| Children of the Morning | |
| Type: | Studio album |
| Artist: | The Kingston Trio |
| Cover: | Childrenofthemorning.jpg |
| Released: | May 1966 |
| Recorded: | 1966 |
| Studio: | Columbus Recording Studio, San Francisco, California |
| Genre: | Folk |
| Label: | Decca |
| Producer: | Frank Werber |
| Prev Title: | Somethin' Else |
| Prev Year: | 1965 |
| Next Title: | Once Upon a Time |
| Next Year: | 1969 |
Children of the Morning is an album by the American folk music group the Kingston Trio, released in 1966 (see 1966 in music). It was their last album on the Decca label. Three singles were released from the album and all were commercial flops, as was the album.[1] The singles were: "Norwegian Wood" b/w "Put Your Money Away", "The Spinnin' of the World" b/w "A Little Soul is Born" and "Lock All the Windows" b/w "Hit and Run".
Since 1964, the Kingston Trio had been having continual problems adapting to the changing music scene around them. Their records neither sold nor charted as highly as during their peak years, and after '64 did not make the charts at all. Prior to the release of Children of the Morning, the trio had decided to disband in one year after a tour and another album. Decca declined to release the album they recorded although it was eventually released on Tetragrammaton Records. It was not released until 1969. When the tour ended, John Stewart began a solo career, Nick Reynolds retired from the music business (though eventually he would return to the Trio) and Bob Shane attempted a solo career before re-forming the group as The New Kingston Trio.
The album was recorded to fulfill the group's contract with Decca. Stewart wrote and sang the majority of the songs on the album. While he and Reynolds considered it some of their best work (although they later criticized the mixing), Shane did not, and didn't fully participate in the recording or the release. He didn't care for Stewart's songs and left it to Reynolds to approve the track list without his (Shane's) input.[2]
The Trio's final release on Decca was the single "Texas Across the River" from the movie of the same name, backed with a Bob Dylan song, "Babe, You've Been on My Mind".
Allmusic critic Bruce Eder wrote the album "doesn't really sound much like a Kingston Trio album — there's relatively little banjo, and the mood is more the introspective one of a singer/songwriter than an upbeat folk trio."
All songs by John Stewart unless otherwise noted.
1996 reissue bonus tracks: