The birth of the 3 piece super group

Yes and no.

If you were to ask any self-identified Cream fan, they could name every member.

If you were to ask any self-identified Elvis fan, less than 10% could name Scotty Moore, much less Bill Black or D.J. Fontana.

And 99% of those would be musicians.
 
Guildedagain said:


Nevermind Elvis and the other jesters behind him, that's quite a wall of sound coming from the three lads.
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Buddy_Holly_%26_The_Crickets_publicity_portrait_-_cropped.jpg
 
tonepoet said:
There were some great 3-piece bands, back in the day such as:

Cream
The Jimi Hendrix Experience,
Mountain
Taste (with Rory Gallagher)
Any Rory Gallagher trio after he was in Taste
The Nice
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
and the list could go on and on

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com
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Both Mountain and The Nice had their initial success as quartets, before becoming trios.
Mention of Cream and Mountain also makes me think of West, Bruce and Laing, another great band. Shame they didn't do more, but I think their drug heavy drug use was a factor in them splitting!
 
RBSinTo said:
Three piece super group is in the ear of the beholder.
Dave Guard, Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds.
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Yes, The Kingston Trio were HUGE back in the early 1960s, topping the charts constantly.

We kids got a huge dose of Kingston Trio from my Dad back then.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com
 
tonepoet said:
Yes, The Kingston Trio were HUGE back in the early 1960s, topping the charts constantly.

We kids got a huge dose of Kingston Trio from my Dad back then.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com
Click to expand...
Their first hit Tom Dooley was released in 58' and sold millions of copies, They were one of my favorite groups when I was a kid, my older brother introduced me to what had once been "Dave Guard and the Calypsonians," was now the Kingston Trio,
They were not political like other folk music acts of the era, and they were from the west coast. Which made them even more appealing to me, however the "folk music establishment" snobs (the same ones that later turned on Dylan for going electric claimed that the group had been getting from more traditional folk performers for the Trio's smoother and more commercial versions of folk songs ) never really warmed up to them.
 
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Guildedagain said:


Nevermind Elvis and the other jesters behind him, that's quite a wall of sound coming from the three lads.
Click to expand...

This video makes me suspicious ; how could we hear the voice this well with a drummer playing (pretty) loud, a double bass and an electric guitar (with a - miked - amp and an extra cabinet it seems), those chicks screaming like hens (right I haven't heard many recently, but you'll get the picture 😉), and all. A singer with no mike ! (actually I wondered about the same screaming on Beatles recordings !? 😉 🤨 )...

Honestly the band is good, but there is nothing new and too little invention to be the band of the year, even then ! There had been good rock & roll before that...Jimmy Hendrix experience was something I agree, and Cream did play well too I agree)...
 
Urban Hermit said:
Their first hit Tom Dooley was released in 58' and sold millions of copies, They were one of my favorite groups when I was a kid, my older brother introduced me to what had once been "Dave Guard and the Calypsonians," was now the Kingston Trio,
They were not political like other folk music acts of the era, and they were from the west coast. Which made them even more appealing to me, however the "folk music establishment" snobs (the same ones that later turned on Dylan for going electric claimed that the group had been getting from more traditional folk performers for the Trio's smoother and more commercial versions of folk songs ) never really warmed up to them.
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"Scotch and Soda", (especially the version they played at their final live performance) was always my favorite of their songs.
And after more than 60 years of searching and researching, I'm finally able to play that version correctly.
 
Bernie said:
This video makes me suspicious ; how could we hear the voice this well with a drummer playing (pretty) loud, a double bass and an electric guitar (with a - miked - amp and an extra cabinet it seems), those chicks screaming like hens (right I haven't heard many recently, but you'll get the picture 😉), and all. A singer with no mike ! (actually I wondered about the same screaming on Beatles recordings !? 😉 🤨 )...

Honestly the band is good, but there is nothing new and too little invention to be the band of the year, even then ! There had been good rock & roll before that...Jimmy Hendrix experience was something I agree, and Cream did play well too I agree)...
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Sullivan Show. Overhead mikes on a soundstage, good PA. The Beatles sounded better on Sullivan than 90% of their other recorded shows.
elvis-presley-on-ed-sullivan-michael-ochs-archives.jpg

A-Rare-View-Of-The-Ed-Sullivan-Show-This-is-the-only-photo-I-know-of-that-sho

20106d1148242598-ed-sullivan-show-great-drum-sound-1-mic-one-sullwings03.jpg
 
RBSinTo said:
"Scotch and Soda", (especially the version they played at their final live performance) was always my favorite of their songs.
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@RBSinTo - "Scotch and Soda" has always been one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs too. Dave Guard was credited as the songwriter, but I recall an interview of his, years later, where he claimed he first heard the song in Hawaii and no one knew who wrote it. He said he was the arranger of the version they did but that he wasn't the original songwriter. Great song.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com
 
tonepoet said:
@RBSinTo - "Scotch and Soda" has always been one of my favorite Kingston Trio songs too. Dave Guard was credited as the songwriter, but I recall an interview of his, years later, where he claimed he first heard the song in Hawaii and no one knew who wrote it. He said he was the arranger of the version they did but that he wasn't the original songwriter. Great song.

tonepoet
www.jackshiner.com
Click to expand...
The story of the song as I understand it is that in 1932, Charles and Betty Seaver of Fresno California while on their honeymoon in Phoenix, heard the song in a piano bar, and the musician (who was Tubercular and in Arizona for his health) wrote out the music and lyrics for them. The musician, whose name they never knew died soon after.
About twenty years later, the Seaver's daughter Katie introduced the song to her folk singer boyfriend Dave Guard who scored it for the Trio. Although they searched for years, the trio was never able to discover the identity of the original composer, and eventually Guard was given credit for it.
It was recorded by the Trio in 1958 with solo vocals by Bob Shane.
Another interesting sidebar to the story is that The Seavers had a son Tom, who went on to have a rather stellar career as a Major League baseball pitcher.
 
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