The Big 3 (folk group)
| The Big 3 | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Triumvirate |
| Origin | Washington, DC, USA |
| Genres | folk |
| Years active | 1962–1964 |
| Labels | FM |
| Associated acts | The Mugwumps |
| Past members | Cass Elliot Tim Rose Jim Hendricks |
The Big 3 was an American folk trio consisting of singer Cass Elliot (1941–1974), singer-songwriter-banjo player Tim Rose (1940–2002), and singer-guitarist Jim Hendricks (b. 1940).
Career
In 1962, Tim Rose and John Brown met Cass Elliot in Georgetown, DC:[1] "After trying a few songs together, they went on the road as The Triumvirate. In Omaha, Nebraska, they recruited James Hendricks before heading for New York City as The Big Three."[2] Brown appears to have been left behind. In New York, the reconfigured trio played coffee houses and folk clubs – including The Bitter End – with sufficient effect to secure spots on national television programs such as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), Hootenanny (1963), and The Danny Kaye Show (1963).[3] They made twenty-six television appearances in all.[4] Meanwhile, Elliot had married Hendricks to help him avoid the draft; it is said that the union was never consummated.[5][6] The trio released two albums and two singles before personal and musical differences led to its demise. Rose went solo, while Elliot and Hendricks went on to co-found The Mugwumps, which in turn begat The Mamas and the Papas and The Lovin' Spoonful.
Discography
Albums
- The Big 3 (FM Records, 1963)[7]
- Rider – 2:30
- (It Makes) A Long Time Man Feel Bad – 3:28
- Nora's Dove (Dink's Song) – 1:56
- Young Girls Lament – 4:13
- Sing Hallelujah – 2:06
- Come Along – 1:52
- Dark As a Dungeon – 3:10
- The Banjo Song – 1:55
- Winken, Blinken and Nod – 3:27
- Ho Honey Oh – 1:29
- Live at the Recording Studio (FM Records, 1964)[8]
- I May Be Right – 2:24
- Anna Fia (Feher) – 2:44
- Tony and Delia – 2:30
- Grandfather's Clock – 1:50
- Silkie – 3:20
- Ringo – 2:13
- Down in the Valley – 2:08
- Wild Women – 3:01
- All The Pretty Little Horses – 2:40
- Glory, Glory – 2:14
- Come Away Melinda – 3:10
Compilations
In 1995, Sequel reissued both albums on one CD called The Big 3 Featuring Mama Cass.[9] There are two other compilations with the same name. The first, with eleven tracks, was released by Roulette in 1967 and reissued in 1979; the second, with eighteen tracks, was released by Collectables in 2000.
Essential Folk Masters (Classic Music International, 2011), which is credited to "Mama Cass & The Big Tree" (sic) on the cover, contains the same eighteen tracks as the Collectables compilation in a different order. This is doubly confusing given that after Rose left, Cass, Hendricks and their new bandmates briefly called themselves Mama Cass and the Big 3 before settling on The Mugwumps.
Singles
- 1963: "The Banjo Song" ("Oh! Susanna") / "Winken, Blinken and Nod" (FM Records)
- 1963: "Come Away Melinda" / "Rider" (FM Records)
Roulette released "Nora's Dove (Dink's Song)" / "Grandfather's Clock" as a single in 1968 to promote its compilation The Big 3 Featuring Mama Cass.[10]
References
- ↑ "Biography", The Official Cass Elliot Website. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Biography", The Official Tim Rose Website. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Biography", The Official Cass Elliot Website. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Biography", The Official Tim Rose Website. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "On July 29, 1974: Cass Elliot dies at the age of 32", Hotshotsdigital Legends of Rock. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Archive for the Mamas and Papas", Laurel Canyon. Retrieved 23 April 2013
- ↑ The Big 3: The Big 3, Discogs. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ The Big 3: Live at the Recording Studio, Discogs. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ "Music", The Official Tim Rose Website. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ↑ The Big 3 Featuring Mama Cass: Nora's Dove (Dink's Song), Discogs. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
