Prior to the release of Children of the Morning, the trio had decided to disband in one year after a tour and another album. Decca declined to release Once Upon a Time. It was offered to Capitol Records and they too passed. It wasn't until 1969 that it was eventually released on Tetragrammaton Records.[1] By the time the album was released John Stewart had begun a solo career, Nick Reynolds was retired from the music business and Bob Shane had created a new group, The New Kingston Trio.
Allmusic critic Bruce Eder praised the live album, citing individual songs, and writing "Tetragrammaton folded in the early '70s, and the resulting double LP is one of the rarest in the Kingston Trio's output, which is sad -- the best of their concert recordings since those renowned live recordings of 1958, it captured the group ranging freely across its history and the folk landscape... If there is a flaw here... it is the result of a desire not to repeat too much material off of the group's earlier concert albums... In any case, the resulting 72-minute album runs circles around their last live album for Capitol (Back in Town), as well as most of their late Capitol work and a lot of their Decca sides, and it's worth tracking down."[2]
Reissues
Once Upon a Time was reissued on CD in 2007 on RichKat Records through Collectors' Choice
Once Upon a Time was reissued on LP as On Stage on an unknown label.
Once Upon a Time was reissued on LP as 20 Greatest Hits on the Black Tulip label.
Track listing
The tracks "Police Brutality", "A Day in Our Room", "Silicone Bust" and "Blind Date" are comedy interludes by John Stewart.
