Once Upon a Time (The Kingston Trio album)


Once Upon a Time is a live album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, recorded in 1966 and released in 1969. It was originally released as a double-LP with a three-page booklet and reached number 163 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The lead-off single was "One Too Many Mornings" b/w "Scotch and Soda".

History

Prior to the release of Children of the Morning, the trio had decided to disband in one year after a tour and another album. Decca declined to release Once Upon a Time. It was offered to Capitol Records and they too passed. It wasn't until 1969 that it was eventually released on Tetragrammaton Records. By the time the album was released John Stewart had begun a solo career, Nick Reynolds was retired from the music business and Bob Shane had created a new group, The New Kingston Trio.

Reception

critic Bruce Eder praised the live album, citing individual songs, and writing "Tetragrammaton folded in the early '70s, and the resulting double LP is one of the rarest in the Kingston Trio's output, which is sad -- the best of their concert recordings since those renowned live recordings of 1958, it captured the group ranging freely across its history and the folk landscape... If there is a flaw here... it is the result of a desire not to repeat too much material off of the group's earlier concert albums... In any case, the resulting 72-minute album runs circles around their last live album for Capitol, as well as most of their late Capitol work and a lot of their Decca sides, and it's worth tracking down."

Reissues

The tracks "Police Brutality", "A Day in Our Room", "Silicone Bust" and "Blind Date" are comedy interludes by John Stewart.

Side one

  1. "Hard Travelin'" – 2:11
  2. "Early Mornin' Rain" – 2:40
  3. "The M.T.A." - 2:55
  4. "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" – 3:30
  5. "Rovin' Gambler/This Train" – 1:45

    Side two

  6. "Police Brutality" – 0:49
  7. "One Too Many Mornings" – 1:58
  8. "Colours" – 3:16
  9. "A Day in Our Room" – 0:39
  10. "Wimoweh" – 1:44
  11. "Tom Dooley" – 2:50
  12. "Goodnight Irene" – 2:36

    Side three

  13. "Hard, Ain't It Hard" – 2:31
  14. "Get Away John" – 2:25
  15. "The Ballad of the Shape of Things" – 3:41
  16. "Greenback Dollar" – 3:22
  17. "Babe, You've Been on My Mind " – 2:10

    Side four

  18. "The Tijuana Jail" – 2:10
  19. "Silicone Bust" – 1:12
  20. "I'm Going Home" – 1:19
  21. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" – 2:56
  22. "Scotch and Soda" – 1:57
  23. "Blind Date" – 2:05
  24. "Saints Go Marching In" – 1:54

    Personnel