Mittwoch, 13. März 2019

Chad Mitchell Trio - Singin' Our Mind (1963)

"Singin' Our Mind" is perhaps the most interesting album of the Chad Mitchell Trio's career. The record was released in 1963, smack dab in the middle of a profound shift in the landscape of American popular music.

With the growing mass appeal of Bob Dylan and his interpreters (most notably Peter, Paul & Mary), the mainstream folk scene was swelling with a newly embraced social consciousness. The album's title reflects the Chad Mitchell Trio's efforts to firmly establish themselves as part of the new movement. The liner notes make this abundantly clear, purposely distancing the group from "button-down" folkies and describing Mitchell and his compatriots as "young men of conscience, with a serious purpose."

Luckily, however, the album is no mere marketing ploy. The material here is truly first rate, and is performed with loads of enthusiasm as well as the typically impeccable technique that has always made aficionados single out the Mitchell Trio as musically the best of their breed. In this respect, each member gets his spot in the limelight. The often-underrated Michael Kobluk gives the album's most stirring performance on Ian Tyson's now classic "Four Strong Winds." Mitchell himself gives a surprisingly hip and jazzy reading of the Bessie Smith tune "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," and Joe Frazier's powerful tenor soars above it all, giving an extra boost of energy to even the weakest tunes. The only heavy-handed moment comes in a parody of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" inspired by the death of a Nazi war criminal. Though somewhat embarrassing due to the use of stereotyped German accents, the performance is also a fascinating glimpse into the early '60s, when wartime bitterness remained fresh in the American consciousness, nearly twenty years after the conflict's end.   


Tracklist
1Dubarry Done Gone Again2:24
2Ain't No More Cane On This Brazos3:02
3Four Strong Winds3:34
4Alma Mater2:59
5An Irish Song2:39
6I Feel So Good About It (Sin Bound Train)2:07
7The Marvelous Toy2:46
8Maladyozhenaya (The Young Ones) 2:28
9Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out3:31
10Bonny Streets Of Fyve-Lo3:08
11Willie Seton2:18
12Twelve Days5:33

Chad Mitchell Trio - Singin' Our Mind (1963)
(256 kbps, cover art included)

4 Kommentare:

dogon ad hat gesagt…

I just love these old folk albums. Thanks!!

zero hat gesagt…

You are welcome!

Cri hat gesagt…

This and Briggs too are great!

zero hat gesagt…

Glad you are interested!

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