Goin' Places (Kingston Trio album)
Encyclopedia
Goin' Places was the tenth album by the American
folk music
group The Kingston Trio
, released in 1961 (see 1961 in music
). It peaked at number three on the Billboard charts
and spent 41 weeks in the Top 40. The lead-off single was "You're Gonna Miss Me" (a new arrangement of "Frankie and Johnny") which failed to chart. It's B-side
was "En El Agua". Goin' Places was the last album recorded with founder Dave Guard
as a member.
and Bob Shane
, disagreed on both counts. Guard stayed on to fulfill the group's concert commitments through November and Reynolds and Shane, having decided to keep the group going, hired John Stewart as Guard's replacement. Guard later formed the folk-oriented group Whiskeyhill Singers
— which disbanded after one Capitol album and virtually no success — before moving on to other endeavors.
In an interview for Frets magazine in 1984 and included in the liner notes to The Guard Years
, Reynolds stated: "Basically, David wanted to take it on to another level. Bobby and I were just hangin' out, having a good time. We were happy with the format and working way too hard to consider sitting down and learning how to read music... We were killing ourselves as it was with the work, and David was insisting that we take lessons. He was also upset about the publishing thing, and didn't think people were taking care of business, and he became dissatisfied with everything from photography to the management. It might have been an overreaction on Dave's part, but I believe that he honestly wanted to take it to a higher plane..."
The Trio's long-time bassist, David "Buck" Wheat is pictured with the group on the cover.
The final live performances of the original trio were released in 2007 as Live at the Santa Monica Auditorium.
" were originally recorded during the String Along
sessions but did not appear for a year until the release of Goin' Places.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
group The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
, released in 1961 (see 1961 in music
1961 in music
-Events:*January 15 – Motown Records signs The Supremes.*January 20 – Francis Poulenc's Gloria receives its premiėre in Boston, USA.*February 12 – The Miracles' "Shop Around" becomes Motown's first million-selling single....
). It peaked at number three on the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
and spent 41 weeks in the Top 40. The lead-off single was "You're Gonna Miss Me" (a new arrangement of "Frankie and Johnny") which failed to chart. It's B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
was "En El Agua". Goin' Places was the last album recorded with founder Dave Guard
Dave Guard
Donald David "Dave" Guard was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio.Guard was educated in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Punahou School in what was then the pre-statehood U.S....
as a member.
History
The day after the completion of the Goin' Places recording sessions, the Trio embarked on their first foreign tour. After their return, Guard announced his intention to resign from the group. Guard stated in numerous interviews he left the Trio for two main reasons: He was upset with a discrepancy in publishing royalties and he felt the Trio needed to grow musically. The other members, Nick ReynoldsNick Reynolds
Nick Reynolds was an American folk musician and recording artist. Reynolds was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, whose largely folk-based material captured international attention during the late fifties and early sixties.- Early life :Growing up in Coronado, California, his...
and Bob Shane
Bob Shane
Bob Shane is an American singer and guitarist and, with Nick Reynolds' passing in October 2008, the only surviving founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the U.S...
, disagreed on both counts. Guard stayed on to fulfill the group's concert commitments through November and Reynolds and Shane, having decided to keep the group going, hired John Stewart as Guard's replacement. Guard later formed the folk-oriented group Whiskeyhill Singers
Whiskeyhill Singers
The Whiskeyhill Singers were formed in early 1961 by Dave Guard after he left The Kingston Trio. Guard formed the Singers as an attempt to return to the Trio's earlier roots in folk music. The Singers lasted about six months before disbanding...
— which disbanded after one Capitol album and virtually no success — before moving on to other endeavors.
In an interview for Frets magazine in 1984 and included in the liner notes to The Guard Years
The Kingston Trio: The Guard Years
The Kingston Trio: The Guard Years is a compilation of The Kingston Trio's recordings when Dave Guard was a member of the Trio along with Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds....
, Reynolds stated: "Basically, David wanted to take it on to another level. Bobby and I were just hangin' out, having a good time. We were happy with the format and working way too hard to consider sitting down and learning how to read music... We were killing ourselves as it was with the work, and David was insisting that we take lessons. He was also upset about the publishing thing, and didn't think people were taking care of business, and he became dissatisfied with everything from photography to the management. It might have been an overreaction on Dave's part, but I believe that he honestly wanted to take it to a higher plane..."
The Trio's long-time bassist, David "Buck" Wheat is pictured with the group on the cover.
The final live performances of the original trio were released in 2007 as Live at the Santa Monica Auditorium.
