An Evening With The Kingston Trio

There's no exact date or venue mentioned, but this 1962 concert recording, featuring the Nick Reynolds/Bob Shane/John Stewart version of the trio, is a lively account of the group's work. The 15 numbers here, including "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Tom Dooley," "Wimoweh," "Scotch and Soda," "Reuben James," "The Merry Minuet," "MTA," and "The Wagoner Lad," involve a lot of jokey asides (including a still-funny contemporary reference to Jack Paar during "MTA"), shouting, and mugging for the microphone that worked better visually. It's all in good fun, however, and the material is sung and played with lots of enthusiasm, which proves fairly infectious. This disc has more excitement than the trio's earlier Newport appearance, and a more interesting array of songs than Folk Era's Dave Guard-trio Stereo Concert Plus CD, though they aren't always quite as careful in their performance. "The Wagoner Lad" is the highlight of the concert: a low-key, exquisitely sung and harmonized number that ought to be a part of any collection of the trio. It's fascinating to realize, as this disc demonstrates, that the group was doing Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger songs, yet ended up being regarded as too conservative and out of touch by serious folk audiences, who seemed to resent the trio's popularity. ~ Bruce Eder