The Kingston Trio - Goin´ Places (1961)

The final album by the original Kingston Trio shows no sign of the group slackening its standards or rushing through the material. It peaked at number three on the Billboard charts and spent 41 weeks in the Top 40. The lead-off single was "You're Gonna Miss Me" (a new arrangement of "Frankie and Johnny") which failed to chart. It's B-side was "En El Agua". Goin' Places was the last album recorded with founder Dave Guard as a member.

In addition to the jaunty "Billy Goat Hill," which rated a place on the group's first greatest hits collection, the trio turned in a surprisingly effective interpretation of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty"; harmonized exquisitely on "Guardo el Lobo" (which the Monkees later covered as "Riu Chiu"); ripped through exuberant versions of Bill Monroe's "Run Molly Run," Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," and the Staples Singers' "You Don't Knock" - an amazing gospel track that really rocks - and introduced the song "It Was a Very Good Year."

With all due respect to Frank Sinatra, anyone who thinks they know the latter song and hasn't heard Bob Shane's version here is fooling themselves; the song is done in a more intimate, less overtly dramatic style and arrangement that gives it just as much impact in its quiet way as Sinatra's more lushly arranged version. For all of those gems, the most enjoyable track here is "Razors in the Air," a delightfully played and sung piece of pure fun that gives Dave Guard, in particular, an opportunity to show off his prodigious banjo skills before leaving the lineup of the group he founded. Also featured here is "Lemon Tree," a Will Holt song that they do a little too inelegantly and which became a hit a year later in the hands of Peter, Paul & Mary.         

Tracklist:

A1	You're Gonna Miss Me
A2	Pastures Of Plenty
A3	Coast Of California
A4	It Was A Very Good Year
A5	Guardo El Lobo
A6	Razors In The Air
B1	Billy Goat Hill
B2	This Land Is Your Land
B3	Run Molly, Run
B4	Senora
B5	Lemon Tree
B6	You Don't Knock

 plus 3 bonus tracks

The Kingston Trio - Goin´ Places (1961)
(ca. 220 kbps, cover art included)