The Journeymen were an American

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

trio in the early 1960s, comprising John Phillips,

Scott McKenzie Scott McKenzie (born Philip Wallach Blondheim III; January 10, 1939 – August 18, 2012) was an American singer and songwriter who recorded the 1967 hit single and generational anthem "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)". ...

, and

Dick Weissman Richard Weissman (born January 21, 1935) is an American singer, composer, banjo player, author and teacher. Life and career He was born in Philadelphia, and studied at Goddard College in Vermont. After learning to play banjo, he moved to New ...

Formation and career

John Phillips and Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim) were childhood friends and had sung together in various groups, including the Abstracts and the Smoothies, during the 1950s. By early 1961, they were singing in clubs in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, New York City, alongside singer, songwriter and banjo player Dick Weissman. As a trio, The Journeymen began performing together in

Gerdes Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village, part of Greenwich Village, Manhattan, in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to presen ...

nightclub, and soon won a five-month residency there. Their manager, Frank Werber, who also managed the

Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

, won them a contract with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...

, and they soon recorded their first self-titled LP, comprising traditional songs and two written by Phillips. Phillips turned down Werber's suggestion that he join the Kingston Trio after

Dave Guard Donald David Guard (October 19, 1934 – March 22, 1991) was an American folk singer, songwriter, arranger and recording artist. Along with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane, he was one of the founding members of The Kingston Trio. Guard was born in ...

left, and continued to work with McKenzie and Weissman. The group's virtuosity in singing – with McKenzie usually taking the lead – performing,

arranging In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

and, increasingly, writing their own material, won them a following. They recorded their second album, ''Coming Attraction - Live!'', at a show in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

. They also released several singles on Capitol. According to Bruce Eder at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, "the Journeymen engaged in piercing, topical humor, which gave their act an edge that was decidedly early '60s rather than late 1950s." Artist Biography by Bruce Eder
''AllMusic''. Retrieved 19 March 2018 They had some success with a single, "River Come Down", written by Phillips and Weissman, and continued to perform together in 1962, though the record company started to lose interest, and McKenzie increasingly suffered from mental health issues. The trio recorded a third album, ''New Directions In Folk Music'', with most of the songs written by the group. However, McKenzie's problems worsened and his friendship with Phillips deteriorated. In 1963, Phillips married Michelle Gilliam, and the group began to fall apart, a process exacerbated by the "

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" o ...

" which made their style of music less fashionable. The trio finally split up in early 1964.

Later activities

For a time, Phillips then worked with his wife Michelle and banjoist Marshall Brickman as The New Journeymen. When Brickman decided to leave, he was replaced by Denny Doherty. In 1965, John and Michelle Phillips, with Doherty and

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...

, formed

The Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of A ...

, to great success in the mid and late 1960s. John Phillips also wrote and co-produced McKenzie's 1967 global hit, "

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is an American pop music song, written by John Phillips, and sung by Scott McKenzie. It was produced and released in May 1967 by Phillips and Lou Adler, who used it to promote their Monterey ...

". Weissman continued to record, as a virtuoso banjoist, singer, songwriter and musicologist. The Journeymen
''

World Folk Music Association The World Folk Music Association is a non-profit organization formed in 1983 by folk singer/songwriter Tom Paxton and Dick Cerri, a radio host from Washington D. C. The first chairman of the board was Paxton and Cerri served as president. Paxton ...

''. Retrieved 19 March 2018 John Phillips died in 2001, and Scott McKenzie in 2012.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Journeymen'' (1961) * ''Coming Attraction - Live!'' (1962) * ''New Directions In Folk Music'' (1963) * ''The Very Best of the Journeymen'' (compilation, 1988) * ''Capitol Collectors Series: The Journeymen'' (compilation, 1992)

Singles

* "500 Miles" / "River Come Down" (1961) * "Soft Blow The Summer Winds" / "

Kumbaya "''Kum ba yah''" ("''Come by here''") is an African American spiritual song of disputed origin, but known to be sung in the Gullah culture of the islands off South Carolina and Georgia, with ties to enslaved West Africans. The song is thought ...

" (1962) * "Hush Now Sally" / "Don't Turn Around" (1962) * "What'll I Do" / "Loadin' Coal" (1962) * "Ja-Da" / "Kumbaya" (1963) The Journeymen Discography
''Discogs.com''. Retrieved 19 March 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Journeymen American folk musical groups American musical trios Capitol Records artists Musical groups established in 1961 Musical groups disestablished in 1964 Musical groups from New York City 1961 establishments in New York (state)