Along with the Kingston Trio, the Limeliters were one of the most successful folk groups of the early '60s, a time when the folk music revival was in itself a sort of backlash against the anti-establishment rock & roll generation. The original group consisted of Glenn Yarbrough, vocals and guitar; Lou Gottlieb, vocals and bass; and Alex Hassilev, vocals, guitar, and banjo.
In 1959, Gottlieb, a former jazz pianist and member of the folk group the Gateway Singers, had just completed his doctoral thesis on 15th century cyclic masses when he heard Hassilev and Yarbrough sing tog...