"Aspen Gold" - 51 West 16116

Aspen Gold

(51 West/CBS Q-16116)

Cover of the Nautilus records audiophile (Digitally Recorded and Mastered Superdisc) issue of Aspen Gold.

Cover of the Nautilus records 'audiophile' issue of Aspen Gold. (Digitally Recorded and Mastered Superdisc)

CD Reissue: At this time, ASPEN GOLD has not been released in the CD format..

Recording Sessions: Dates N/A
Original Release: 1981.
Format(s): LP record (Nautilus (NR2) & 51 West/CBS (Q-16116); Cassette Tape (Nautilus (EC-7013) & 51 West/CBS QT-16116)

NOTE: I bought a cassette copy of Aspen Gold in the early '80s, and for years thought that it was the only Kingston Trio recording released between 1966 (Children of the Morning) and their early re-issues on CD in the mid 1980s. Boy was I wrong! Aspen Gold has long been a favorite of mine. Several new arrangements of old favorites are found here plus two tracks that appear on this album only (Aspen Gold and Longest Beer Of The Night.)

Jerry

Last revised:March 30, 2006.

ALBUM COVER: DBX cassette tape issue (Nautilus EC-7013)

The artwork below is a reproduction of that found on the 51 West/CBS issue of Aspen Gold.

IMAGE SOURCE: Album cover, 51 West/CBS (Q-16116) LP

Side 1

A Worried Man * Greenback Dollar * Reuben James * Hard Ain't It Hard * California

Side 2

Aspen Gold * Early Morning Rain * Scotch And Soda * M.T.A. / Tom Dooley * Longest Beer Of The Night

Under locense from Nautilus Recordings
(c) 1981 CBS Inc. / (p) 1981 CBS Inc. / Manufactured by CBS Records / CBS Inc. / 51 W. 52 St., New York, N.Y. 10019 / "51 WEST" Trademark of CBS Inc. / Printed in U.S.A.

JACKET DESIGN MIKE QUON CAROLINE BURTON

The following are the liner notes from the Nautilus (Nautilus NR2) 'gatefold' issue of ASPEN GOLD

Side 1
Worried Man 2:20
Greenback Dollar 2:29
Reuben James 2:38
Hard Ain't It Hard 2:04
California 2:46

Side 2
Aspen Gold 2:33
Early Morning Rain 3:05
Scotch And Soda 2:17
MTA/Tom Dooley 4:01
Longest Beer of the Night 2:29

Producer: Steve Clark for Nautilus Recordings
Associate Producer: Bob Jonte
Execusive Producers: Roger Rohrs, John Hess
Recorded at Kendun Recorders, Burbanks, CA January 25 & 26, 1979
Engineers: Baker Bixby, Geoff Sykes
Digital Recording: Soundstream Inc.
Digital Recording Engineers: Bob Ingebretsen, Bruce Rothaar
Mastering: Stan Ricker, JVC Cutting Center
Consulting: Stphen Krauss, Pres. Orion Marketing, Limited
Design/Art Direction: Baxter Boyington, Marianne Elliston
Liner Notes: Jeffrey Weber
Photography: Chriss Cassatt, Yon Herbert
Lettering: Ad-Arts West
Special thanks to Kent Duncan, Leah Bernstein and all the great people at Kendun Recorders.

Stan Kaess: Electric Bass
Tom Green: Drums
Ben Schubert: Electric Fiddle & Mandolin

I arrived a bit before the Kingston Trio session began at Kendun Recorder's new "super" studio in Burbank, California. I was greeted in equal portions by the noise of laughter and festival as well as that of eleventh-hour construction. The rooms were filled with the sounds of the press, musicians and construction workers. It was difficult to see any tension as everyone sensed that something special was taking shape. The atmosphere was delightfully relaxed despite the obvious expectancies.

Bob Shane, one of the Trio's original members, exhibited this attitude most predominantly.
When not recording, he could be seen barefoot, harboring a perpetual smile as he relayed a "fantastic" experience to just about anyone who would listen. My favorite is the story he told me about one of his gold records which fell off his plaque. "My wife and I decided to see if it played. The first track was Dean Martin singing Volare!"

Bob is the main force behind the Kingston Trio and to him the Trio is more than simply making records. The Trio is an entertainment concept; a statement deeply rooted in our musical heritage. Since 1957 the Kingston Trio has taken their musical style directly to the people. Today, 22 years later, the same is still true. The Trio performs around the world some thirty-four weeks a year. The Kingston Trio's history includes over twenty albums netting them at least half a dozen gold records and a platinium disc or two. With today's massive promotional muscle, a gold record is not that lofty a goal to attain, but to achieve the Trio's sales status during a period when people were hardly to buy 45's was quite an accomplishment.

But the Kingston Trio's success has always come as a result of their concert appearences. As Bob explained, "Whatever is natural for us and feels good, we do on stage as well as in the studio. Ours is an easy kind of music to sing and play. What we hope to do with this record, more than anything else, is to reintroduce the people to the Kingston Trio via their new sound. We want to show that we've kept up by adding a little to our sound and to our act, and to be a little more current. We have respect for today's ears as opposed to yesteryear's ears."

Besides the husky vocals of Bob, the other members of the group have their own well-defined positions. Roger Gambill, perhaps the most exuberant of the bunch (you would never guess he studied opera and chemistry), views himself as the catalyst in the group. "I'm the worst musician in the group. As a matter of fact I don't even consider myself a musician. Bob has a very distinctive voice and George is a marvellous instrumentalist. I'm the filler on stage as far as tempo is concerned." Roger keeps things going on a laughable level, but the importance of the Kingston Trio's music and this record in particular is no joke. "This album represents the continuing value of acoustic and vocal music. People want to hear lyrics again. We are entertainers and this type of recording gives us the opportunity to perform in a live situation, rather than the 'splice-this and splice-that'."

Becoming a member of the Trio (going on 7 years now!) has a special meaning to Roger. "I was in high school when Tom Dooley hit the charts and that meant a lot to me as my father probably sang over 600 verses of the song to me by the time I was six years old. I used to bird hunt around Tom Dooley's grave. When what was left of Tom Dooley's house was torn down, the people who owned the property gave me some stonework from the fireplace. It was very ironic when Bob reformed the group to have a member who came from the same place as Tom Dooley."

George Grove, the Trio's newest member, is known as the "musician". "Although I majored in trumpet and piano in college , I learned how to play guitar and banjo by listening to the records of the Trio. That style is embedded in me and it is the way I play now." George sees his position with the group as "holding things together musically for the three of us. Even though I'm the newest member of the group (I've been with them for three years) I feel like I've been with them for 20 years."

It was George who best described the feelings of the Trio as they recorded: "We were excited about this record even before we stepped into the studio. For the past month we have been getting into the proper frame of heart to come in and do what we really want to do. During the session we had such a positive mutual feeling that words cannot describe it. I'll never forget that."

Thank you to Dieter Folger (Germany) for providing the
above transcript of the Nautilus LP liner notes.