The Kingsmen Volume 3 is the third album by American rock band the Kingsmen, released in 1965.
Release and reception
The Kingsmen's third album featured "The Jolly Green Giant", a novelty number which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 25 on the Billboard R&B chart, along with several other R&B classics and a couple of Wailers covers. As with previous albums, crowd noise overdubs were added on some tracks to simulate a live performance. The album sold well due to the success of "The Jolly Green Giant", the group's frenetic touring schedule, and the ongoing controversy over the lyrics of "Louie Louie". It entered the Billboard Top LPs chart on February 20, 1965, and remained for 18 weeks, peaking at No. 22.
The February 27, 1965 issue of Billboard magazine reviewed the album:Billboard Magazine February 27, 1965, p. 68. The boys are in the pop music forefront again with their hit single, "Jolly Green Giant". This their third album contains the gutsy, earthy delivery that has marked their past hits ("Louie Louie") and the new single. To add to the excitement, Wand has dubbed in audience crowd noises.
The LP was released in the U.S. in mono (WDM 662) and stereo (WDS 662) versions, and also released in Canada (Reo 676) and Taiwan (First FL-1305, orange vinyl, titled Hello! The Kingsmen). The album was not released in the UK. In 1993, Sundazed and Bear Family reissued the album on CD with bonus tracks "Since You Been Gone", "It's Only the Dog" and "The Wolf of Manhattan", and without crowd noise overdubs. The CD also moved "The Jolly Green Giant" from track 1 to track 3.
Early LP pressings omitted bassist Norm Sundholm from the sleeve notes. The title on the labels was "Vol. III" vs. "Volume 3" elsewhere. The Canadian release had a yellow sticker at the top of the cover with "Featuring Jolly Green Giant", the Kingsmen single that reached No. 1 on the Canadian chart.
Track listing "Over You" – 2:05 (Lynn Easton) "That's Cool, That's Trash" – 2:12 (P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri) "The Jolly Green Giant" – 1:57 (L. Easton, Don Harris, Dewey Terry)The LP and CD both credit the Kingsmen's Lynn Easton only, but Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Dewey Terry were added later as songwriters after it was determined that "Jolly Green Giant" was a rewrite of their "Big Boy Pete" released by the Olympics in 1960. "Don't You Just Know It" – 2:55 (Huey "Piano" Smith, Johnny Vincent) "I'll Go Crazy" – 1:52 (Lee Allman)Most sources credit James Brown as the songwriter for "I'll Go Crazy". "La-Do-Dada" – 2:40 (Dale Hawkins, Margaret Lewis) "Long Green" – 2:37 (Lynn Easton) "Mother in Law" – 2:32 (Allen Toussaint) "Shout" – 2:24 (Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley) "Searchin' for Love" – 2:06 (Wayne Gust)Originally released by Gust's group, the DeVilles, on the Seattle-based Jerden label in 1960. "Tall Cool One" – 2:35 (Rick Dangel, Kent Morrill, John Greek) "Comin' Home Baby" – 2:23 (Ben Tucker, Bob Dorough) "Since You Been Gone"† – 3:08 (Rick Dangel, John (Buck) Ormsby, Kent Morrill) "It's Only the Dog"† – 2:13 (Artie Wayne, Hugh McCracken) "The Wolf of Manhattan"† – 2:32 (Joey Levine, Arthur Resnick)
† CD bonus tracks
Note: Track order and times are from the Sundazed reissue CD and differ in some cases from the original Wand LP.
The 8-track release (Wand 92-662) divided the track list into four programs and altered the track order to 3-7-12, 1-2-4, 5-6-11, 8-9-10.
Chart positions +Weekly chart peaks for The Kingsmen Volume 3 Chart (1965) Peak position US Billboard Top LPs22 US Cashbox Top 100 Albums10 US Record World 100 Top LPs11
Musicians and production Lynn Easton: vocals, saxophone Mike Mitchell: guitar, vocals Barry Curtis: keyboards, vocals Dick Peterson: drums, vocals Norm Sundholm: bass, vocalsNorm Sundholm was not listed in the original Wand album (and Sundazed CD reissue) sleeve notes due to an apparent typo. Producer: All tracks produced by Jerry Dennon for Jerden Productions except "The Wolf of Manhattan" produced by Paul Tannen Arranger: The Kingsmen Engineer: Kearney Barton Studio: Audio Recording, Inc., Seattle, Washington Album design: Mitchell-Morrison, Inc. CD booklet layout: Jeff Smith
References