April 12, 1962

POST

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"Dave was a peculiar fellow," says Shane. "He insisted on telling us how to live, what songs to record, and how to sing. Frankly, if he hadn’t left we would have dissolved The Kingston Trio and the multi-million dollar proposition … it is."

But Guard did resign and was immediately replaced with John Stewart, a 22 year old composer and arranger, who had worked with the group indirectly for some three years.

"I can tell you," says Voyle Gilmore, who manages the Trio, "that things looked pretty black there for a while. Guard wanted to keep the name of the group for himself. Said he owned it. And without that the other members, Shane and Nick Reynolds, would have been ruined."

Today, however, things have settled down. A legal battle convinced Guard he had no right to use the name "The Kingston Trio" for a new group he has formed, and as Shane says, "John Stewart is an easy-going chap with talent and a real flair for comedy. He’s enabled us to keep right on without a break in our activities …"

During the original Kingston Trio’s career, they earned for Capitol Records no less than 75,000,000 dollars. And the "new" Kingston Trio seems destined to certainly carry on the fabulous money-making tradition.

Their newest, post-Dave Guard album, "Close-up" has sold nearly 100,000 copies, and a second "College Concert," not yet on the world market, holds promise of yielding an even greater harvest of gold.

And the new group has signed a contract to star in a new American television series on which they will both sing – and act. Things are looking brighter every moment in the lives of Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and newcomer John Stewart.

"Our story is a funny one, and painful to a few people, too," grinned Shane. "When we first came to Hollywood from San Francisco where our career started, we wanted to get a recording contract. So we visited a record company on Vine Street just blocks away from Capitol, to ask for an audition."

"The president of the firm, Dot Records, listened to us and mumbled, ‘Sorry boys it will never sell. Think of something more commercial. Something that will appeal to people all over the world and then come back to see me …’ "

We went away, broken hearted and later decided to try the Capitol company anyway. They signed us immediately … "

Needless to say, Randy Wood, president of the Dot firm, nearly had a heart attack when he heard The Kingston Trio he had so casually brushed off , had recorded a million seller disc titled "Tom Dooley" for his competitor.

And one can be sure that today, Wood must not sleep at night when he thinks of the fortune he threw out the window.

But that is the way the popular music business goes, as Shane reminded POST.

"We hold no hard feelings against anyone who didn’t believe in us at first," he said pleasantly. "After all, no one can predict success, particularly when it comes to music. It’s the most difficult thing in the world. You just sing and hope. That’s all …"

What was the single thing that brought the friendship of the three members of The Kingston Trio to the parting?

"I think it was because we didn’t share the same philosophies about music" said Shane. "Guard wanted us to be only folk tune singers. And myself and Reynolds felt we shouldn’t limit ourselves to just that".

"We worked well together from 1957 until 1959, but then the friction started. We argued between ourselves and frankly, if something hadn’t happened we might have wound up having nervous breakdowns. Three of us, simultaneously."

The three original group members got together because they held what they believed to be a common interest in the native rhythms of all the countries of the world. At the time they were all attending Stanford University studying by day, playing concerts at a club called The Cracked Pot near the campus by night.

"We never dreamed at the time that we would go on to become famous and successful," said Nick Reynolds, the least talkative of the group. "But a fellow by the name of Frank Werber, a public relations man, spotted us one night and began grooming us for a professional career.

"After weeks of intensive rehearsal we appeared at The Hungry I nightclub in San Francisco. People liked us so well we wound up playing several months in a row and then went on to all the big nightclubs across America.

"And then, in the fall of 1958, our first hit record, Tom Dooley came along and our fortune was as good as made."

Bob Shane and Dave Guard had been friends since they were born and raised in Hawaii where they strummed ukuleles and sang native songs shortly after they learned how to walk.

It was only natural that after they moved to San Francisco to go to college, they continued singing together.

"It’s just like starting all over again now," says Shane today. "Our new member is working out fine, and the sale of our records aren’t slacking off. When three fellows such as ourselves have to practically live together 24 hours a day 40 weeks out of the year while flying around making appearances, it is important that our ideals and personalities don’t conflict. Otherwise we’d crack up,"

All three of the "new" Kingston Trio live in San Francisco.

"We’re all happily married and have no problems," says Shane. "And that’s important, too. When we’re all away entertaining, our three wives keep each other company, and probably listen to all the records The Kingston Trio ever made . . ."