In November 1981, The Kingston Trio (Bob Shane, Roger Gambill and George Grove) got together with former Kingston Trio members Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds and John Stewart, and special guests Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul & Mary), Lindsay Buckingham (of Fleet-wood Mac) and Tom Smothers (of the Smothers Broth ors) for a show that was billed as "The Kingston Trio and Friends Reunion." The show was taped for later broadcasting on public television and was apparently one of that network's (PBS) more successful fund-raising specials in 1982.

The March 12, 1982, issue of The Wall Street Journal carried an article by Roy Harris Jr., of the Journal's Los Angeles bureau entitled "The Kingston Trio's Weird Reunion." The gist of Harris' article was that the camaraderie of the Trio's early days 25 years ago was clearly lacking and, in many respects, the "reunion show" was a strained rehash of the frictions that caused Dave Guard to leave the group in 1961. Among other things he said, "For one thing, the three men don't seem to like each other much anymore, and despite the program have little apparent desire to sing together again." He concluded the article by saying, "In other words, enjoy the reunion. It may be another 20 years for the next one."

Although Harris made some valid observations, by failing to even mention John Stewart and his role in the "second Kingston Trio," he seriously misled those of his readers who were not avid Kingston Trio fans, befuddled those who were, and arrived at a conclusion that, at least in part, was proven wrong only two years later.

Briefly, for the uninitiated, The Kingston Trio was formed in 1957 by Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane. They achieved almost instantaneous success, but following disagreements as to musical direction, Dave Guard left the group in 1961 to be replaced by John Stewart. This configuration (to use Bob Shane's descriptive word) of The Kingston Trio sang together until 1967, at which time the three members went their separate ways.

Yet Harris totally missed or ignored this. Although he appears to have been at the reunion show, he must have left early and not seen, while the "Guard Trio" was performing, an enthusiastic John Stewart standing in the wings yelling "Give us more, Dave." He apparently didn't feel the enthusiasm on the stage or in the audience when the "Stewart Trio" performed, nor does he appear to have heard John Stewart say, "It's a real trip to sing with you guys again." He also could not have heard John Stewart say, during the show at the conclusion of the song "Reuben James," "I can't believe it, I blew the banjo solo," followed by Nick Reynolds' immediate retort, "Perfect, you always did." And certainly, had he seen the Trio members bugging each other following the finale, he wouldn't have said, "Notice, however, that there's no embracing among the old buddies, and that they don't joke among themselves —."

So where does this lead us? To another reunion? Well, sort of. It depends on one's definition of a reunion, and if two of the original four getting together in the studio and recording an album counts as a reunion, then we have one. And thereby hangs the tale of "Revenge Of The Budgie," a tale as unusual as that of the "first reunion."

As recently as four years ago, in an April 1980 interview in Goldmine, Nick Reynolds said regarding a reunion album, "Well . . . there's always a possibility. Maybe when we're 60 years old we'lI do something like that I don't know. I'm just really skeptical about the whole thing, because it requires a lot of money to do it, and it takes time away from my family . . . I just can't run off and leave for six weeks without moving everybody down to Los Angeles or wherever the recording studios are. I guess I don't want to." And so it stood until after the November 1981 show.

Nick stayed on his ranch and tended it while John continued to perform and record his solo albums. But that show, with the excitement and enthusiasm of the audience and John's expressed joy at singing with Nick and Bob again lit the spark. Nick had been away from home for only 10 days for reunion show, but began to think that maybe it would be fun to sing with the Trio and record again after all.

He wasn't anxious though, and John wasn't pushing. Although they were together on several occasions and talked of another Trio reunion or of Nick doing some vocals on one of John's future albums, it didn't get much further than that. Each of them had other things on his mind.

And then along came Steve Fiott. Steve, a noted folk singer in his own right as founder and member of The White Mountain Singers, and a close personal friend of both John and Nick, heard of their conversations, picked up the ball and began to push. Although Steve modestly says that he "didn't have to push too hard," Nick Reynolds is emphatic in saying, "Without Steve's encouragement it ( the Budgie album) wouldn't have happened." •

Regardless, it was what they needed. Although both Nick and John favored the idea, neither was quite sure as to how to best put it together. Nick didn't have the time nor inclination to learn and record the 10 to 12 songs normally on an album, and a trip to the studios in Los Angeles for only one or two songs just wasn't worth it. So Steve suggested four songs, enough for an EP, and yet little enough to not keep Nick away from his ranch and family for more than a few days. An EP also offered the advantage of costing less than a complete album, an attractive proposition when no one had the slightest idea of the chances for commercial and financial success of the record. Steve got to work on the logistics of producing the record, and further solidified his role as the catalyst that brought everything together.

