CoronaVinyl Day 464 (L): Makin' a Joyful Noise by The Limeliters

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "L," and the only album by a non-repeating L artist I have left is folk trio The Limeliters' seventh album, 1963's Makin' a Joyful Noise.

I have no idea how or when I acquired this album, but like many others in that category, I assume it was part of a lot of larger records I bought at some point.  It's definitely a change of pace after Journey and KISS the last two days.

The Limeliters were formed in July 1959 by Lou Gottlieb, Alex Hassilev, and Glenn Yarbrough, who had been part of the nascent folk scene.  Gottlieb was an arranger for legendary folk group The Kingston Trio, and the other two performed together.  They met at a folk club in Hollywood and decided to collaborate.  Hassilev and Yarbrough owned a club in Aspen called The Limelite, and as a trio, they honed their craft there.  When they got a gig at The Hungry I in San Francisco, the owner didn't want to put up their three last names on the marquee because it would have been too long, so the trio decided to call themselves The Limeliters.

As a fan of Christoper Guest films, I can't hear music like this without thinking of A Mighty Wind.  Makin' a Joyful Noise is an album full of religious folk songs, so it's not exactly my cup of tea, but the guys did have great harmonies and kept things peppy for the most part.

Yarbough left the group later that year, and the other two brought on someone else to replace him, but then they stopped making music as The Limeliters after their record contract expired in 1965.  The reformed several times over the years, with varying lineups.  Gottlieb died in 1996 at 72, and Yarbrough died in 2016 at 86.  Hassilev retired from music in 2006 and turned 90 this past November.

Makin' a Joyful Noise is not on Spotify, but the full album is on YouTube, so I embedded that below.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "Hold On"
The album starts with a peppy song about holding onto a plow that sounds like it could be the theme song of a '50s Western TV show.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Lily of the Valley"
This one is a fast-paced, shorter song about Jesus, probably.