Sold Out – THE KINGSTON TRIO****

El Matador/The Mountains O’Mourne/Don’t Cry Katie/Tanga Tika-Toerau (Medley)/With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm/Carrier Pigeon/Rimini/Raspberries Strawberries/Mangwani Mpulele/With You My Johnny/ The Hunter/Farewell Adelita

With a string of hit albums the Kingston Trio were undoubtedly the most commercially successful group spearheading the US folk revival of the early 1960s. Not a live album, Sold Out topped the US album chart during its 18 months run. (US:1)

“The Kingston Trio are arguably the defining group of the American folk revival. When you talk about who made folk music popular you are talking about the Kingston Trio. From 1957 to 1963 they were the most popular music group around.”

“You would think that Sold Out is a live album, but it is not. The common denominator for the dozen songs is that they are mostly fast tempo notably El Matador and Don't Cry Katie, one of the group's better songs featuring banjo playing. For those who like The Kingston Trio's humour they offer up With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm. This is not to suggest that there are not some nice ballads included in the mix as well, namely The Mountains O'Mourne and Raspberries Strawberries. Otherwise, what makes this album stand out is that you will not have run across most of these songs before, since they have not popped up on the sundry Kingston Trio hits collections.”

"Sold Out has two of their best: El Matador and Mountains O'Mourne and five other good cuts. That's more that most albums give you. This batch has more 'real' folk music than pseudo-folk from the 60s.”

“If you are tired of the music being produced today, this is for you. The Kingston Trio cover everything: funny songs, traditional ballads, unusual finds, etc. El Matador remains to this day my favourite Kingston Trio song.”

“By 1960, The Kingston Trio had reached mass popularity. While their reign as the world's most popular folk act remained unchallenged, many within the folk community were critical of the group, arguing that the trio's music had little to do with 'real' folk music. Their smooth harmonies and evasion of political controversies placed them at odds with the spirit of Woody Guthrie.”