The Chad
Mitchell Trio was one of the better-known groups of the
late-fifties-early-sixties folk music revival, although they never achieved the
crossover success that was enjoyed by The Kingston Trio or Peter, Paul and
Mary. (They actually recorded “Blowing In The Wind” before PP&M did, but
their record company didn’t want to release it, and the rest is history.) The
current incarnation includes original members Chad Mitchell and Mike Kobluk,
who alternated on lead vocals, along with Ron Greenstein. There’s a lot of
biographical material on their web site, and a nice third-party take on their
career by MTV.
The show
was, in a word, wonderful. They did a nice mix of material, and the voices of
Chad and Mike are amazing for anyone, much less for a couple of guys born in
the 1930s. The set list, which I believe I have correct, is below. After they
finally left the stage, the organizers ran some video highlights of their
career, after which all of the evening’s musicians came back on stage to send
everyone home with “Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”.
Note that
this was actually only their penultimate performance; they will be doing their “Farewell
At Sea” on a Traveling Troubadour cruise in March.
Chad
Mitchell Trio set list:
Mighty Day
My Name Is Morgan
Alma Mater
Four Strong Winds
Blowing In The Wind
The Tarriers Song
The Whistling Gypsy
The Sinking Of The Reuben James
What Did You Learn In School Today
Business Goes On As Usual / Johnnie (my personal favorite)
Vaichazkem
Unfortunate Man
Tell Old Bill
James James Morrison Morrison
Lizzie Borden
The Marvelous Toy
Three acts
opened the evening. CMT contemporaries The Gaslight Singers started things off
with two songs, followed by local duo Side by Side, who did a well-received
seven-song set, highlighted by a couple numbers I hadn’t heard them do before
(Donovan’s “Catch The Wind” and Del Shannon’s “Runaway”). Tom Paxton then wowed
most of the crowd with a ten-song performance including the classics “The Last
Thing On My Mind” and “Ramblin’ Boy”.
This was our
first trip to the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Club, which is the latest
reincarnation of the old Bethesda Theater. There is still some theater-style
seating in the rear, along with a bar, although the front two-thirds or so is
filled with tables, most of which seemed to accommodate four people. You can
take the “filled” literally, as the tables were placed so close together that
getting in and out was quite a challenge. Fortunately the sound was good, as
was the food (we tried the seared grouper and stuffed chicken breast), although
at $24-26 the entrees were more expensive than at other venues we’ve visited
recently.