Chad Mitchell Trio

All Music Guide:

Back in the early '60s, the Chad Mitchell Trio were one of the top singing attractions on the campus and club folk circuit, rivaling for a time their somewhat more well-established competitors the Kingston Trio and 1960s newcomers Peter, Paul and Mary. And but for a mistake in judgment by their record label, they might have been one of the most enduring 1960s folk trios.

Although the Chad Mitchell Trio were closely associated during their best years with New York City, where they recorded three live albums in as many years, they actually hailed from the other end of the United States. Chad Mitchell (b. 1936), from Portland, OR, was a student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, on a choral scholarship, when he met Mike Kobluk (b. 1937), from British Columbia. Together with a third student, Mike Pugh, they formed a trio in 1958, a three-way partnership that was named the Chad Mitchell Trio because his name sounded best. The next year, with the folk music revival just taking off, they headed for New York City and secured a gig at the Blue Angel nightclub in Greenwich Village, initially for four weeks but soon extended for 12 weeks, billed with South African singer Miriam Makeba and comedian Shelley Berman. Both Makeba and the Chad Mitchell Trio were subsequently selected by Harry Belafonte to appear with him at the Carnegie Hall show that was recorded and released by RCA.

The group was signed to Colpix Records in 1960 and released one album, The Chad Mitchell Trio Arrives, which passed by the public largely without notice. From that effort, the Chad Mitchell Trio did pick up musical advisor Milt Okun, who helped direct them to the songs best suited to their abilities and assisted in helping them avoid sounding too much like the Kingston Trio. Mike Pugh dropped out of the group soon after the release of that album and was replaced by baritone Joe Frazier (b. 1939, Lebanon, PA), who had classical voice training and had sung with the Robert Shaw Chorale and in the choruses of several Broadway shows. It was around this same time that the trio also added to its instrumental muscle in the person of Jim McGuinn, a guitarist who had begun to make a splash locally and from a stay as a support player with the Limeliters. McGuinn remained with the group until 1963 (he can be seen in the background of the cover photo of the At the Bitter End album), when he lit out for Los Angeles and eventual rock stardom as cofounder of the Byrds.

The trio was signed to Kapp Records, a division of MCA, in 1961. By that time, the folk music revival was in full swing, and the group found a very receptive and accommodating audience at the Brooklyn College concert that was recorded as Mighty Day on Campus. This live recording worked so well that Kapp Records and the trio decided that this was the best way in which to record the group, whose next album, At the Bitter End, was done the same way the following year from the legendary Greenwich Village club.

By this time, the Chad Mitchell Trio were one of the most popular folk groups in a field that was rapidly filling up with male and mixed male/female vocal groups. Part of the secret of their success, both on-stage and on their albums, was that they presented a careful mix of topical songs and humor, and some of the latter, although also at times topical (their recording of "The John Birch Society" remains a very funny song, as well as the probable inspiration for Bob Dylan's formerly banned "Talking John Birch Society Blues"), was also sometimes just goofy. They were perceived properly as funny and irreverent, but not "dangerous," and sensible rather than radical, attributes that may have helped get them picked as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by the Kennedy White House and sent on a tour of South America, where more politically oriented folk groups were passed over. Of course, this same "irreverence" made the trio an anathema to the more radical political elements that soon overtook folk music and later folk-rock as well. But in 1962, it worked very well, and no one questioned their relevance or that of their records. Additionally, the group's singing, especially with the presence of Frazier in the lineup, was impeccable, more solid in some ways than that of the Kingston Trio. They could handle blues ("Alberta") and inspirational numbers with equal aplomb, and project soaring harmonies with seemingly little effort.

The first real problems for the Chad Mitchell Trio came up over Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." Dylan was still virtually unknown when the trio had discovered the song in 1962, courtesy of a demo passed to them by Milt Okun, who, in turn, had gotten it from Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman. They were eager to record it, but their producer at Kapp didn't want them to do the song, either as a single, as they proposed, or even as a track on their forthcoming new album, The Chad Mitchell Trio in Action. The dispute blew up in the faces of all concerned when "Blowin' in the Wind," as recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary (also protégés of Okun), became a number two single and suddenly established them as the best-known folk trio of the early '60s -- their accompanying album, and most of their subsequent records, routinely sold in the hundreds of thousands and millions, while the Chad Mitchell Trio were left in the shadows, part of a commercial backwater. To make matters worse, Kapp Records, seeking to rectify its mistake, hastily re-pressed and re-released the In Action album in 1963 with the title Blowin' in the Wind. The damage had been done, however, not only to the group's commercial fortunes, but also to its relationship with its producer and its label.

