Post by Rob Durkee on Oct 3, 2008 1:32:16 GMT -5
By ROCKIN' ROBIN
Nick Reynolds, a founding member of the folk music group the Kingston Trio, died in San Diego Wednesday, October 1, 2008. He was 75. His son, Josh Reynolds, told Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times that the elder Reynolds had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and other ailments, leading the Reynolds family to take him off of life support.
While the Weavers are generally recognized as the first major folk music group with hits like "Goodnight Irene" and "Wimoweh" (which became "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), the Kingston Trio was probably next in line. Named for the capital city of Kingston, Jamaica, the Kingston Trio broke onto the pop music scene big time in late 1958 with the #1 Cash Box pop chart single, "Tom Dooley." The success of that song helped pave the way for other folk music acts such as Peter, Paul and Mary; the Limeliters; the Chad Mitchell Trio; and Joan Baez.
"Tom Dooley" was originally entitled "Tom Dula" as that was the real name of a mountaineer who was hanged for murder in 1868. Thanks to the popularity of the song, Dula's long forgotten grave was discovered and restored in North Carolina. Plus, a movement began to give him an unofficial pardon. "Tom Dooley" was honored at the very first Grammy Awards for best country and western recording.
After "Tom Dooley," the Kingston Trio had three Top Cash Box pop hits in 1959 with "The Tijuana Jail" (#18), "M.T.A." (#17) and "A Worried Man" (#20). Then, in 1962, the group reached #22 with "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," a protest song that became part of the anti-Vietnam War years. So popular was the song that the Kingston Trio performed it at the White House before then-President Lyndon Johnson and his family. Johnny Rivers would reached the top 40 with "Flowers" as a remake.
In 1963, the Kingston Trio would have three more top 40's with "Greenback Dollar" (#17), "Reverend Mr. Black" (#7) and "Desert Pete" (#36). The group was also immensely successful with their albums, with at least five of them topping the LP chart. Their biggest album, "The Kingston Trio At Large," was a #1 album for 15 weeks and won the group its second Grammy for the year 1959.
Nicholas Wells Reynolds was born July 27, 1933 in San Diego. He'd often be part of family sing-a-longs while growing up but it took a fellow college student's sleeping during a class to ignite the formation of the Kingston Trio. While at Menlo College in the San Francisco area, Reynolds woke up a slumbering Bob Shane during an accounting class. Eventually, Shane talked a friend whom he'd with while growing up in Hawaii, Dave Guard, into forming the famous trio.
Reynolds would often do the middle part of the group's three-part harmonies. As Shane recalled, "Nobody could nail a harmony like Nick. He could hit it immediately, exactly where it needed to be be..absolutely note perfect...all on the natch. Pure genius."
In an interview conducted about two years ago, Reynolds admitted the Kingston Trio was inspired by the Weavers. "It really started with the Weavers in the early 1950's," he said. "We were big fans of their, but they got blacklisted in the McCarthy area. Their music was controversial. They suddenly couldn't get airplay or get booked into big hotels. We played their kind of music when we were first performing in colleges. But we had to make a decision when we formed: Were we going to be apolitical with our music...or were we all going to slit our throats and get blacklisted for doing protest songs? We decided we wanted to stay in this business for a while, but we got criticized a lot. If (Bob) Dylan or (Joan) Baez had come out at that time, they'd've been dead in the water. But four or five years later, their music became commercially viable."
Guard, who died of cancer in 1991, left the Kingston Trio around 1961 and was replaced by John Stewart, who would write "Daydream Believer" for the Monkees and would have a big solo hit in 1979 with "Gold." Stewart died earlier this year. Reynolds and Shane continued to perform together until Reynolds retired a second time in 2003. Shane then bought Reynolds' and Guard's shares of the rights to the Kingston Trio so he use it exclusively. It's believed that Shane still performs with other newer members to keep the Kingston Trio's memory alive today.
Nick Reynolds, a founding member of the folk music group the Kingston Trio, died in San Diego Wednesday, October 1, 2008. He was 75. His son, Josh Reynolds, told Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times that the elder Reynolds had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and other ailments, leading the Reynolds family to take him off of life support.
While the Weavers are generally recognized as the first major folk music group with hits like "Goodnight Irene" and "Wimoweh" (which became "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), the Kingston Trio was probably next in line. Named for the capital city of Kingston, Jamaica, the Kingston Trio broke onto the pop music scene big time in late 1958 with the #1 Cash Box pop chart single, "Tom Dooley." The success of that song helped pave the way for other folk music acts such as Peter, Paul and Mary; the Limeliters; the Chad Mitchell Trio; and Joan Baez.
"Tom Dooley" was originally entitled "Tom Dula" as that was the real name of a mountaineer who was hanged for murder in 1868. Thanks to the popularity of the song, Dula's long forgotten grave was discovered and restored in North Carolina. Plus, a movement began to give him an unofficial pardon. "Tom Dooley" was honored at the very first Grammy Awards for best country and western recording.
After "Tom Dooley," the Kingston Trio had three Top Cash Box pop hits in 1959 with "The Tijuana Jail" (#18), "M.T.A." (#17) and "A Worried Man" (#20). Then, in 1962, the group reached #22 with "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," a protest song that became part of the anti-Vietnam War years. So popular was the song that the Kingston Trio performed it at the White House before then-President Lyndon Johnson and his family. Johnny Rivers would reached the top 40 with "Flowers" as a remake.
In 1963, the Kingston Trio would have three more top 40's with "Greenback Dollar" (#17), "Reverend Mr. Black" (#7) and "Desert Pete" (#36). The group was also immensely successful with their albums, with at least five of them topping the LP chart. Their biggest album, "The Kingston Trio At Large," was a #1 album for 15 weeks and won the group its second Grammy for the year 1959.
Nicholas Wells Reynolds was born July 27, 1933 in San Diego. He'd often be part of family sing-a-longs while growing up but it took a fellow college student's sleeping during a class to ignite the formation of the Kingston Trio. While at Menlo College in the San Francisco area, Reynolds woke up a slumbering Bob Shane during an accounting class. Eventually, Shane talked a friend whom he'd with while growing up in Hawaii, Dave Guard, into forming the famous trio.
Reynolds would often do the middle part of the group's three-part harmonies. As Shane recalled, "Nobody could nail a harmony like Nick. He could hit it immediately, exactly where it needed to be be..absolutely note perfect...all on the natch. Pure genius."
In an interview conducted about two years ago, Reynolds admitted the Kingston Trio was inspired by the Weavers. "It really started with the Weavers in the early 1950's," he said. "We were big fans of their, but they got blacklisted in the McCarthy area. Their music was controversial. They suddenly couldn't get airplay or get booked into big hotels. We played their kind of music when we were first performing in colleges. But we had to make a decision when we formed: Were we going to be apolitical with our music...or were we all going to slit our throats and get blacklisted for doing protest songs? We decided we wanted to stay in this business for a while, but we got criticized a lot. If (Bob) Dylan or (Joan) Baez had come out at that time, they'd've been dead in the water. But four or five years later, their music became commercially viable."
Guard, who died of cancer in 1991, left the Kingston Trio around 1961 and was replaced by John Stewart, who would write "Daydream Believer" for the Monkees and would have a big solo hit in 1979 with "Gold." Stewart died earlier this year. Reynolds and Shane continued to perform together until Reynolds retired a second time in 2003. Shane then bought Reynolds' and Guard's shares of the rights to the Kingston Trio so he use it exclusively. It's believed that Shane still performs with other newer members to keep the Kingston Trio's memory alive today.
