'Honest and worthwhile'. 'Basic intelligent though'. 'In good taste'. These are the three main criteria applied to any material submitted to or 'found' by the Kingston Trio.

The world of both 'Country' and 'Folk' music has nearly always been one of setting stories to music, not in the 'boy meets girl' way, but with actual events. In many cases the story is full of impending doom and gloom like Frankie Laine's 'High Noon', Bobbie Gentry's 'Ode To Billy Joe', and even 'D-I-V-O-R-C-E" by Tammy Wynette. These are just a few titles and 'Tom Dooley', by the Kingston trio. Was another in a long list of sad, sad tales.

Many of the titles featured in the See For Miles E.P. Collection are titled and trusted favorites that have been featured in the repertoire of the majority of folk music artistes. Some have easily crossed over into the 'pop' world such as 'Scarlet Ribbons' recortded by many including Harry Belefonte, Frank Ifield and Dick Haymes and 'Lemon Tree' with an album version by Sandie Shaw. Such is the melodic attraction of the songs.

The Kingston Trio was formed back in 1957 in San Francisco and the original line-up consisted of Nick Reynolds, Bob Shane, and Dave Guard, three Californian boys who effectively cocked a snoop at the left wing slant that was associated with American folk singers by wearing a corporate outfit of short sleeved striped shirts and having short hair cuts. The Kingston Trio was discovered by Frank Werber who went on to manage the group. Between them they put together and presented a professional and commercial act that was to have all ages clamoring to see them all over the world. In 1959 they were booked for the first Newport Folk Festival

However, in May 1961 Dave Guard left to form the Whiskey Hill Singers with Judy Henske and a lucrative offer was made to John Stewart to join the Trio. He had previously played with the Cumberland Three but was a newcomer to the trio or its repertoire having already composed and arranged some songs for the group. He was unable to refuse the offer, but knew that he must keep the clean cut image and not bring politics into the group. He later worked for democrat Bobby Kennedy which helped to satisfy his political bent.

The change in personnel did not cause them any problems. As with many groups when a member decides to move on, a replacement is found and the sound change is not noticeable. Such was the popularity of the Kingston Trio. This new line-up continued until 1967 when former member Bob Shane formed 'The New Kingston Trio', but like many reformed acts its life was short lived and it only lasted for a year. During the seventies both Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds led groups under the name 'Kingston Trio' but of the two Shane's was the most successful.

A full reunion was mounted for television by Tom Smothers featuring all the original members along with Roger Gambill and George Grove who completes the 'New' line-up in 1967. This appearance has been captured and released on video. 1987 saw yet another line-up with Bob Haworth replacing Roger Gambill. They continued to perform in a 'time warp' kind of way despite being knocked aside by more aggressive type of bands which were successfully emerging in the intervening years.

Sadly Roger Gambill died in 1985 and Dave Guard six years later in 1991.

Despite criticism of their commercial style by 'folk purists', the Trio popularised folk music and brought it to the ears of millions who might never had heard it at all. The same applies to people who popularise the classics, but if it whets the appetite and generates an interest in the originals then that has to be good. By doing this the Kingston Trio helped pave the way for other commercial folk acts such as Peter, Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan -- all only too happy to reach and entertain a much wider audience.

It is with those original line-up days,with just one change in 1961, that this collection is concerned with a selection from their UK issued E.P.s. As with many artists the E.P. releases could be basically be split into three distinct categories. The first was a collection of recently issued singles suitably repackages and offered at a price slightly below the cost of the individual singles, sometimes the odd album track would be thrown in for good measure. Their second UK E.P. 'A Worried Man', Capitol EAP1-1322, released in May 1959, is one such compilation. The second category was a two or three part issue of an already issued LP. This enabled the fans to effectively obtain the album in installments. The E.P.s 'Tom Dooley', Capitol EAP1-1136, released in January 1959, and 'Here We Go Again' issued in three parts in November 1960, May 1961, and September 1961 are examples of this. Sometimes an EP would be issued in stereo when the album was only available in mono, and occasionally, a different 'take' would be included for good measure. Finally the last category, the exclusive and most sort after EP only release. It may have been the case that the material was specially recorded or it may have been leftovers from other recording sessions, so making early collectors items. This has proved to be the case with other artistes.