Ironically, more than a year after this debacle, the newly organized duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, trying to make it as part of the folk boom, thought enough of two songs from the Chad Mitchell Trio's At the Bitter End album, Bob Gibson and Hamilton Camp's "You Can Tell the World" and Ed McCurdy's "Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream," to stick them on as the opening songs of their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. That album and those two songs did little to change the face of popular music at the time; more than year after that, however, one of the other songs off the album, Paul Simon's "The Sounds of Silence," was redubbed with electric instruments into a Byrds sound-alike track and topped the U.S. charts, opening the superstar careers of Simon & Garfunkel and seeing to it that their covers of Chad Mitchell Trio songs would be heard by millions of listeners over the next few decades. A change in labels to Mercury Records during 1965 failed to settle matters, as the new people in charge of their recording career saw the era waning for folk trios, and wanted instead to push Chad Mitchell as a solo act. The disputes between Mitchell, Frazier, and Kobluk worsened, caused by the obvious advantage that Mitchell had in terms of name recognition, and a change in name to the Mitchell Trio didn't help very much.

By then, the commercial moment truly had passed -- Dylan had gone electric, and with him rock had co-opted the biggest part of the folk audience; the chance for big record sales was over, although the group kept recording for another two years. Mitchell left the group in 1965, to be replaced by a young John Denver, while the ensemble itself was rechristened the Mitchell Trio. Frazier left two years later, and Kobluk exited a year after that -- Denver kept a trio together with new members David Boise and Mike Johnson, under the name of Denver, Boise & Johnson, until his own solo career began in 1969 on RCA, courtesy of Milt Okun's efforts.

In the years since, the original members of the classic Chad Mitchell Trio -- Mitchell, Frazier, and Kobluk -- have occasionally gotten back together to play for audiences who remember the best days of the early-'60s folk revival. The group's recordings for Kapp, Colpix, and Mercury were reissued at various time, primarily the latter material, with the intent of capitalizing on John Denver's success during the 1970s. Denver has also participated in some of those reunions.

Wikipedia:

The Chad Mitchell Trio – also known as the Mitchell Trio – were a North American vocal group who became known during the 1960s. They performed folk songs, some of which were traditionally passed down and some of their own compositions. Unlike many fellow folk music groups, none of the trio played instruments. They became popular in some quarters, and were particularly notable for performing satirical songs that criticized current events during the turmoil in the United States during the cold war and a time of unrest brought about the civil rights movements and the Vietnam War, unlike the typical folk music and singer-songwriter musicians of their time.

History

The original group was formed by Gonzaga University students and Glee Club members Chad Mitchell (from Spokane, Washington); Mike Kobluk (from Trail, British Columbia, Canada); and Mike Pugh (from Pasco, Washington). They were encouraged by Spokane, Washington Catholic priest Reinard W. Beaver, who invited the three to travel with him to New York City in the summer of 1959 and to try performing in the burgeoning folk-music scene.

The key people that helped the trio get going were musical arranger Milton Okun and star performer/singer Harry Belafonte. Okun provided a professional polish to their performing skills, which helped them gain both a key booking at New York City's Blue Angel club and radio appearances with Arthur Godfrey and television appearances with Pat Boone. Belafonte had them appear as back-up singers, with a small featured spotlight, in his May 1960 Carnegie Hall concert, and signed them to his Belafonte Enterprises management firm.

In the summer of 1960, Pugh left the group to return to college. After auditioning over 150 singers, Joe Frazier (from Lebanon, Pennsylvania; not the heavyweight champion boxer) was chosen to replace Pugh.

After releasing mostly conventional folk songs, the trio unleashed the then-daring satire "The John Birch Society" (Fighting for the right to fight/The right fight for the Right!), which established their ability to perform more controversial material. Their departure from Belafonte Enterprises in 1962, followed by their move to Mercury Records in 1963, gave them more freedom to add aggressively political songs to their body of folk, love, and world-music songs. They appeared on the American TV show Hootenanny.

Mitchell left the trio in 1965 to embark on a solo singing career. Another audition process replaced him with the young (and unknown) singer/songwriter John Denver. The group retained the well-known "Mitchell Trio" name, with Denver writing some of the group's songs.

Frazier's departure from the trio in 1966 brought on replacement David Boise. After a final live release, Kobluk left; Denver and Boise replaced Kobluk with Michael Johnson (who would later go on as a solo artist to record "Bluer Than Blue" among other popular songs) and, because of contractual requirements that prohibited using the "Mitchell" name after the last original member left, became "Denver, Boise and Johnson". Soon, however, the group disbanded.

