Going For The Gold: The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio - "Tom Dooley" (Capitol, 1958)
One of the most phenomenally-successful groups to come from the folk boom of the late 1950s, the Kingston Trio sold over 3 million copies of their first album alone. They went on to release 17 more albums on Capitol by 1964, six of which sold better than a million copies. Only one of their singles went gold; let’s take a listen.
“Tom Dooley” was the Kingston Trio’s lone million-seller. Released on their debut album, The Kingston Trio, the song dates back at least to 1929 when a singing duo named Grayson and Whittier recorded the tune.
Ten years later, Frank Proffitt made the recording to which the Kingston’s version was later credited (along with folk music archivist Alan Lomax). Not only did it sell more than a million copies for the trio, it achieved the #1 position on both the pop and R&B charts and made it into the country Top 20.
Read about some more Going for the Gold golden oldies (and not-so-oldies).
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