''Once Upon a Time'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

group

the Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and ...

, recorded in 1966 and released in 1969 (see

1969 in music List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1969. __TOC__ Specific locations * 1969 in British music * 1969 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1969 in country music *1969 in jazz Events Summary Perhaps the two most famo ...

). It was originally released as a double- LP with a three-page booklet and reached number 163 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Pop Albums chart. The lead-off single was "

One Too Many Mornings "One Too Many Mornings" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his third studio album '' The Times They Are a-Changin in 1964. The chords and vocal melody are in some places very similar to the song " The Times They Are A-Changin'". "One Too Many ...

" b/w "

Scotch and Soda Scotch and soda is a mixed drink consisting of Scotch whisky and carbonated water, soda water or other sparkling water. There is no fixed ratio of the ingredients: the amount of water can vary according to taste from a splash to several times th ...

".Blake, B., Rubeck, J., Shaw, A. (1986) ''The Kingston Trio On Record.'' Kingston Korner Inc, ILL:

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 Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and they too passed. It wasn't until 1969 that it was eventually released on

Tetragrammaton Records Tetragrammaton Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by music industry executives Roy Silver, Bruce Post Campbell, Marvin Deane, and comedian Bill Cosby. Silver, at the time, was also Cosby's manager. The term "Tetragrammaton" ref ...

. By the time the album was released

John Stewart John Stewart may refer to: Business * John Aikman Stewart (1822–1926), American banker * John Killough Stewart (1867–1938), businessman and philanthropist in Queensland, Australia * John K. Stewart (1870–1916), American entrepreneur and inve ...

had begun a solo career,

Nick Reynolds Nicholas Wells Reynolds (July 27, 1933 – October 1, 2008) was an American folk musician and recording artist. Reynolds was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio, whose folk and folk-style material captured international attention du ...

was retired from the music business and

Bob Shane Robert Castle Schoen (February 1, 1934 – January 26, 2020), known professionally as Bob Shane, was an American singer and guitarist who was a founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revi ...

had created a new group, The New Kingston Trio.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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 (Back in Town), as well as most of their late Capitol work and a lot of their Decca sides, and it's worth tracking down."

Reissues

*''Once Upon a Time'' was reissued on CD in 2007 on RichKat Records through Collectors' Choice *''Once Upon a Time'' was reissued on LP as ''On Stage'' on an unknown label. *''Once Upon a Time'' was reissued on LP as ''20 Greatest Hits'' on the Black Tulip label.

Track listing

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

Side one

# "Hard Travelin'" (

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

) – 2:11 # "Early Mornin' Rain" (

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

) – 2:40 # " The M.T.A." (The Boston Subway) (

Bess Lomax Hawes Bess Lomax Hawes (January 21, 1921 – November 27, 2009) was an American folk musician, folklorist, and researcher. She was the daughter of John Avery Lomax and Bess Bauman-Brown Lomax, and the sister of Alan Lomax and John Lomax Jr. Early ...

Jacqueline Steiner Jacqueline Steiner (September 11, 1924 – January 25, 2019) was an American folk singer, songwriter and social activist. Steiner is known for having written the lyrics to the song " M.T.A.", about a man stuck on the Boston subway because he could ...

) - 2:55 # "

Tomorrow Is a Long Time "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan. Dylan's version first appeared on the album ''Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II'' compilation, released in 1971. It was subsequently included in the triple LP compilation ''Mas ...

" (

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

) – 3:30 # "Rovin' Gambler/This Train" (Samuel F. Omar) – 1:45

Side two

# "Police Brutality" (Stewart) – 0:49 # "

" (Dylan) – 1:58 # "

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

" (

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

) – 3:16 # "A Day in Our Room" (Stewart) – 0:39 #"

Wimoweh "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...

" (Paul Campbell,

Solomon Linda Solomon Popoli Linda (19098 September 1962), also known as Solomon Ntsele ("Linda" was his clan name),Gilmore, Inigo"Penniless sisters fight record industry over father's hit song" ''The Telegraph'' (UK), 11 June 2000. was a South African musici ...

) – 1:44 #" Tom Dooley" (

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...

, Frank Warner) – 2:50 #"

Goodnight Irene "Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933. A version recorded by the Weavers was a #1 hit in 1950. The ...

" (

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...

) – 2:36

Side three

# "Hard, Ain't It Hard" (

) – 2:31 # "Get Away John" (

Dave Guard Donald David Guard (October 19, 1934 – March 22, 1991) was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio. Guard was born in ...

) – 2:25 # "The Ballad of the Shape of Things" (Sheldon Harnick) – 3:41 # "Greenback Dollar" (

Hoyt Axton Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voic ...

, Kennard Ramsey) – 3:22 # " Babe, You've Been on My Mind (Mama, You've Been on My Mind)" (

) – 2:10

Side four

# " The Tijuana Jail" (Denny Thompson) – 2:10 # "Silicone Bust" (

) – 1:12 # "I'm Going Home" (Fred Geis) – 1:19 # "

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a modern folk-style song. Inspired lyrically by the traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", Pete Seeger borrowed an Irish melody and the first three verses in 1955 and published it in ''Sing Out!'' magaz ...

" (

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

Joe Hickerson Joseph C. Hickerson (born October 20, 1935, in Highland Park, Illinois) is a folk singer and songleader. A graduate of Oberlin College, for 35 years (1963–1998) he was Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song at the American Folklife ...

) – 2:56 # "

" (Guard) – 1:57 # "Blind Date" (

) – 2:05 #" Saints Go Marching In" (Traditional) – 1:54

Personnel

– vocals, guitar *

– vocals, tenor guitar, conga *

– vocals, banjo, guitar *Dean Reilly – bass

Production notes

*Frank Werber – producer *Hank McGill – engineer *George Horn – re-mix engineer *Randy Steirling – assistant engineer *Jon Sagen – assistant engineer *George Yanok – assistant engineer *Joaquin Bandersnatch – liner notes *Fred Rubik – album design *Jon Echevarieta – art direction *Dennis Hodgson – photography *Don Jim – photography *Larry Korgan – cover design

Chart positions

References

External links

Kingston Trio Liner Notes entry for ''Once Upon a Time'', including the original liner notes and photos
{{Authority control The Kingston Trio albums 1969 live albums