Last edited Fri Mar 13, 2026, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)
The original group was formed in 1958 by William Chadbourne "Chad" Mitchell (from Portland, Oregon, born December 5, 1936), Mike Kobluk (from Trail, British Columbia, Canada, born December 10, 1937), and Mike Pugh (from Pasco, Washington) when they were students and glee club members at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, United States. Roger McGuinn (then known as Jim McGuinn) who later founded the Byrds was a sideman for the group.
The key people who helped the trio were musical arranger Milton Okun and star performer/singer Harry Belafonte.
In the summer of 1960, Pugh left the group to return to college. After auditioning over 150 singers, the group chose Joe Frazier (born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, on January 14, 1937) to replace Pugh.
After recording mostly conventional folk songs, the trio released a then-daring satire of the John Birch Society, which established their ability to perform more controversial material. Their departure from Belafonte Enterprises in 1962, followed by their move to Mercury Records in 1963, gave them more freedom to add aggressively political songs to their body of folk, love, and world-music songs. They appeared on a variety of American TV shows, including The Bell Telephone Hour and Hootenanny.
Mitchell left the trio in 1965 to embark on a solo singing career. Another audition process replaced him with the young (and unknown) singer-songwriter John Denver. The group retained the "Mitchell Trio" name, with Denver writing some of the group's songs.
Frazier's departure from the trio in 1966 brought in replacement David Boise. After a final live release, Kobluk left; Denver and Boise replaced Kobluk with Michael Johnson (who later recorded "Bluer Than Blue" as a solo artist) and because of contractual requirements that prohibited using the "Mitchell" name after the last original member left became "Denver, Boise and Johnson." Shortly thereafter, however, the group disbanded in 1969.
Mike Kobluk, Joe Frazier and David Boise later left the music industry; Chad Mitchell released a number of solo albums before retiring from music; Denver's time with the trio became the springboard to his successful solo career. Michael Johnson recorded more than 15 albums as a solo artist; he died at his Minneapolis home on July 25, 2017. Frazier became an Episcopal Church priest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chad_Mitchell_Trio
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