Spirit of America

The Kingston Trio were the most popular group in the U.S. between 1958 and 1963, releasing 27 albums, 14 of which made the Top Ten charts (five hit the top spot), and their smoothed-out and sanitized version of the Appalachian murder ballad “Tom Dooley” alone sold over three million copies in 1958. Without the Kingston Trio showing that folk music could be lucrative hit pop music, too, very little cash would have been thrown at the folk revival. This set features versions of the trio’s biggest hits, including “Tom Dooley,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “Tijuana Jail,” and “Greenback Dollar,” but listeners should be aware that these are not the original Capitol Records single versions, but later recordings with bass and light percussion added on some tracks. It still works as a playlist because the Kingston Trio, although they knocked the rough edges off of folk material in order to get radio play, always managed to remember that the songs were the stars, and so they are here.