The Kingston Trio - Scotch and Soda (1958)

Somewhere between 1953 and 1955- depending on who is telling the story and how they’re remembering it- Dave Guard and Bob Shane took a drive from Stanford University, where Guard was an undergraduate, to Los Angeles. The occasion was Easter; or, it might have been around Thanksgiving- again, depending on the recollection of the storyteller. But, as the story goes, Dave Guard was in a relationship with a fellow Stanford undergraduate, Katie Seaver, who came from Fresno, California. Since Fresno was on the way from Stanford to L.A., they decided to stop at the Seavers’ home and pay Katie a visit, presuming she was there.

But when the duo arrived at the doorsteps of Katie’s parents’ home, they were informed by her parents that she was not there. Being kind folks, Charles and Betty Seaver invited the boys inside in case she happened to return shortly. While in waiting, Guard and Shane were entertained by Katie’s parents and younger, eleven year old brother, Tom (who was, in fact, the same Tom Terrific who would later find success pitching for the New York Mets).

When the conversation turned to music, the Seaver couple played a song for the boys, heard below, which they had learned on their honeymoon in 1932 (or was it 1934?) in Phoenix, Arizona. They told the story about how while away on their honeymoon, they had grown fond of a particular song they had been hearing in the hotel lobby, being played by a backroom piano player. Considering it was their honeymoon, they asked the piano player to write the lyrics down for them so that they could always remember it as “their song." The piano player obliged, but never included his name, thus having himself remain anonymous to history.

As it were, both Guard and Shane became two-thirds of The Kingston Trio (along with Nick Reynolds) when the group was formed in 1957. The song learned from the Seaver couple was included on their first album, The Kingston Trio, which was released in 1958 and sold millions of copies. As time went on, Guard eventually gave himself credit for the song, much to the chagrin of his bandmates. Eventually, after years of not being able to identify the mystery piano player from Phoenix, the Seaver couple was given partial credit for the song.



The Kingston Trio - Scotch and Soda (1958)

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Lyrics:

Scotch and soda
Mud in your eye
Baby, do I feel high
Oh me, oh my
Do I feel high

Dry martini
Jigger of gin
Oh, what a spell you’ve got me in
Oh my
Do I feel high

People won’t believe me
They’ll think that I’m just braggin’
But I could feel the way I do
And still be on the wagon

All I need is one of your smiles
Sunshine of your eye
Oh me, oh my
Do I feel higher than a kite can fly
Give me lovin’
Baby, I feel high

Oh, people won’t believe me
They’ll think that I’m just braggin’
But I could feel the way I do
And still be on the wagon

All I need is one of your smiles
Sunshine of your eyes
Oh me, oh my
Do I feel higher than a kite can fly
Give me lovin’
Baby, I feel high