Close-Up (The Kingston Trio album)

After the departure of Guard, a replacement was sought by the remaining group members and their manager Frank Werber. Stewart, previously a member of The Cumberland Three, had written two songs recorded by the Guard-era Trio ("Molly Dee" and "Green Grasses") and was also a long-time fan of the group. He was hired and began his career with the group prior to the recording of Close-Up in August 1961. After the departure of Guard, the Kingston Trio name was owned by Shane, Reynolds, and Werber. Stewart was never a full-fledged partner in the Kingston Trio, but instead was on a salary ($500/week) his entire tenure. There was no mention on the packaging that Stewart was a new member of the group.[2]

As was common at the time of release and as the Trio had done on all of their previous releases, the group members again claimed authorship on Close-Up for six songs that were in the Public Domain.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

Allmusic music critic Bruce Eder praised the album, writing: "the album showed the trio to be in solid musical shape, harmonizing beautifully, and with a new songwriting talent in their midst in the guise of Stewart, whose haunting, slightly bluesy ballad "When My Love Was Here" was the highlight of the record. Close Up, although not as groundbreaking as the trio's self-titled debut three years earlier, showed a surprisingly undiminished group and is a good representation of where popular folk music was in late 1961... this melodic and aesthetically pleasing album was perfect for its time and still evokes that relatively innocent and calm period in our past."[3]

Close-Up was nominated for a Grammy award in 1961 for Best Performance by a Vocal Group.

• Close-Up was reissued along with College Concert on CD by Collectors' Choice Music in 1999.[4]
• In 2000, all of the tracks from Close-Up were included in The Stewart Years 10-CD box set issued by Bear Family Records.

Some early copies of the album named five of the songs differently on the dust jacket from the LP's label. "Coming From the Mountains" on the jacket was "Wherever We May Go" on the LP, "The Whistling Gypsy" became "The Gypsy Rover", "Oh, Sail Away" was shortened to "Sail Away", "Glorious Kingdom" was "Oh Baby Boy",and "Weeping Willow" became "Beneath the Willows".

• Bob Shane – vocals, guitar
• Nick Reynolds – vocals, tenor guitar, BooBams, conga
• John Stewart – vocals, banjo, guitar
• David "Buck" Wheat – bass

• Voyle Gilmore – producer
• Pete Abbott – engineer
• Ken Veeder – cover photo

• Kingston Trio Liner Notes.