Dave Guard Obituary

The New York Times,
March 1991,
Concord, N.H. March 23.(AP)

Dave Guard, founder of the Kingston Trio, which brought folk music from the coffee houses to mainstream America with songs like the haunting "Tom Dooley" and the rollicking M.T.A., died Friday at his home in Rollinsford. he was 56 years old.

His daughter, Sally Guard of New York, said today that he died of lymphoma.

A native of Honolulu, Mr. Guard graduated from Stanford University in 1956 with a degree in economics. A year later he got together with two students at Menlo College, in Palo Alto, California, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds, and founded the Kingston Trio, whose hit songs helped create the folk music boom of the 1950's and 60's.

Reached by telephone in Coronado, CA, Mr. Reynolds recalled that the three originally got together to sing for fun. "We then started singing for beers," Mr. Reynolds said.

"Ivy League and Calypso" in an interview with Life magazine in 1959, Mr. Guard said the three chose the name Kingston because they wanted "a name for the group that would be Ivy League and Calypso"

As the group grew more popular on college campuses in the Bay Area, it began to sing in legendary San Francisco musical meccas of the era like "The Purple Onion" and "The Hungry i." "That's when our career took off." Mr. Reynolds said. In 1959, before the folk category was established, the group won a Grammy for the best Country and Western recording for "Tom Dooley," the group's best-selling single.

The next year, the group won the first Grammy for the best folk album. The original trio had nine gold albums, with "The Kingston Trio at the Hungry i," its most successful. Among the group's hits were "The M.T.A.," "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" and "Scotch and Soda."

Mr. Reynolds, who with Bob Shane has remained with the group, said the period when the original Kingston Trio was performing, from 1957 to 1961, when Mr. Guard left the group, "was the highlight of our careers."

After leaving the group, Mr. Guard started the Whiskyhill Singers and moved to Australia, where he lived until 1968 and was host of a television show. Mr. Guard also wrote several books, including a manual on guitar technique as well as books of fairy tales. He is survived by his mother, Marjorie, of Honolulu; two daughters, Ms. Guard of New York and Catherine Shinneman of Los Angels, and a son, Tom of San Francisco.

44 a

The Dallas Morning News

Sunday, March 24, 1991

Kingston Trio founder Dave Guard dies

Associated Press

Concord, N.H. -- Dave Guard, founder of the Kingston Trio, which brought folk music from the coffee houses to mainstream America with songs like the haunting "Tom Dooley" and the rollicking M.T.A., has died at 56.

His daughter, Sally Guard of New York, said Saturday that her father died friday at home in Rollinsford, NH of lymphoma.

"I'm very upset," said Nick Reynolds, a member of the Trio since its founding in

1957. Reached by telephone in Coronado, Calif, Mr. Reynolds seaid he had visited Mr. Guard two months ago and "he was in remission."

"We were talking about doing a reunion," he said. "We were going to have John Stewart (who replaced Mr. Guard) and George Grove (the newest member) and the rest of us sing in different combinations, a kind of retrospective."

The period of the original Kingston Trio, between 1957 and 1961, when Mr. Guard left the group, "was the highlight

of our careers," said Mr. Reynolds, who with Bob Shane, a highschool friend of Mr. Guard's in Hawaii, has remained with the group.

In 1959, before the folk catagory was established, the group won a Grammy for the best country-Western recording for Tom Dooley, the group's best-selling single. In 1960, the group won the first Grammy for best folk album.

The original trio had nine gold albums.

Mr. Guard is survived by his mother and three chi;ldren.

-- Thank you to Barry Martin for sharing this article with the LINER NOTES


Last revised: February 23, 2006.