Reception
Music critic Bruce Eder wrote for Allmusic that the original Trio's final album "shows no sign of the group slackening its standards or rushing through the material." and while praising all the tracks, singled out "Razors in the Air" as "a delightfully played and sung piece of pure fun that gives Dave Guard, in particular, an opportunity to show off his prodigious banjo skills before leaving the lineup of the group he founded."Reissues
- Goin' Places was reissued in 1992 on CD by Capitol with Make Way.
- In 1984, Mobile Fidelity Sound LabMobile Fidelity Sound LabMobile Fidelity Sound Lab is a company known as an innovator in the production of audiophile-quality sound recordings. All releases are advertised as being produced from the first-generation analog master recordings, and using proprietary technology, which MFSL claims allows for improved sound...
reissued Goin' Places on a limited edition cassette. - In 1997, all of the tracks from Goin' Places were included in The Guard YearsThe Kingston Trio: The Guard YearsThe Kingston Trio: The Guard Years is a compilation of The Kingston Trio's recordings when Dave Guard was a member of the Trio along with Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds....
10-CD box set issued by Bear Family RecordsBear Family RecordsBear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...
. - Goin' Places was reissued in 2001 by Collectors' Choice Music with Make Way. This reissue has three bonus tracks: "The Golden Spike", "The Wines of Madeira" and "Don't You Weep, Mary".
Track listing
"Coast of California" and "This Land Is Your LandThis Land Is Your Land
"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on...
" were originally recorded during the String Along
String Along
String Along is an album by The Kingston Trio, released in 1960 . It was their fifth studio album in a row to reach number one on the Billboard charts and remained there for ten weeks. String Along received an RIAA gold certification in 1962, a year after Dave Guard had left the group. It was the...
sessions but did not appear for a year until the release of Goin' Places.
Side one
- "You're Gonna Miss Me" (John Cohen, Dave Guard, Tom Paley, Mike Seeger)
- "Pastures of PlentyPastures of Plenty"Pastures of Plenty" is a 1941 composition by Woody Guthrie. Describing the travails and dignity of migrant workers in North America, it is evocative of the world described in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. The tune is based on the ballad "Pretty Polly," a traditional English-language folk...
" (Woody GuthrieWoody GuthrieWoodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
) - "Coast of California" (Jane BowersJane BowersJane Bowers was a Texas folk singer and songwriter best known for her composition "Remember the Alamo". Many of her songs were primarily recorded by The Kingston Trio.-Selected songs:...
, Guard) - "It Was a Very Good YearIt Was a Very Good Year"It Was a Very Good Year" is a song composed by Ervin Drake in 1961 for and originally recorded by Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio and subsequently made famous by Frank Sinatra's version in D-minor, which won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male in 1966. Gordon Jenkins was awarded...
" (Ervin DrakeErvin DrakeErvin Drake, born Ervin Maurice Druckman is an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "It Was a Very Good Year". He has written in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians from all over the world in a multitude of styles...
) - "Guardo el Lobo" (Erich Schwandt)
- "Razors in the Air" (Schwandt)
Side two
- "Billy Goat Hill" (George Arno, James Day)
- "This Land Is Your LandThis Land Is Your Land"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on...
" (Guthrie) - "Run Molly, Run" (Bill MonroeBill MonroeWilliam Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
) - "Senora" (Bowers, Guard)
- "Lemon TreeLemon Tree (Will Holt song)"Lemon Tree" is a folk song written by Will Holt in the 1960s. The tune is based on the Brazilian folk song Meu limão, meu limoeiro, arranged by José Carlos Burle in 1937 and made popular by Brazilian singer Wilson Simonal...
" (Will HoltWill HoltWill Holt is an American singer, songwriter, librettist and lyricist known first and primarily as a folk performer during the 1950s and 1960s and as an interpreter of the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht in performances and recordings with Martha Schlamme...
) - "You Don't Knock" (Roebuck "Pops" StaplesPops StaplesRoebuck "Pops" Staples was a Mississippi-born Gospel and R&B musician.A "pivotal figure in gospel in the 1960s and 70s," he was an accomplished songwriter, guitarist and singer...
, William Westbrook)
Personnel
- Dave GuardDave GuardDonald David "Dave" Guard was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio.Guard was educated in Honolulu, Hawaii, at Punahou School in what was then the pre-statehood U.S....
– vocals, banjo, guitar - Bob ShaneBob ShaneBob Shane is an American singer and guitarist and, with Nick Reynolds' passing in October 2008, the only surviving founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the U.S...
– vocals, guitar - Nick ReynoldsNick ReynoldsNick Reynolds was an American folk musician and recording artist. Reynolds was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, whose largely folk-based material captured international attention during the late fifties and early sixties.- Early life :Growing up in Coronado, California, his...
– vocals, tenor guitar, bongos, conga - David "Buck" Wheat – bass, guitar
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Billboard Pop Albums | 3 |