{"id":38303,"date":"2022-02-11T01:40:43","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T09:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=38303"},"modified":"2022-02-10T17:12:11","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T01:12:11","slug":"singing-on-social-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/02\/11\/singing-on-social-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing on social issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Kobluk (the Chad Mitchell\u00a0Trio) is one of the musicians featured in Under the Radar, by David Eisenstadt. (photo from Trail Times)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>Under the Radar: 30 Notable Canadian Jewish Musicians, which I wrote with Alan L. Simons (editor), takes an historical approach, covering musicians of most genres and genders, some alive and others having passed on, all skilled, but excelling somewhat out of sight. This is the third in a three-part series of excerpts from the book, which was released last November, and is available in paperback and as an ebook from amazon.ca. The excerpts feature performers with B.C. roots:\u00a0Robert Silverman, Ben Mink and Mike Kobluk.<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1958, as students attending Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., William Chadbourne Mitchell, Mike Kobluk and Mike Pugh formed the Chad Mitchell Trio. Their repertoire criticized the Cold War and the Vietnam War while championing civil rights. Many of John Denver\u2019s early songs were part of their songlist.<\/p>\n

Kobluk, who is Jewish, was born in Trail, B.C. As a child, he sang for fun, but \u201csinging for a career \u2026 never entered [his] mind.\u201d He majored in English and math at Gonzaga. He spent 10 years \u2013 the longest-serving vocalist with the trio \u2013 before leaving in 1969.<\/p>\n

But, going back. In the summer of 1959, a friend of Mitchell\u2019s \u201chatched the plan that started us on a professional career\u201d and the trio journeyed to New York to begin that chapter in their lives, according to Kobluk.<\/p>\n

By May 1960, they signed with Harry Belafonte\u2019s management company and performed with Belafonte, Pat Boone and Arthur Godfrey.<\/p>\n

After two albums were pressed \u2013 The Chad Mitchell Trio\u00a0and\u00a0In Concert \u2013 Everybody\u2019s Listening<\/em> \u2013 Pugh left the group in the fall of 1960 to return to university. Mitchell and Kobluk auditioned more than 150 vocalists, including Tom Paxton. They chose Joe Frazier and, according to The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music<\/em>, the group cut nine albums together.<\/p>\n

Initially, the trio recorded on the Colpix label. Their sound soared recording for Kapp Records, with tunes like\u00a0\u201cLizzie Borden\u201d\u00a0(about the accused axe murderer), \u201cMighty Day\u201d (remembering the Galveston, Tex., hurricane of 1900) and the Prohibition-era tune\u00a0\u201cRum by Gum.\u201d Other songs included\u00a0\u201cThe Ides of Texas\u201d\u00a0(about financier Billie Sol Estes) and\u00a0\u201cThe John Birch Society.\u201d\u00a0On their live album, they sang\u00a0\u201cMoscow Nights\u201d\u00a0in Russian,\u00a0a controversial decision at the time.<\/p>\n

Interviewed by the\u00a0Trail Times<\/em>, Kobluk said that, \u201cin the early 1960s, we worked with Belafonte, culminating in a Carnegie Hall concert he hosted featuring Miriam Makeba, Odetta, the Belafonte Singers and us.\u201d As part of a U.S. cultural exchange program, the trio also toured South America in 1962.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver time,\u201d he added, \u201cwe\u2019d renew our association with Belafonte and, years later, when the Selma, Ala., march with Dr. Martin Luther King was being organized, our reputation put us on Belafonte\u2019s list.\u201d<\/p>\n

They left Belafonte Enterprises in 1962 for Mercury Records, adding provocative songs like\u00a0\u201cThe Draft Dodger Rag\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cBarry\u2019s Boys,\u201d the latter of which lampooned Barry Goldwater\u2019s Republican 1964 presidential run.<\/p>\n

Mitchell quit the band in 1965, replaced by John Denver, then a relatively unknown singer\/songwriter. The musicians retained the well-known Mitchell Trio name with Denver, \u201cwho stayed for three years, writing many of the group\u2019s songs,\u201d notes The Virgin Encyclopedia<\/em>. In 1966, Frazier was replaced by David Boise. In 1969, when Kobluk departed, Michael Johnson joined. Because of contract legalities, the Mitchell name could no longer be used and the group became known as Denver, Boise and Johnson. But it was shortlived \u2013 they disbanded in 1969.<\/p>\n

Kobluk told the\u00a0Trail Times<\/em>, \u201c[We] performed songs of political and social commentary, not exclusively, but such material was an important part of any program. Equal opportunity and voting rights for all were high on our personal and professional priority list and fodder for such commentary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kobluk, Frazier and Boise moved to careers outside the music business, Mitchell cut various solo albums and Denver\u2019s career as a solo performer soared. Johnson recorded more than 15 solo albums and Frazier became an Episcopal Church priest.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 15, 2014, in Bethesda, Md., the trio shared a final stage at a \u201cfarewell\u201d concert, with singer\/guitarist Ron Greenstein replacing Frazier, who died in March of that year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mike Kobluk (the Chad Mitchell\u00a0Trio) is one of the musicians featured in Under the Radar, by David Eisenstadt. (photo from Trail Times) Under the Radar: 30 Notable Canadian Jewish Musicians, which I wrote with Alan L. Simons (editor), takes an historical approach, covering musicians of most genres and genders, some alive and others having passed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[21258,21257,3036,21161],"class_list":["post-38303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-chad-mitchell-trio","tag-mike-kobluk","tag-music","tag-under-the-radar"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}