Despite all their conversations, they initially agreed upon only "Dreamers On The Rise" as being one of the four songs to definitely be included on the record. Nick said about that song, "When I first heard 'Dreamers On The Rise' it just killed me> It was done so perfectly. I didn't know how we could do it any better, but I wanted to do it."

So Nick took all the songs John sent, put them together on one tape 90 he could listen to them together and compare them, and began working out harmonies as he had done 80 often with The Kingston Trio. Before long he was ready to go although, as he later reported, "I made a point of taking that tape with us in the car, and all the way down I kept working on harmonies and arrangements. I took the whole family with me, and when we got down we rented a house Just a few doors down from John."

In the meantime John had been talking with Lindsay Buckingham, of Fleetwood Mac, a close friend and old Trio fan who had appeared on a couple of John's albums and at the 1981 Kingston Trio and Friends Reunion show. When John mentioned that Nick was coming down to Los' Angeles to record an EP with John, Lindsay was intrigued, offered his services in any way and asked

to attend the recording session. He also reminded John of a tune he had written as an instrumental and played for John and Nick at The Kingston Trio and Friends Reunion show. John remembered that both he and Nick liked the tune, so suggested that he put words to it, and that he and Nick record it as well. Lindsay quickly accepted that offer as well as one that he participate in recording the album. So by the time Nick arrived in Los Angeles with his family, there was yet another song to be recorded for possible inclusion on the EP. And although it hadn't been definitely decided to include that song, Nick later acknowledged that having Lindsay interested in the record and being a part of it was one of the factors that helped him decide to go ahead with it.

Following Nick's arrival, several informal pre-studio rehearsals were held at John's house. During the course of these, and as singers are wont to do, John and Nick sang a number of songs that came to mind. including several that had been sung by The Kingston Trio. Although they initially weren't consciously looking for songs to include on the EP, but were generally just having a good time together and singing familiar songs from days gone by, as they continued to sing they came to realize that they needed an old Trio song to really make the record click.

Among the old Trio songs they sung as a warm up song was "Buddy Better Get On Down The Line," which had been sung and recorded by The Kingston Trio on the String Along album (Capitol T/ST 1407). John's son, Mikael, had caught them doing the song on tape, and as he played it back it caught Nick's attention. "We need something like that," he said. "Let's do that or something like that." John started to play it on the guitar, and they quickly warmed up to it. After they finished a couple of run throughs of it, Nick said, "Hey, that's great! Let's see it we can't put some new words to it and make a new arrangement and include it" Before long it was done, and "Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line" was ready to be recorded for the EP.

Lindsay Buckingham was at John's house for many of these informal sessions, and as he contributed hia input to the songs and to the record in general, his role quickly expanded from its original one of providing instrumental accompaniment on three of the songs to also providing all the guitar parts on "Hiding In The Shadows" and additional vocals on "Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line."

Another interesting sidelight of the story is that on this song, "Buddy Won't You Roll On Down The Line," Nick and John (and Lindsay) were also Joined in their vocals by Gary Busey, who had previously proved his acting and musical abilities as the star of the movie The Buddy Holly Story. During one of the recording sessions Gary walked in and was introduced to the others by John, who then said, "It would be great to have Gary sing on 'Buddy* with us." And so it happened. Nick Reynolds is particularly effusive in his praise of Gary and his participation in and contribution to the song, and says, "His appearance, and whatever he brought, was a key element in the song. Gary was a big part of 'Buddy' and brought a lot of magic to it."

The last song, "Angel On The Road Shoulder," although under consideration from the early stages, was not included until nearly the last minute and, as a matter of fact, was not even recorded until September, whereas all the other songs were recorded in June. Basically what happened was that the four songs originally intended for the EP had become six songs and that created its own problem of what to do. Only four songs would fit easily on an EP, and even if they could have squeezed a fifth or even a sixth song on. Nick and John couldn't agree on dropping even one song, let alone two. Again, Steve Fiott, who was executive producer of the album, suggested the solution — go to a 10-inch or a 12-inch record that would include seven songs and market it as a "mini LP" at a budget price, a "budgie." (Aha, you say!) A few phone calls and some fast talking later, and it was decided upon.

