The Kingston Trio – Greenback Dollar (1963)

Originally published at YouTube on July 5, 2017.

I was going to put this up in time for the 4th of July, but production got delayed. The Kingston Trio were declared the greatest American folk group in 1961 … and my feeling is that claim remains unchallenged to this day. To quote Wikipedia: „In 1961, the Trio was described as „the most envied, the most imitated, and the most successful singing group, folk or otherwise, in all show business“ and „the undisputed kings of the folksinging rage by every yardstick.“ Music historian Richie Unterberger characterized their impact as „phenomenal popularity“, and the Kingston Trio’s massive record sales in its early days made acoustic folk music commercially viable, paving the way for singer-songwriter, folk rock, and Americana artists who followed in their wake.

As I have mentioned on other Kingston Trio videos I have made, I was first introduced to the band’s music during the Christmas holidays in 1959, when my uncle who had just purchased the album „Here We Go Again!“ brought it over to my grandparents‘ house where our relations were all visiting. Due to a severe snow storm most of us ended up staying the night and earlier that evening my cousins and I got to hear the album. The following summer of 1960 my older cousin bought the album and we got to hear it all summer long. I was 6 years old, but knew the lyrics to every song by heart.

It was a wonderful time to grow up … a time when rock n‘ roll, folk, and country were played side by side and were almost indistinguishable from each other. One hazy summer day I became aware of this song by the Trio, „Greenback Dollar,“ playing on my parents‘ car radio as we were driving somewhere out in the country. It was one of those catchy hard-driving tunes I couldn’t resist wanting to hear again and again for many years to follow. That hazy day, as it turns out, was in 1963 … the year this song reached the charts, apparently back in the winter. By this time I was 9 and much more tuned in to pop music. Aside from the Dave Guard years (1958-1961), this will always be my favorite Kingston Trio song from the John Stewart years (1961-1967). The song itself, written by Hoyt Axton, already had quite a history before the Trio recorded it. According to Wikipedia the song was sung by Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys on a Grand Ol‘ Opry broadcast of November 18, 1939. It was also recorded later by Woody Guthrie. It was also recorded by its composer Hoyt Axton on his album „Greenback Dollar“ of 1963. The hit single by the Trio appeared on their 1962 album, „New Frontier.“

„Greenback Dollar“ reaches back to life in America in 1938 and 1939, but it was also a perfect song for the still slower-paced, early 1960’s Kennedy era … and all the years that passed in between. The single debuted on US charts in early February 1963, peaking at #21 on Billboard on March 16, 1963 and #17 on Cash Box on March 9, 1963.