| The original Kingston Trio was formed in 1957 by Bob Shane, Nick
Reynolds and Dave Guard while the three were attending college in the
San Francisco area. Using only acoustic guitars and banjoes, singing
simple yet memorable melodies, they revolutionized popular music,
reawakening America to its own rich folk-music heritage. The release of Tom
Dooley in October 1958 began the "folk music revival" and
set the stage for Dylan, Baez, Peter, Paul, & Mary, and the entire
protest music movement of the '60,s. The Kingston Trio was the number
one vocal group in the world, a musical and cultural phenomenon whose
records sales and concert draws were matched only by the Beatles.
In 1961, after two Grammy Awards and numerous gold records, Dave Guard left the group and John Stewart was introduced, maintaining the Trio for another six years. In 1972 the Kingston Trio re-organized with George Grove and Roger Gambill. They discarded songs they didn't like, kept the rest and added new material. For the next decade, the Trio again traveled the world playing to sold-out audiences. In 1985, Nick Reynolds rejoined the group following the sudden death of Roger Gambill. Nick's return brings the Trio full circle, which shows the power and longevity of their kind of music. The Kingston Trio's trademark three-part harmony and clean, crisp sound keeps them touring 35 weeks a year, and George Grove has arranged and scored their music for symphony concerts, enabling them to play approximately 20 major symphony concerts a year.
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Tom Dooley |