Then came the nitty-gritty of putting it all together. Caria Frederick, who had recorded the album, handled the mixing assisted by John, Nick and Steve Fiott, and by Lindsay Buckingham on "Hiding In The Shadows." Lindsay also took on the chore of writing the liner notes and, after considerable discussion the cover art was decided upon, as was the title of the album. As a further link to the past, although it was not intended to be that, the photography was done by Henry Diltz, a commercial photographer and former member of The Modern Folk Quartet.

The album's cover pictures and title have a story behind them too. Although none of the participants will repeat the joke, they all allude to it being a joke about a "budgie" that produced the series of photos gracing the cover and showing John laughing heartily over something. Although John was initially reluctant, he did agree to using the series of photos on the cover.

Despite the reluctance to telling the story behind the cover photos, John and Nick do tell the story behind the title, and the fact that the record is referred to as a "budgie" LP has nothing to do with it.

It seems that "Budgie" was a nickname for Nick during the Kingston Trio days, although he hadn't been addressed by that appelation in years. However, the name was revived as Budgie Productions to be used as a name for the entity of Nick, John and Steve Fiott that produced the album. Subsequently, in discussing a name for the album, and referring to his long absence from the recording scene, Nick said, "How about Return Of The Budgie?" Immediately upon his saying this, Nick reports, John turned to him and, "with a gleam in his eye said, 'How about Revenge Of The Budgie?' " And so it came to be. As an afterthought, the little character with the four-string guitar, the "budgie/'was added to throw additional humor into the picture.

If one word were to be used to try and describe the feeling one gets in listening to the album, that one word would be "excitement." One word scarcely does the job though, and it was best and briefly described by Barry Alfonso in his review in BAM Magazine, a review that Nick Reynolds describes as the "Best review I've gotten in my life!" Mr Alfonso said:

The title to this mini-LP is the tip off — what's contained here is played for fun. This reunion between two former Kingston Trio stalwarts could've easily been a ponderous exercise in nostalgia. Rather that serving up the same old folky fare of the Trio, however, Budgie is an intriguing blend of traditional American music and newfangled technopop arrangements.

The lead tracks on each side are the best examples of this experiment. Both tunes — "Buddy Won't You Roll Down The Line" and "Living On Easy" — are hoary folk standards, but dressed up in drum machines and oscillating synthesizers, they sound almost as contemporary as A Flock Of Seagulls (and a whole lot more tuneful). On top of • the computer-based instrumentation, Reynolds and Stewart layer shimmering acoustic and electric guitars, creating a mini wall of sound. If this description sounds familiar, take a listen to Lindsay Buckingham's recent work and hear similar "folk moderne" dabblings. Buckingham was a party to Budgie, singing and/or playing on several tracks and co-writing one tune, "Hiding In The Shadows, "with Stewart.

Before you conclude that this is some Buckingham project with surrogate singers, it should be said that Reynolds and Stewart's personalities are not lost in the instrumental work. A warmth and easy-going friendliness comes through in their close vocal harmonies — you can hear the years of

music-making they've put in together. Stewart's songwriting contributions to Budgie are not unlike his past work: a bit overly sentimental at times, but still charming in their simplicity and sincerity.

Being somewhat reserved and reticent, John Stewart is reluctant to be quite as effusive as Nick in his opinion of the review, but it is obvious that he is quite pleased with it. Describing the album as "hi-tech folk," he agreed with Nick and said that the "BAM review is a great review!"

The BAM review and other feedback on the album has been most gratifying to Nick. Although he was quite excited about the album from the moment the first tracks were cut in the recording studio, he was initially also somewhat apprehensive about the reception it would receive among old Trio fans. Except for his appearance on the reunion television show, on which he sang and played songs that had been big hits for The Kingston Trio in the past, this was his first venture onto the entertainment scene in 16 years, and the first time ever that he had done anything other than with The Kingston Trio or in a Kingston Trio style. Within days after the album was released, he was curiously asking for the reaction of the "old Trio fans." Having always been proud of his work and highly sensitive to its acceptance by the public, he was fascinated to learn that old Trio fans were enjoying listening to it as much as he and John had enjoyed making it.

