The Journeymen | |
---|---|
Origin | Greenwich Village, New York City |
Genres | Folk |
Years active | 1961–1964 |
Labels | Capitol |
Past members | John Phillips Scott McKenzie Dick Weissman |
The Journeymen were an American folk music trio in the early 1960s, comprising John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and Dick Weissman. [1]
John Phillips and Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim) were childhood friends and had sung together in various groups, including the Abstracts and the Smoothies, during the 1950s. By early 1961, they were singing in clubs in Greenwich Village, New York City, alongside singer, songwriter and banjo player Dick Weissman. As a trio, The Journeymen began performing together in Gerdes Folk City nightclub, and soon won a five-month residency there. [1] Their manager, Frank Werber, who also managed The Kingston Trio, won them a contract with Capitol Records, [2] and they soon recorded their first self-titled LP, comprising traditional songs and two written by Phillips. [3]
Phillips turned down Werber's suggestion that he join The Kingston Trio after Dave Guard left, and continued to work with McKenzie and Weissman. The group's virtuosity in singing – with McKenzie usually taking the lead – performing, arranging and, increasingly, writing their own material, won them a following. [2] [4] They recorded their second album, Coming Attraction - Live!, at a show in Minneapolis. [1] They also released several singles on Capitol. According to Bruce Eder at AllMusic, "the Journeymen engaged in piercing, topical humor, which gave their act an edge that was decidedly early '60s rather than late 1950s." [2]
They had some success with a single, "River Come Down", written by Phillips and Weissman, and continued to perform together in 1962, though the record company started to lose interest, and McKenzie increasingly suffered from mental health issues. The trio recorded a third album, New Directions In Folk Music, [1] with most of the songs written by the group. However, McKenzie's problems worsened and his friendship with Phillips deteriorated. In 1963, Phillips married Michelle Gilliam, and the group began to fall apart, a process exacerbated by the "British Invasion" which made their style of music less fashionable. The trio finally split up in early 1964. [2]
For a time, Phillips then worked with his wife Michelle and banjoist Marshall Brickman as The New Journeymen. [1] When Brickman accepted the head writer position on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson [5] and left the group, he was replaced by Denny Doherty. In 1965, John and Michelle Phillips, with Doherty and Cass Elliot, formed The Mamas and the Papas, [1] to great success in the mid and late 1960s. John Phillips also wrote and co-produced McKenzie's 1967 global hit, "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)". [1] Weissman continued to record, as a virtuoso banjoist, singer, songwriter and musicologist. [2] [4]
John Phillips died in 2001, and Scott McKenzie in 2012.
The Mamas & the Papas was a folk-rock vocal-group which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York City, the group consisted of Americans John Phillips, Cass Elliot, and Michelle Phillips, and Canadian Denny Doherty. Their sound was based on vocal harmonies arranged by John Phillips, the songwriter, musician, and leader of the group, who adapted folk to the new beat style of the early 1960s.
Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty was a Canadian singer and musician. A tenor, he was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas & the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
John Edmund Andrew Phillips was an American folk rock musician. He was the leader of the vocal group the Mamas & the Papas and remains frequently referred to as Papa John Phillips. In addition to writing the majority of the group's compositions, he also wrote "San Francisco " in 1967 for former Journeymen bandmate Scott McKenzie, as well as the oft-covered "Me and My Uncle", which was a favorite in the repertoire of the Grateful Dead. Phillips was one of the chief organizers of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
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 Nick Reynolds. It rose to international popularity fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records and helped alter the direction of popular music in the U.S.
Scott McKenzie was an American singer and songwriter who recorded the 1967 hit single and generational anthem "San Francisco ".
The Halifax Three, originally the Colonials, was a folk music band in Canada in the 1960s. The band performed in Toronto and Montreal before becoming part of the New York folk scene and recording an album.
Marshall Brickman is an American screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with Woody Allen, with whom he shared the 1977 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Annie Hall. He was previously the head writer for Johnny Carson, writing scripts for recurring characters such as Carnac the Magnificent. He is also known for playing the banjo with Eric Weissberg in the 1960s, and for a series of comical parodies published in The New Yorker.
Donald David Guard 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.
Robert Castle Schoen, 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 revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the United States in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s.
The Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The Banana Boat Song." The two singles became US Top Ten hits and peaked at No. 26 and No. 15 respectively in the UK Singles Chart.
String Along is an album by the Kingston Trio, released in 1960. It was their fifth studio album in a row to reach number one on the Billboard charts and remained there for ten weeks. String Along received an RIAA gold certification in 1962, a year after Dave Guard had left the group. It was the last LP of the Trio to reach the number one spot. Two singles, "Bad Man's Blunder" b/w "The Escape of Old John Webb" and "Everglades" b/w "This Mornin', This Evenin', So Soon", were released. Both were the last singles of the "Guard years" Trio to chart, "Bad Man Blunder" the last to reach the Top 40.
Close-Up is the eleventh album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1961. It was the first release by the group after the departure of founding member Dave Guard. The Trio now consisted of Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and Guard's replacement John Stewart. Close-Up peaked at number three on the Billboard charts. The lead-off single was "Coming from the Mountains" backed with a non-LP track, "Nothing More to Look Forward To". Close-Up was nominated for a Grammy award in 1961 for Best Performance by a Vocal Group.
Sunny Side! is an album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1963. It reached number 7 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The lead-off single was "Desert Pete" b/w "Ballad of the Thresher". The single was the last Top 40 single for the group. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
Time to Think is an album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1963. It reached number 18 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, only the third of the Trio's fifteen albums released since 1958 not to reach the top ten. The lead-off single was "Ally Ally Oxen Free" b/w "Marcelle Vahine", released in November 1963. Two more singles were released from the album in 1964 — "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" b/w "The Patriot Game" and "Seasons in the Sun" b/w "If You Don't Look Around", the latter the final single the trio released on the Capitol label.
The Kingston Trio (Nick Bob John) (more commonly known as Nick Bob John) is an album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1964 (see 1964 in music). Nick Bob John failed to reach the Top 40, peaking at number 53 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Stay Awhile is an album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1965. It was their second release on the Decca label. It continued their downward slide in the charts, reaching number 126 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The single "Yes I Can Feel It" b/w "Stay Awhile" did not chart.
Once Upon a Time is a live album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, recorded in 1966 and released in 1969. It was originally released as a double-LP with a three-page booklet and reached number 163 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart. The lead-off single was "One Too Many Mornings" b/w "Scotch and Soda".
Capitol Collectors Series is a compilation album of the American folk music group the Kingston Trio's recordings from their time with the Capitol Records label. It contains songs from both the Dave Guard and John Stewart trios. All the songs included were released as singles by the group with two having never appeared on any of their principal recordings.
Richard Weissman is an American singer, composer, banjo player, author and teacher.
Frank Nicholas Werber was a German-born American talent manager, restaurant owner and entrepreneur, who was particularly influential as the discoverer, manager and producer of The Kingston Trio in the late 1950s and early 1960s.