June 4, 1999

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS

41 Years Later,
Kingston Trio's Alive and Well
By Bill Florence Staff Writer

In 1958, when only a handful of people lived in the area we now know as Ahwatukee Foothills, a simple folk song called "Tom Dooley" catapulted three young guys to national stardom. Forty-one years later, "Tom Dooley" is a fond memory of a bygone era, but the Kingston Trio lives on -- and the band's co-founder and longest-running member, Bob Shane, is one of Ahwatukee Foothills' 80,000-plus residents. "I love it here," says Shane, 65, from his well-decorated condo. Gold records, Grammy awards, framed posters and photos and other Kingston Trio memorabilia cover the walls of his office.

While the Ahwatukee Foothills condo has been his home for the past seven years, Shane doesn't actually spend much time there. He still tours the nation (and beyond) for 28 weeks every year, close to the hectic pace he remembers from the first days of the Trio. Other band members have come and gone, and come back again, but Shane has always been there, keeping the Kingston Trio flame alive through more than four decades. "There's a lot of ego involved," Shane admits, attempting to explain why he keeps the band going long after its heyday. "There is always ego involved in entertainment. But at the same time it's my job, and I really enjoy entertaining. I never got rich, but I never got poor, either. "Why retire?" he asks rhetorically. "I make decent money every year, so why retire if I can still sing and enjoy it?"

Why, indeed. Shane and the other members of the Trio these days, Nick Reynolds and George Grove, recently returned from a four-day, three-gig tour through Illinois and Pennsylvania, including a Memorial Day performance at Hershey Park, Pa., in front of 20,000 people. All three shows sold out. And while Nick Reynolds is about to retire once more, long-time occasional band member Bobby Haworth will step in to keep the Trio going strong. "It's still a lot of fun," Shane says. "We play at fine art centers, Nevada casinos, private parties and conventions. We can play anywhere, and we do. "People ask me what I do when I get home from all this traveling. 'Nothing,' I say. I have a pool and a yard and a sweetheart, and we have a nice life here."

His life turned far more than nice in 1957 when he formed the Kingston Trio with Nick Reynolds and Dave Guard. They were college friends who enjoyed getting together and playing calypso music at small San Francisco Bay Area clubs. Their first album created little stir until a couple of Salt Lake City disc jockeys latched onto one of the tracks, "Tom Dooley." The song went to the top of the charts. "I was stunned," Shane says. "One minute I was playing in a hotel, and the next minute we had the No. 1 hit in the nation. It was amazing."

The Trio enjoyed astounding success at the top of the pop music world with its folk-tinged tunes for the next few years, winning Grammy Awards in 1958 and 1959. But in 1961, Guard left the group, citing artistic differences. Guard wanted the Trio to evolve to a more sophisticated style, while Shane and Reynolds didn't want to change a style that was working so well. Even without Guard, the Trio -- made a threesome once more with the addition of John Stewart that same year-- maintained its popularity, conducting national and world tours and releasing 13 more albums over six years.

Finally, in 1967, Shane, Reynolds and Stewart disbanded to pursue individual careers. But a few years later, Shane regrouped with other musicians and enjoyed renewed success during the 1970s as the New Kingston Trio. The players continued to change, and eventually the "New" in the band name was dropped, but the folksy pop songs remain, as do the Trio's fans, who pack sold-out performances every year. "My intention was to stay in the business for 50 years, so I have eight more to go," Shane says with a twinkle in his eye. "But if I can still sing then, I'll probably keep doing it."

SOURCE: http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/community/articles/990604c.html

Last revised: February 23, 2006.