Less than three months after the album was first released he wrote, "Everyone who has heard the Budgie has honestly loved either all or part of it a lot. Old Trio fans to young kids who don't know a thing about me or the Trio. There are certain songs that cover the different spectrums. John and I subconsciously made the song choices and arrangements and it turned out to be sort of a 'sampler* of what we do, and it really is."

As Barry Alfonso so perceptively observed in his review of the album, no small part of the good feeling on the album and the good feeling one gets in listening to the album comes from the years that Nick and John spent singing together and the close personal relationship that developed during that time Lindsay Buckingham expressed this beautifully in the album's liner notes when he said, "I was also intrigued because although John and Nick's blend has remained, their musical collaboration has been dormant for 16 years. Yet once the sessions had begun, any initial fears gave way to confidence and a sense of catharsis for all. Every day I was reminded of the importance that personal chemistry plays in the making of good music, and when we were done, I came away feeling privileged to be involved, happy to have been able to give back a small part of that which Nick and John had given me before."

John Stewart himself put it even more eloquently by saying) "To both Lindsay Buckingham and myself, who have been working in the record industry and recording studios for years and years, working with Nick again was a classic example of the fact that chemistry and attitude cannot be aided by electronics. The human aspect of record making cannot be replaced by technology where, in the last analysis, it is still people communicating with people."

With all these good words and euphoria, one would tend to think that all was and is well. Unfortunately it isn't. John and Nick would like Budgie to be but the first of many recordings together, but recognize that the commercial success of Budgie is an essential prerequisite to that happening. However, lack of promotion, air play and adequate distribution seem to be thwarting the record's potential for success.

Although almost all "hard core" Trio fans have been able to obtain the record, it hasn't always been easy. And, although there appears to be a fairly large contingent of those "hard core" Trio fans, there are a lot more old Trio fans who would likely buy the record if they were aware of it and could easily find it. But that hasn't been the case so far. Also, of course, and of even greater consequence, there's still that large group of record buyers that are a generation or two younger than Nick Reynolds and John Stewart and who, although they might recognize the Kingston Trio name, aren't going to recognize the individual names nor associate them with the sounds to be found on Budgie Without adequate air play^ promotion, distribution and sales, Budgie might end up being an only child.

Hopefully, at least to the old Trio fans, the concern is premature. The distribution problems most likely follow from the lack of promotion and air play, and if those obstacles can be overcome the distributors will likely start carrying the record.

Unfortunately, getting the promotion and air play is a lot easier said than done. Takoma has been disappointing and surprising in that it has done virtually nothing to promote the record, a factor that has obviously affected the air play.

Nick Reynolds expressed both his frustration with the situation and his confidence in the album by writing, "The air play has been fairly good for an album with no promotional material to get it on the air. No material has been given out by Takoma as to who, why, or what the album is about. Most young DJs and record store owners don't even know who 'Nick Reynolds' is or was. Really, I'm not being egotistical, but the fact remains that if Takoma could get it together enough to have the 'old Trio record buyers' aware of the Budgie's existence, we could probably sell thousands of records. 'They' (that age group) have almost no choice of what to buy, and they're just waiting for some old friends to drop by with something new . . . It's such a thrill to sing and record with John, I hate to have it end with lack of enthusiasm from the record company."

And so it stands, at least for the moment. Is Nick right in his heartfelt belief that there is still a substantial market for the type of music, or at least its evolutionary successor, that rocketed The Kingston Trio to the height of the pop charts 25 years ago? Or, are Nick and John, and hence by implication The Kingston Trio, simply "yesterday's act" that no longer has a substantial following from the past and has little appeal to the record buyers of today? There are those of us with thinning and/or graying (or both) hair who fervently believe Nick is right, not only because we like the record ourselves, but also because our children (who are the real record buyers of today) are equally enthusiastic about it. But whether we are right or wrong, we would like to be proved such by the album having the promotion and air play it deserves so that the entire listening and record buying public has the opportunity to hear and buy it.

In the meantime, for those interested in buying the album unheard, although distribution is spotty, it can be found in some record stores. It is also available by mail from Kingston Korner, Inc., 6 So. 230 Cohasset Rd., Naperville, IL 60540. The price is $6.98 plus $1 postage and handling, with a 10% discount for two or more copies.