT).

Quite simply: I would trade my entire music collection for a 10 second scrap from The Journeymen. Their harmonies give me a lump in my throat and bring tears to my eyes.

a great compliation please release all the original albums withbonus material

The Journeymen were as good as it gets. They were great arrangers, musicians and vocalists. You might want to consider buying their three individual albums instead of this "best of" series. It includes a lot of bonus material and great stuff released for the first time. You can really hear the beginnings of the Mamas and Papas sound...

Great songs, great singers, unfortunately only this one CD is now available. If there were others I would buy them also!

I was so pleased to find this long lost friend. Please make more of their song available to those of us who have gone to seed.