Sing Out!

When the Limeliters emerged in 1961 as the first real competition to the Kingston Trio's domination of the folk revival during the two previous years, they seemed to have two main things going for them. First, with Lou Gottlieb as their mocking and urbane frontman, they were much funnier than the Kingstons. Second, with tenor Glenn Yarbrough leading their vocal blend and taking solo turns, they arguably were better singers. Both aspects were accentuated in the albums that gave them their success, both live recordings, Tonight: In Person and The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters. For their fourth LP, however, it seemed to be time to return to the recording studio, and while they put together a typically varied collection of songs, the polish they gained did not entirely make up for the loss in atmosphere that an adoring club audience lent them. Gottlieb was his usual comic self on "Pretty Far Out," Yarbrough stood out on "A Wayfaring Stranger," and there was some appealing international and ethnic material effectively rendered by Alex Hassilev. But what the Limeliters needed at this point in their career was a crossover hit (unlike the Kingston Trio, they never had a Top 40 single), and instead of continuing to expand their following, Sing Out! was a bit less successful than The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters. This was the wrong time to have peaked; within months, Peter, Paul & Mary and the Chad Mitchell Trio had released their first albums, moving folk in a more socially conscious direction, and although the Limeliters continued to record with gradually diminishing commercial success over the next few years, their moment had passed.