by Jake Steffen
In the late 1950s, in the wake of communist witch hunts and the blacklisting of folk music groups such as The Weavers, emerged a group by the name of The Kingston Trio. They were founded in Palo Alto, California by Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds. All three were college students; Shane and Reynolds were studying at Menlo College in San Francisco, and Guard was attending Stanford University. Bob and Dave had grown up in Hawaii playing music together, however Bob recalls the first time he met Nick when he was sleeping in a boring accounting class, “He nudged me and said ‘Hey, I’m Nick Reynolds-have you got a car? Mine just blew up.’ We started singing the first day we met.” Shortly after these three men completely changed the landscape and taste of popular culture in a time where folk music had been completely ignored. Their unique style was debunked by “serious” folk musicians, but their commercial success paved the way for record industry and audience acceptance of folk performers such as Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan. Strumming acoustic guitars and banjos and singing folk songs became a staple in youth culture of the 1960s and from 1957- 1963, the Kingston Trio was known as the most popular folk group in the world.
The group first hit the stage in 1957, when they struck gold and landed an opening at the Purple Onion which was the top nightclub at the time in San Francisco. From there they performed a series of sold-out gigs at the show and were soon after signed by Voyle Gilmore of Capitol Records. Gilmore had previously worked with Frank Sinatra and The Four Freshmen. They embarked on a national tour that took them to Mr. Kelly’s in Chicago and the Village Vanguard in New York, all of which were successful appearances. On the road, the group recorded their first album, which included three classic Kingston Trio songs: “Scotch and Soda,” “Hard, Ain’t it Hard,” and their most famous song “Tom Dooley.” “Tom Dooley” was released by Capitol records in 1958 and reached number one on the charts as well as selling 3 million copies. “Tom Dooley” went on to earn them a Grammy for the Best Country and Western Recording in 1959. By the end of 1959, the group had recorded 3 albums, and completely broadened the folk sound, even by embracing R&B in their albums. The trio went on to win Best Group of the Year in both Billboard and Cashbox magazines in 1959.
By the 1960s, they had completely redefined Folk music, and their youthful upbeat culture inspired imitators such as the Highwaymen, and Bud & Travis, and the Journeymen. The Trio’s soundtrack was the backbone of music for college life during the era and their music fit perfectly for the dawn of the Kennedy administration. By March of 1991, Dave Guard had passed away from heart disease. However, during their visit to Geneseo, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds were still active members of the Kingston Trio. Accompanied by Bob Haworth, they played many of the soundtracks that the current students might have listened to growing up as their parents reminisced on their college days.