CALYPSO  -  LORD INVADER

YEAR:  1955
LABEL:  Folkways
TRACK LISTING:  Barrack-Room Scandal,  Reincarnation,  Brooklyn Brooklyn!,  Barbados,  Brown Skin Girl,  29 Port of Spain,  Labor Day,  Where Jonah Gone
IMPRESSIONS:  What we might consider more of an EP than an LP today, Lord Invader's album "CALYPSO" just barely tops 21 minutes.  However, those are some seminal minutes. The first time I heard the name Lord Invader was when Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio introduced a live version of "Zombie Jamboree" by saying it was by "Lord Invader and the 12 Penetrators".  Sadly, that song was actually first recorded by Lord Intruder and later covered by Lord Invader.  Be that as it may, Whoopi Goldberg taught Doogie Howser how to sing "Brown Skin Girl" in "CLARA'S HEART" so that's some cultural cache for Lord Invader, innit?  "CALYPSO" is an album almost evenly divided between Lord Invader's ties to the Caribbean ("Barrack-Room Scandal", "29 Port of Spain", "Barbados") and his frequent trips to the United States ("Brooklyn Brooklyn!" and "Labor Day").  I just love Lord Invader's raspy vocals and I can see why folkies like the Kingston Trio took him as one of their inspirations.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  All dem.  Yah mon!
GUEST ARTISTS:  The Trinidad Caribbean Orchestra
FACT SHEET:  Who knows what number album this was for Lord Invader?!?  The album was recorded during one of Lord Invader's frequent trips to the U.S.   Lord Invader was born Rupert Westmore Grant in 1914 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.  Grant was given this name by his tailor who told the ambitious singer that he should call himself "The Lord Invader" so that "when you go up to the city you be invadin' the capital".  While in Trinidad, American comedian Morey Amsterdam (of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" fame) heard Invader perform "Rum and Coca-Cola" and brought the song back to the U.S. where it would become a hit by the Andrews Sisters.  Grant sued Amsterdam in 1945 for plagiarism and the case (which Grant would eventually win) dragged on for years.  The Trinidad Caribbean Orchestra consists of clarinet, piano, guitar, steel drum, and percussion.  The album was recorded by Moses Asch for Smithsonian Folkways Records in New York. 

AT LARGE  -  THE KINGSTON TRIO

YEAR:  1959
LABEL:  Capitol
TRACK LISTING:  M.T.A.,  All My Sorrows,  Blow Ye Winds,  Corey Corey,  The Seine,  I Bawled,  Good News,  Getaway John,  The Long Black Rifle,  Early in the Morning,  Scarlet Ribbons,  Remember the Alamo
IMPRESSIONS:  Since my mother was a huge Kingston Trio fan as a teenager (she had even seen them in concert), I always had available to me the complete run of Kingston Trio albums of the Dave Guard and subsequent John Stewart eras.  The Dave Guard years are certainly the definitive incarnation of the band and, while the John Stewart years have much to recommend them, the Trio was mightiest with the line-up of Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds.  Here we have their fourth album which rocketed to number one and was incidentally their first album in stereophonic sound.  Included are a wide range of song subjects from sea shanties to gospel spirituals to western to French to Appalachian to contemporary humour.  The lead-off track "M.T.A." is a contemporary rewrite of a traditional folk song (a common practice in the entire history of folk music) which describes the tragic fate of a man who rides forever on the Massachusetts Transit Authority subway because he cannot pay the nickel he owes for the fare; this song was a surprising top 20 hit single in 1959.  The strength of the Kingston Trio was not in strict archival preservation of folk music performed with rigid authenticity but instead was the wide dissemination and rescue of old folk songs which may have disappeared from memory had not the Kingston Trio (and those early folkies like them) popularized them in the 1950s; most folk music stars of the 1960's (including Bob Dylan himself) count themselves as early Kingston Trio fans.  Every single Trio album of the Dave Guard years is a classic and "AT LARGE" is one more of them.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  M.T.A.,  All My Sorrows,  Blow Ye Winds,  Corey Corey,  The Seine,  I Bawled,  Good News,  The Long Black Rifle,  Early in the Morning,  Scarlet Ribbons
FACT SHEET:  AT LARGE is the Kingston Trio's fourth album.  The album spent 15 weeks at number one and was one of four consecutive albums to appear in the Billboard top ten that year.  It was the first Kingston Trio album in stereo.  AT LARGE was certified gold and is the biggest selling Kingston Trio album except for a greatest hits "THE BEST OF THE KINGSTON TRIO".  "AT LARGE" won the first Grammy Award for "Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording" and was nominated for "Best Vocal Group or Chorus".  It is also the first album to feature David "Buck" Wheat on bass; a collaboration that would continue until 1961.  Polls in both Billboard and Cashbox voted the Kingston Trio the "Best Group of the Year for 1959". 

THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES - The Monkees

YEAR: 1968

LABEL: Colgems

TRACK LISTING: Dream World, Auntie's Municipal Court, We Were Made For Each Other, Tapioca Tundra, Daydream Believer, Writing Wrongs, I'll Be Back Up On My Feet, The Poster, P.O. Box 9847, Magnolia Simms, Valleri, Zor and Zam

BONUS TRACKS: (on the 1994 Rhino reissue): Alvin, I'm Gonna Try, P.O. Box 9847 (Alternate Mix), The Girl I Left Behind Me, Lady's Baby

IMPRESSIONS: You know, I've always called this the Monkees' "Sgt. Pepper" but I think I may just be wrong about that. It's possibly more like their "White Album". Or maybe it really IS their "Sgt. Pepper" now that I think of it. It's far too psychedelic to be their "White Album". However, you squeeze it, "TBTB&TM" is an album I have had my entire life; in fact, I've had it so long I cannot even remember how it came into my possession or when. It certainly must've been only a couple years after it's release in 1968. I'd say I must've had it since I was 4 or 5 years of age, definitely. Yesterday's death of Davy Jones brought to mind my childhood when I never missed a Monkees rerun on telly (Channel 48 played them, dontcha know). The classic TV show was probably my young mind's first encounter with absurdist humour which I would come to worship in the coming years in such comedy gods as "MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS", The Marx Brothers and "THE GOON SHOW". But I think THE MONKEES actually wormed its way into my mind a couple years before the Marx Brothers movies. As far as the music is concerned, the Monkees always got a bad rap for not playing their instruments or writing their songs. Somehow that's supposed to be a bad thing. I don't seem to recall Mario Lanza getting flak for not playing an instrument or Ella Fitzgerald slagged off for not writing her own songs. The Pre-Fab Four were certainly nowhere near the same league but they were a nice-enough pop group that benefitted from a stable of excellent songwriters: Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Carol Bayer Sager, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, John Stewart and Neil Sedaka are just a few of the top drawer talent providing songs for the group. Well respected songwriters all and the songs were good regardless of who was singing them. Here we have the Monkees beating their heads against the wall for respect. Tired of the prepackaged label, the Monkees insisted on more creative control and were allowed to play their own instruments with their previous album "PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES LTD." which is generally considered their finest album. I wouldn't know because I don't own it. This is the one I've owned all my life and it's a damn fine album as well. Here Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork & Michael Nesmith have jumped feat first into the 60's psychedelic era with the trippiest song cycle since the HEAD soundtrack. The elaborate cover practically announces they're going for a SGT. PEPPER-type album; the album recording sessions began only a couple months after the Beatles' released PEPPER in 1967. There is no way I can listen to this album without being transported right back to my single digits; I even recall an early birthday party where this album was used for the music to a game of musical chairs! The album is a psychedelic 60s treasure trove: the record scratches and skips on Nesmith's "Magnolia Simms", the propulsive bombast of "Valleri", the kitchen-sink bubblegum of "Daydream Believer", the mystical medieval majesty of "Zor and Zam" or the LSD inspired "Tapioca Tundra" are all minor masterpieces. This is an album which always puts a big grin on my kisser.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Dream World, Auntie's Municipal Court, Tapioca Tundra, Daydream Believer, I'll Be Back Up On My Feet, P.O. Box 9847, Magnolia Simms, Valleri, Zor and Zam, Alvin

GUEST ARTISTS: Harry Nilsson (piano on "Auntie's Municipal Court"), Bill Martin (percussion on "Daydream Believer"), Hal Blaine (drums on "The Poster"), Stephen Stills (electric guitar on "Lady's Baby")

FACT SHEET: THE BIRDS, THE BEES & THE MONKEES is the Monkees' fifth album. It sold over a million copies but was the first Monkees album that didn't reach number one; it made it to number three. After finally gaining artistic control and recording together as a band on their previous album, TBTB&TM saw the four members basically coming up with and recording their own tracks separately from the others often in different studios; although all recordings were agreed to bear the legend "Produced by The Monkees" this is somewhat the same thing that happened on the Beatles' "White Album". The resulting album is something of a fractured affair (although in the best possible way) featuring contrasting musical styles between Mike Nesmith's country/western or LSD trippy tracks, Davy Jones' Broadway pop/bubblegum style and Mickey Dolenz's straitforward rock and roll. Peter Tork, very disturbed by the group's not working together as a unit, found most of his songs considered for the album but eventually not included; Tork's participation is almost non-existent with his sole appearance on the album consisting of his playing piano on "Daydream Believer". "We Were Made For Each Other" was written by Carole Bayer & George Fischoff. Former Kingston Trio member John Stewart wrote the smash number one hit "Daydream Believer". Perennial Monkees songsmiths Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart wrote "P.O. Box 9847" and "Valleri".