Mike Kobluk, Joe Frazier and David Boise later left the music industry, Chad Mitchell released a number of solo albums before retiring from music, and Denver's time with the trio became the springboard to his highly successful solo career. Michael Johnson lives in Nashville and continues to record. Frazier became an Episcopalian priest.

The Mitchell/Kobluk/Frazier trio and John Denver reunited in 1987 for several concerts, some broadcast on PBS. These are the only recordings of all four members singing together.

The Mitchell/Kobluk/Frazier trio reunited again in 2005 for a short program as part of a concert also featuring Tom Paxton and the Kingston Trio's current lineup in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mitchell/Kobluk/Frazier reunited again for a one-night performance Oct. 6, 2007 in Spokane, Washington, home of their alma mater, and where Mitchell and Kobluk live about two blocks apart. They continue to tour with artists like Tom Paxton and recently performed for President Obama at a 40th anniversary celebration for fan Rep. Dave Obey in Washington D.C. Concerts in 2009 are part of a 50th Anniversary tour which culminates with a benefit in Big Bear Lake CA in December.

Other featured musicians for the trio through the years included:

Songs

The Trio's first recordings for Colpix were similar to the conventional folk songs that were gaining popularity then as an alternative to the early rock-and-roll genre. It was songs from their first Kapp Records release — "Mighty Day" (about the 1900 Galveston, Texas hurricane); "Rum By Gum" (about the Temperance/Prohibition movement); and, "Lizzie Borden" (an irreverent satire countering the common heroizing of the accused axe murderess) — which began to make the Trio distinct.

Their next Kapp album contained "The John Birch Society". "The Ides of Texas" from their final Kapp release took aim at financier Billie Sol Estes.

Once on Mercury, the gloves were off. "Twelve Days" imagined a group of former Nazis singing new lyrics to the old Christmas carol; a similar theme would be explored later in "The I Was Not A Nazi Polka". "Barry's Boys" ("You too can join the crew/Tippecanoe and Nixon, too") portrayed a view of the followers of conservative Republican 1964 Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. "A Dying Business" went after funeral costs and customs, while "The Draft Dodger Rag" (by Phil Ochs: "Sarge, I'm only eighteen/I got a ruptured spleen/And I always carry a purse") explored the beginnings of resistance to the Vietnam War. "What Kind of Life Is That" pondered on celebrity fame (specifically, that of Elizabeth Taylor). "Alma Mater" ("We'll miss the classrooms/Where we learned/And effigies we burned") took on segregationist policies at the University of Mississippi, but was only a prelude to the later "Your Friendly, Liberal, Neighborhood Ku-Klux-Klan."

While the Mitchell Trio became best known for such songs, they also produced a solid body of work which showed that folk music could be "polished" yet remain close to its roots. They recorded square dance numbers like "Whup Jamboree" and "Hello Susan Brown". They could do rousing gospel music numbers like "You Can Tell The World", "I Feel So Good About It (Sin Bound Train)", and "One Day When I Was Lost (Easter Morn)". They seemed made to do the modern classics of Tom Paxton, such as "The Marvelous Toy", "What Did You Learn In School Today?", and "We Didn't Know". They also sang the work of Woody Guthrie ("The Great Historical Bum (Bragging Song)"), Shel Silverstein ("The Hip Song (It Does Not Pay To Be Hip)", "Three Legged Man"), and Bob Dylan ("Blowin' in the Wind" (they were in fact the first to record it, but because the record company objected to releasing a single with the word "death" in it, Peter, Paul and Mary's became the best known version), "With God On Our Side", "Mr. Tambourine Man").

The Mitchell Trio also did the first major recording of John Denver's later hit "For Baby (For Bobbi)", and also handled his "Leaving on a Jet Plane". Their final album offered a soft, harmonized version of The Beatles' "She Loves You". Kobluk's solo vocal on "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" pre-dated the Roberta Flack major hit version by a couple of years.

Johnny Cash cited their version of "Four Strong Winds" as a stylistic influence and included it on his Artist's Choice album of favorites. The 2003 mockumentary A Mighty Wind featured The Folksmen, a group described "as a more leftish variation on the Chad Mitchell Trio."

Source

The Mitchell Trio Song Book (Robert Shelton, editor/writer; Walter Rain, music editor; Quadrangle Books, Chicago, 1964 [Library Of Congress Catalog Card Number 64-24290] )