The Halifax Three

The Halifax Three's debut LP is a very typical representation of the clean-cut face of the folk revival circa 1963, with a polite, careful execution, and vocal harmonies that are both impeccably sung but a little sterile. Much of the material was either written by the group's Richard Byrne, or arranged and adapted by Byrne from traditional tunes. Without the presence of Denny Doherty, it's doubtful that there would be any collector interest in this record, though it does have its share of reasonably attractive harmonized folk ballads, such as "Fare-Thee-Well," "All My Trials," and Oscar Brand's "When I First Came to This Land." As with similar attempts by many folk revival groups at injecting some comic relief into the proceedings, however, the broad humor of "Come Down the Mountain Katie Daly" is gallingly dated. The Halifax Three has been combined with the group's second and final album, San Francisco Bay Blues, on the single-disc compilation The Complete Halifax Three, which also includes the non-LP single "All the Good Times" as a bonus track.