37 Years Later, The Cumberland Trio Releases Their First Record

There are as many stories about bands and individuals who almost made it as there are musicians. But the tale of The Cumberland Trio is unique because of the route it took, the abrupt end that befell it and the life it took on after the group ended back in 1965.

Thirty-seven years after recording 15 songs for an album that was produced by none other than Chet Atkins, The Cumberland Trio has released its first record. The CD contains 14 songs from that RCA recording with Atkins and another nine songs from a live show recorded at the Pump Room in Knoxville in 1963 and other recording sessions.

The trio was actually a quartet featuring Andy Garverick, Jerre Haskew, Tom Kilpatrick and Jim Shuptrine. Haskew and Shuptrine are Chattanooga products. The four met while students at UT-Knoxville.

Their first show was a Greek-sponsored talent show on campus in 1963. When they won, the guys decided to take their music more seriously and began performing around Knoxville.

With newfound confidence, the group entered the National Collegiate Folk Festival in Jacksonville, Fla. They were chosen as one of 15 acts -- out of 150 -- to compete live in front of 10,000 people.

[Cumberland Trio Working CD Cover]

The Cumberland Trio won, beating out a California trio called The Hillmen, which was led by Chris Hillman. He would later be a member of The Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers.

The Cumberland Trio continued to perform, picking up new fans, including TV producer Eddie Einhorn, who put them on television during a Tennessee-Kentucky basketball game, as well as Howard Baker and his wife Joy.

The guys' next big break came in January 1964, when they were tabbed to appear on the nationally televised "Hootenanny" program on ABC. Also on the bill were Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, Doc Watson, Homer & Jethro, Kenny Rogers (with the New Christy Minstrels), Glen Campbell (the show's bass player and guitarist), Pete Fountain, the Serendipity Singers and Carly Simon with the Simon Sisters. The Cumberland Trio's performance drew the attention of Archie Campbell, who arranged for them to record an album with Chet Atkins.

"We did 15 songs, all live," Haskew said. "It turned out to be a good tape because Chet made us relax. I was 22, and Tommy was 19, with the other two in the middle. We did them one song at a time with no retakes."

RCA offered the group a contract, but a new player in the recording industry, Recording Industries Corp., offered a better one.

On Stage at ABC-TV Hootenanny, January 1964 [Click on Photo for Enlargement]

RIC booked the group for a week at Gotham Studios in New York. This session was more businesslike and stressful, Haskew said, but the finished product was good. RIC set a release data for late summer, but it came and went, as did the promised dates.

Meanwhile, The Cumberland Trio set up shop in a rented 300-seat playhouse next to the Greystone Hotel in Gatlinburg, Tenn., performing two shows a night, six days a week.

Under pressure from the foursome, RIC released a single, but gave it little support or distribution, Haskew said. The record went nowhere, and RIC went into bankruptcy. The Cumberland Trio tapes and the rights to them were tied up in court for years.

It was a big blow to the group. With graduation around the corner, they split up. In 1968 Haskew went to Nashville to track down the lost tapes. Through dumb luck, he found the original master of the Atkins session, but not the RIC tape.

The story stalls there until 1999, when Haskew's wife, Barbara, who co-wrote a couple of the group's songs, presented Jerre with a CD recording of the song Haskew wrote called "A Lion Named Sam," and a companion book she'd had commissioned as an anniversary present.

"Sam" breathed new life into The Cumberland Trio, Haskew set about getting the master tapes digitally remastered and put on CD. A web site has been created (www.cumberlandtrio.com) and a reunion show is on the books for Nov. 9 in Knoxville at the Bijou Theatre. It is planned as part of homecoming weekend at UT.

"We are going to record it for sound and video," Haskew said, "It has all been really exciting because the music is good. It really holds up well and, in fact, is one of just a very few new releases in folk music out there today."

- Barry Courter, Chattanooga Times Free Press, March 16, 2001

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