When the trio's RCA Victor contract expired in 1965, Gottlieb and Hassilev formally retired the act. Sheldon wrote the lyrics for what became Yarbrough's biggest solo hit, " Baby the Rain Must Fall." Gottlieb and Hassilev continued the Limeliters but only as a recording act, recruiting former Gateway Singers tenor Ernie Sheldon as Yarbrough's replacement. The group's career nearly came to an end when they suffered a plane crash in Provo, Utah while on tour. In 1963 they sang several songs for the film McLintock! Gottlieb recalled that "we were singing for Coca-Cola.the record royalties were good.so it was a very profitable thing." At this time their personal appearances totaled more than 300 performances a year.
The limeliters the greatest hits collection tv#
The group also toured extensively with a range of performers including stand-up comic Mort Sahl and jazz singer Chris Connor and made appearances on the TV show Hootenanny. The Limeliters featured in a number of television commercials including their rendition of the jingle, "Things Go Better with Coke" which became a national hit, and other commercial work for L&M cigarettes. It remained charted for 29 weeks and peaked at #25.Īlthough they did not have a true chart-topping hit record at the time, they were well known for their repertoire of rousing songs including such as "There's a Meetin' Here Tonight," "City of New Orleans," "A Dollar Down" (their only charting single, peaking at #60 in 1961), " Have Some Madeira M'Dear", "Lonesome Traveler," "Wabash Cannonball," " Whiskey in the Jar," and many others which are performed on their more than 25 record albums and in their concerts. Another album with staying power was one of folk songs for children of all ages, Through Children's Eyes. Their third release, The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters, made the top ten in the same year, charting for 36 weeks. The reissue in 1961 of their earlier Elektra album made the top 40 and spent 18 weeks on the charts. Writing in the All Music Guide, Cary Ginell noted "this album is a winner all the way and one of the shining examples of the best of the urban folk revival of the early '60s". Their first RCA effort, Tonight in Person, recorded live at the Ash Grove in Hollywood, reached number five on the Billboard album chart. They chose "The Limeliters".Īfter a strong showing at the Hungry i, they signed with Elektra Records and released their first self-titled album in 1960, and later signed with the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). But the group had not yet decided on a name. The owner had just had a group with three long names strung together and was not about to put "Yarbrough, Hassilev, and Gottlieb" up on the marquee. After a short period of perfecting their act, they set off for the " hungry i" in San Francisco, which at the time was the California nerve center for the mushrooming contemporary folk movement. They went to Aspen, Colorado, to work at a club called "The Limelite," which Yarbrough and Hassilev had purchased after singing there during the previous ski season. Journalist John Puccio wrote: "They had the uncanny knack of making three voices sound like six.and thanks to their velvet harmonies making a trio sound like a choir." Gottlieb originally suggested that the three of them work together to arrange some material for the Kingston Trio, but they discovered their voices blended well and decided to try to get work on the folk circuit. Later when he was working as an arranger for the Kingston Trio, Gottlieb was in the audience one night when Alex Hassilev and Glenn Yarbrough appeared on stage to sing a duet together at the Cosmo Alley Coffee Shop in Hollywood. Gottlieb performed with the Gateway Singers in the mid-1950s but moved to California to complete his PhD in musicology. Gottlieb died in 1996 (age 72), Yarbrough died in 2016 (age 86), and Hassilev (born 1932), the last founding member, who had remained active in the group, retired in 2006, leaving the group to carry on without any of the original members. On a regular basis a continuation of The Limeliters group is still active and performing. The group was active from 1959 until 1965, and then after a hiatus of sixteen years, Yarbrough, Hassilev, and Gottlieb reunited and began performing again as The Limeliters in reunion tours. The Limeliters are an American folk music group, formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb (bass violin/bass), Alex Hassilev (banjo/baritone), and Glenn Yarbrough (guitar/tenor). Elektra, RCA Victor, Warner Bros., Stax, Essex, GNP, Folk Era, Brass Dolphin, West Knoll, Taragon/BMG