This song, written by Hoyt, was a hit for The Kingston Trio. I didn't even know he wrote until I did a bit of research this morning. Today was Hoyt's birthday. He would have been 74.
The Kingston Trio: M.T.A [ purchase ] If you are a city-slicker like myself then you rely public transportation to get you to where you need to be. In large cities you really depend on a reliable and affordable subway system. In the large cities where I have lived (Chicago, Toronto, Boston) financing of the subway system is always a highly contentious political issue. It was this very issue that lead to the penning of the song "M.T.A." in 1949. In 1949 Walter O'Brien was [...]
Kingston Trio : A Worried Man [purchase] On the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving my mother would usually take the bus to my grandparent's home in southern Wisconsin to help grandma prepare for the next day's feast. My father would pick me and my little brother up after school, and we would drive down to meet them. Our mini two hour road trip would wind south down Wisconsin Highway 26, through rolling hills in the heart of America's Dairyland. Some of the small municipalities would already have their [...]
This appears on a couple of their albums but this particular version comes from The Kingston Trio Greatest Hits.
The first Grammy awards were in 1958, and this song won the Grammy for Best Country and Western Performance. There was no folk category until the next year when The Kingston Trio won it for The Kingston Trio at Large.
Solo Fleetwood Mac: Chapter 9.
The Kingston Trio : Charlie on the MTA [ purchase ] I call it pop-folk. In the 1950s, a number of groups arise who played and sang traditional songs on acoustic instruments, but were not folk artists, exactly. These groups had carefully developed stage routines, and there performances were scrubbed clean of any roughness. Often they cultivated a clean-cut image by appearing in matching outfits. All of this applied to The Kingston Trio, but they also showed how much could be done within this set of limitations. Charlie on the MTA [...]
On a regional audition round for the South African version of Idols , a hopeful entrant introduced his chosen song as "Ain't That A Kick In The Head by…Michael Bublé". As one would expect, the contestant's performance was thoroughly mediocre. The real ring-a-ding-ding thing: Today any crumb wants to be a Rat Packer. I have no particular beef with Michael Bublé — except that he personifies the banalisation of the rich legacy of what Rod Stewart (of late another offender) calls "The Great American [...]
This particular version is from The Capitol Collectors Series (The Kingston Trio). MP3 File yousendit
This is from one of those must have albums. It is called The Kingston Trio, The Capitol Collector's Series. All of their hits are on it from Tom Dooley to Ally Ally Oxen Free. I listen often. Some songs I love over and over again, songs like Scotch and Soda. MP3 File yousendit
My left nut is telling me that Brown's going before Hart. Why ? Because the situation at Pompey is out of his hands, but not so up at the KC. Probably not with their next game away to Liverpool (nobody is expecting them to win that) but the one after - at home against Wigan could decide it. Before the fat lady sings, I'm going to let the man himself do it: [...]
A lot has changed since 1959 when this song was released. It isn't called the M.T.A. any more, and now the fare is $5.00 round trip. Scolley Square Station was torn down a while back to make room for the monstrosity known as Government Center. I figure Charlie was riding what has become the Green Line. You now use a ticket instead of money on the MBTA, or the T, as most of us call it. You use a Charliecard. MP3 File [...]
It took me a long while to find my music today. It is just one of those days I guess. By the way, the sun broke through the clouds! MP3 File yousendit
Paying Frommage to Rock and Roll's Pioneers 50 years ago today - that's right - 50 freakin' years ago, these were among the tunes that sat atop the Cashbox Top 100 . The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The definitive rhythm and blues of 1959 pop, finally #1 on the chart after 3 straight weeks playing second fiddle to The Chipmunk Song . Connie Francis - My Happiness - Predating her records with [...]
The Kingston Trio: M.T.A. [ purchase ] "These are the times that try men's souls. In the course of our nation's history, the people of Boston have rallied bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened. Today, a new crisis has arisen. The Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as the M. T. A., is attempting to levy a burdensome tax on the population in the form of a subway fare increase. Citizens, hear me out! This could happen to you!" -George O'Brien (looking [...]
The Trio in their heyday. Back to front: Dave Guard, Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds The Kingston Trio - " Sinking of the Reuben James " from Live at the Crazy Horse (1994) I'm posting this because one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, Nick Reynolds, has just died . The Kingston Trio was at the forefront of the 1960's folk music revival. Their popularity in the late 1950's and early 60's (They had four top 10 albums in 1959 alone. The Beatles are only other group to have four [...]
Politics went to a very strange place this week. In West Virginia bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley appeared in a radio ad on behalf of Barack Obama. If an 80-year -old Clinch Mountain boy can smell what Barack is cooking and vote for a black man from Chicago... McCain should go back to Arizona . The next album from Nickelback is set for release on November 18 on Roadrunner Record . The album, titled [...]
The Kingston Trio The recent passing of founding member Nick Reynolds has brought the Kingston Trio back to the top of my playlist. They were pretty big cheese commercially in the late 50s into the 60s, and critical in establishing folk music as a modern commercial idiom. They don't seem to have much cachet among the hip, but I know I've gotten pretty much good out of them over time - certainly a lot more than Joan Baez or Peter, Paul and Mary or such weenies. [...]
Nick Reynolds, a founding member of The Kingston Trio, died on Wednesday. The group's recording of this song went to number 1 in 1958 and earned The Trio a Grammy for best country and western performance at the very first Grammy ceremony. There was, that first year, no category for folk music. "The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta...From Odetta I went to Harry Belafonte, the Kingston Trio, little by little uncovering more as I went along." Bob Dylan Nick Reynolds typically handled the middle part of the trio's [...]
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Monday Music – 28 May 2012
Music Singles Chart #109
