 |
|
|
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 Francsico 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 of 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 record 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 1967, Bob, Nick and John disbanded the Trio to pursue individual careers. "Pop music tastes were changing again," says Shane; "that whole 'rock revolution' thing spread from San Francisco across the country, and took a lot of our audience with it. But, you know, folk is timeless, and I knew it would come around again."
Bob was right, and in 1972 the Kingston Trio reformed with George Grove and Roger Gambill. They discarded the songs they did not like, kept the rest and added some new material. For the next decade, the Trio again traveled and world playing to sold out audiences, and recording for the Nautilus and Xeres labels.
In 1985, the Kingston Trio line-up changed again following the untimely death of Roger Gambill. "We were devastated by the loss of Roger," says George Grove, "but the Kingston Trio as a group is a musical institution that had to go on, just as it has for 30 years. Having Nick Reynolds back in the Trio brings it back full circle, which just shows you the power and longevity of our kind of music."
Indeed. 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 the symphony, enabling them to play approximately 20 major symphony concerts a year. What's more, they are attracting an even increasing number of new fans, both young and old.
As Bob Shane put it in a recent issue of Frets magazine, "There is a tremendous demand for our type of acoustic music, and not just from those who remember the Kingston Trio. With more story songs, I think we could attract listeners even among very young children."
"All the people want is for us to sing a song, tell a story, and make it good."
They have been doing just that since 1957.