THE LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR - The Kingston Trio

YEAR: 1960

LABEL: Capitol

TRACK LISTING: Bye Bye Thou Little Tiny Child, The White Snows of Winter, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, All Through the Night, Good Night My Baby, Go Where I Send Thee, Follow Now Oh Shepherds, Somerset Gloucestershire Wassail, Mary Mild, A Round About Christmas, Sing We Noel, The Last Month of the Year

IMPRESSIONS: Here is another of those priceless Christmas records from my childhood; very few mean more to me than this album. In first or second grade I took the record into school because I loved it so much and we were supposed to bring in our favourite Christmas records to play in class. While waiting outside for the bell to head into the building, the record slid out of the sleeve and whacked edge-on on the sidewalk; resulting in a chip out of the record's edge which took out the first few seconds of the first song on each side of the record. In 1992, Capitol Records finally re-issued the album on cd. I secretly bought it (this was in the summer) and popped it into the cd player. I then told my mother to come into the living room and listen to this new cd I got. When the first few notes of "Bye Bye Thou Little Tiny Child" began playing, she literally burst into tears of joy. THAT'S how much this album means to my mother and to myself.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Bye Bye Thou Little Tiny Child, The White Snows of Winter, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, All Through the Night, Go Where I Send Thee, Follow Now Oh Shepherds, Somerset Gloucestershire Wassail, A Round About Christmas, Sing We Noel, The Last Month of the Year

GUEST ARTISTS: David "Buck" Wheat (bass, guitar)

FACT SHEET: THE LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR is the Kingston Trio's eighth album. This is the original trio consisting of Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds. Besides doing vocals, Dave Guard plays banjo, guitar and bouzouki, Bob Shane plays guitar and banjo and Nick Reynolds plays tenor guitar and bongos. And like all the others, this album was produced by Voyle Gilmour. The album is generally considered the trio's most ambitious musically and, perhaps for that reason and the fact that it doesn't consist of the usual run of the mill Christmas songs, it was the first Trio album to fall below expected sales projections. In the words of Nick Reynolds: "It wasn't your standard Christmas album. That's why we called it 'The Last Month of the Year'. It was a pretty complicated little album, some very intricate stuff. Dave (Guard) brought in a lot of the arrangements with stuff like bouzouki instrumentation; Buckwheat (David Wheat, the Trio's bassist) played some wonderful gut-string guitar. We really worked hard on that one, laying down a lot of the instrumental tracks before we did the vocals, working on harmonies over and over. David (Guard) was responsible for a lot of that album, but we all brought things in... Musically, it came off very well; it just didn't sell." Allmusic critic David A. Milberg calls the album "An essential part of any Christmas album collection, these are true Christmas folk songs, from spirituals to Old English rounds."

BACK IN TOWN - The Kingston Trio

YEAR: 1964

LABEL: Capitol

TRACK LISTING: Georgia Stockade, Ann, Ah Woe Ah Me, Walkin' This Road To My Town, World I Used To Know, Salty Dog, Let's Get Together, Isle In the Water, Farewell Captain, Tom Dooley, Them Poems: a) Lunch Toters b) Stamp Lickers c) Them Hors D'oeuvres, So Hi

BONUS TRACKS: C'mon Betty Home. The Collectors' Choice cd release combines the live BACK IN TOWN album with the SOMETHING SPECIAL album as well.

IMPRESSIONS: This is the first live album I've posted and in fact the first Kingston Trio album I heard therefore it holds a sweet spot in my heart. I have been listening to BACK IN TOWN since I was a wee little kid. Back in the 1950's, my mother had been a huge Kingston Trio fan (she's in good company because so was Bob Dylan) and collected every single one of their original LPs; she even saw them live in concert several times. As I grew up, I would listen to them all and become just as big a fan. Often dismissed because of their huge commercial success, The Kingston Trio were in fact hugely influential in the "folk boom" begun in the late 1950's which would culminate in the folk revival spearheaded by Bob Dylan in the 60s. Dylan counts himself a fan as does Lindsey Buckingham (who appeared on stage with the Trio during their 1980s "reunion concert") and, in fact, the matching striped shirts worn by the Beach Boys early in their career was a direct homage to the Kingston Trio (who always wore matching striped shirts as their "trademark"). The "classic" lineup of the Kingston Trio was the original group featuring Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds but this second incarnation featuring John Stewart has some good moments as well. Many of them can be heard on this album which captures a relaxed and energetic live performance by the trio who steer from beautiful ballads like "Ann" and "World I Used To Know" to wacky tracks such as the "dirty Calypso number" "Ah Woe Ah Me", the raucous "Salty Dog" and the hilarious "Them Poems" only to finish the concert with a rousing gospel number "So Hi". Listening to this album takes me right back to my bright yellow bedroom on Linwood Avenue in Maple Shade as I'd sit on the floor listening to my portable record player. Priceless memories.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Ann, Ah Woe Ah Me, World I Used To Know, Salty Dog, Farewell Captain, Them Poems, So Hi

GUEST ARTISTS: Glen Campbell (guitar)

FACT SHEET: BACK IN TOWN is the Kingston Trio's 18th album (not including "greatest hits") and was the group's last album on the Capitol Record label. It is a live album recorded at San Francisco's "Hungry i" night club; a frequent venue for the trio. As with all the Capitol Kingston Trio albums, BACK IN TOWN was produced by Voyle Gilmour. Despite their lucrative partnership, Capitol Records and the Kingston Trio were unable to negotiate a new contract resulting in the Trio moving to Decca Records. This is not the original line-up of the Kingston Trio but the second incarnation of the group consisting of Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and John Stewart replacing founding member Dave Guard.