Turning Like Forever (Rarities Vol.2)

From the Collectors' Choice Music-distributed RichKat Records label comes a second installment of rarities and otherwise hard-to-find archival selections featuring the Kingston Trio. Musically, the focus of Turning Like Forever: Rarities, Vol. 2 (2008) spans their post-Capitol Records stint with co-founders Nick Reynolds (guitar/vocals), Bob Shane (banjo/guitar/vocals), and Dave Guard's replacement, John Stewart (guitar/vocals). The eponymous Kingston Trio (Nick-Bob-John) (1964) was their initial endeavor for Decca Records and from those sessions come alternates of Rod McKuen's ballad "Love's Been Good To Me," as well as "Little Play Soldiers," "Love Comes a Trickling Down" and the stunningly simple, yet effective pre-vocal [read: instrumental] take of Stewart's "Stories of Old." When the confab reconvened for their follow-up Stay Awhile (1965) several superior sides were left to languish in the vaults for decades. The Mason Williams-penned "Love Poem #1" and "Love Poem #2" are examples of the composer's fiercely underrated brilliant, silly and insinuation-laden songwriting style. Comparatively more traditional is Williams' "Road Song" and arguably superior take of "If I Had a Ship." The other standout cut circa Stay Awhile is -- as liner notes author Tom DeLisle aptly puts it in his heartfelt essay -- "How this cut never made an album is beyond my reasoning." Well said. Children of the Morning (1966) -- the last long player during the trio's Decca stint -- is the source for the Stewart originals "Go Tell Roger" the long-lost classic "January Summer," an a cappella mix or vocal-enhanced mix of Stewart's achingly poignant and timeless "When You've Been Away for a Long Time," and a variation on the title composition, "Children of the Morning." The second half of the disc is devoted to nearly a half-hour of promotional radio interview excerpts, advertisements, and endorsements that were recorded around the Time to Think (1964) and during their "downtime" between their lapsed Capitol Records gig and soon to commence two-year run on Decca. ~ Lindsay Planer