The Trio's first Long Player, released in 1958 on the Capitol label (T-996), was subtly titled 'The Kingston trio' and was a mixture of much folk oriented material, sea shanties, calypso and story songs. One such told the tale of a certain Mr. Tom Dooley written by Dave Guard and based upon an 1800's folk song called 'Tom Dula.' It caught the public attention and was released as a single on the Capitol label. It reached No. 1 in the USA and No. 5 in the UK. Lonnie Donegan's cover version of the same song in a different key and with a different arrangement reached No. 3. There were many other versions including the traditional Embassy release in Woolworths featuring Johnny Worth, one from Pinky and Perky and a Melodisc release featuring the Nigerian Union Rhythm Group. Russ Hamilton, who had been absent from the charts for some time released an answer record in the shape of 'The Reprieve of Tom Dooley'. Apart from hitting the top of the American charts with 'Tom Dooley', their albums also sold well and were often to be found in the number one slot and many sold in excess of one million copies. Yet, despite this success in America, on the English side of the Atlantic, this phenomenal success eluded them. It is amazing that only two of their singles, Tom Dooley / Ruby Red (Capitol CL14951 released in October 1958) and San Miguel / A Worried Man (Capitol CL15073 released in October 1959} charted in the UK compared with 10 in the USA. Even more amazing is the fact that not one album entered the British charts. Despite this, they were very popular and their records were frequently asked for on radio request programmes.

The Trio won a Grammy award from the National Association of Recording Sciences for best Country and Western performance of 1959 with Tom Dooley and one for their album 'At Large'.

The group's name originated from the desire to appear different to what appeared to be the declining rock and roll fad of the late fifties as the music hungry public looked and listened around for a different kind of musical stimulation. We all know from hindsight that it was surely to come in many differing ways. The clean cut college boy looks in their striped shirts, their gay (original translation), carefree attitude and their style of songs demanded an 'Ivy League' of 'Calypso' name. They plumped for 'Kingston' and among the coffee houses of Salt Lake City their future large following began to grow. They traveled literally all over the world delivering their much researched material to eager audiences. The Trio took it all very seriously, listening to old records, wading through ancient song books and always keeping an ear open to listen to other 'trends' that might be coming along. The skillful blending helped the Trio to carry on despite the many changes in the thirty years since they first formed and they have recently recorded a new CD.

The Kingston Trio knew exactly what they wanted to achieve and they worked hard to do it and make it appear easy. Like the criteria for selecting songs mentioned at the beginning they would also say, 'All the people want is for us to sing a song, tell a story and make it good'. In both senses The Kingston Trio have been doing that since 1957 and long may continue.

Compilation research notes by William Murden and Robert Gunn.

Tracks taken from the following EP Collections
Tracks 1 /11 / 16 / 19 Capitol EAP1-1182 'Raspberries, Strawberries'
Tracks 2 / 5 / 10 / 15 Capitol EAP1-20655 'Lemon Tree'
Tracks 3 / 18 Capitol EAP1-1119 'MTA'
Tracks 4 / 13 Capitol SEP3-1258 'Here We Go Again No. 3'
Tracks 7 /7 Capitol EAP4-2011 'Time To Think'
Tracks 8 / 22 Capitol EAP1-1136 'Tom Dooley'
Tracks 9 / 14 / 21 Capitol EAP1-20460
Track 12 Capitol SEP1-1258 'Here We Go Again'
Tracks 17 / 20 Capitol EAP1-1322 'A Worried Man'
The trademark 'Capitol' is the property of EMI Records Ltd. And is used with their kind permission.
This compilation (p) 1996 See For Miles Records Ltd.
© 1996 See For Miles Records Ltd.
Compiles by: Bob Gunn & Bill Murden.

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