The Kingston Trio reviewed

The Kingston Trio
Nick, Bob & John: The Final Concert
(Collector’s Choice)

This single CD captures the final concert of the second version of The Kingston Trio, one of the most successful folk groups of all time.

By the time of this June 1967 show at the Hungry I in San Francisco, Nick Reynolds, Bob Shane, and John Stewart had successfully maneuvered through the British Invasion, though the Summer Of Love and flower power had rendered them largely irrelevant. Their connection was to an older crowd, one more interested in dinner-show comedy and a lack of politics, even if the Trio were feeding them steady diet of Bob Dylan and Donovan, as well as old-time firebrands Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie.

The set played on The Final Concert is nearly identical to the out-of-print double album Once Upon A Time, in which case it’s of interest to collectors who don’t have authorized versions of these shows on CD. For anyone else, it’s as good a place as any to introduce yourself to their sterling harmonies and dry humor. (The Folksmen, one of the fictional groups in the comedy A Mighty Wind, are loosely based on their act.) Sprinkled between the gags is an astonishingly reverent gig, ranging from “Hard, Ain’t It Hard” to “Where Have All The Flowers Gone,” “Ballad Of The Shape Of Things” to their signature “Tom Dooley.”

8

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Spins, Weekly