OKAY, so we have a trio. What are we going to sing? In essence, that is the question facing every musical group, and we knew that we'd better come up with an answer before we found ourselves in spotlights and on the spot by having only a handful of songs to offer.

Many have asked "Where do you find your songs?" We are luckier than most singing groups because we came with a sort of built-in nucleus of a repertoire. Bobby and Dave are from Hawaii where it's impossible to grow up without a ukulele in your hands. We had heard the traditional songs of the islands long before we could carry a tune.

Nick is from a seafaring family that is also musical. He brought to the trio a group of ballads from many times and places, including sea chanteys, calypso from the Caribbean, and Mexican tunes picked up near his parents home in Coronado, California, a few miles from the Mexican border. This was the nucleus, but nothing more than bare bones upon which to build an act. We're still covering those bones, and our research for more material will never end. Actually we have as many sources for songs as we have songs.

Our own writers, recently Mrs. Jane Bowers ("Alamo" and "San Miguel,") Lord Burgess ("The Seine" and "The Wanderers") and John Stewart ("Molly Dee" and "Green Grasses") have made major contributions to our repertoire, and we really depend on them for at least one new idea, for each album session. These people are truly the creative part of the Kingston Trio musical scene.

We obtain much material, of course, from "Tin Pan Alley" writers or just plain amateurs who would like to hear their songs recorded. The odds on the success of this source are far slimmer than in the case of our established writers, if only because of the sheer volume of material. However, we do find many needles in this haystack, so we never neglect this angle.

But most of the fun of all is finding songs at their source. We have a large supply of Tahitian songs, garnered while witnessing several "finishes" of the Trans-Pacific Yacht Race in Hawaii. Boats come in from all over the world to compete, and everyone most eagerly awaits those from Tahiti. Trips to Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada and Europe have paid or will pay rich dividends as have our trips through the southern states.

We are simply three musically inclined collegians who get a genuine kick out of singing together. Although TV appearances are the most exhausting and demanding, this is only just -- for an audience that numbers a million or more is extremely important and nothing less than the best that is humanly possible should be offered. To performers used to intimate theaters and experimenting with new material "on the road," the television studio is absolute chaos before air time. Lighting men and floor managers re shouting directions; cameramen and sound engineers are shifting their massive equipment across the floor; script writers and musical directors are making last-minute changes (which we must remember.) The director is certain that the show is going to be too long or too short. The second hand makes it's final sweep, show is on the air, and millions of eyes are watching us. TV appearances, when they go well, are indeed the most rewarding.

Our debt to the scholars and serious collectors of music is enormous. They have done the research that we have not had the time to do. Consequently, many of the songs in out repertoire are due to their findings. During the last two years we have logged over half a million miles, appearing in as many colleges as nightclubs. In our search for new material, we try to squeeze in a couple of hours of research in local libraries and old record stores, or in tune swapping songfests with other musicians. These are the sources and the people who help us find the songs that we sing in the never-ending quest for new ideas to express and "new" melodies to share.

Dave Guard, Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds -- The Kingston Trio scarcely need an introduction to anyone interested in music of any kind. Having appeared on TV as guests of such personalities as Milton Berle, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Patti Page, Jimmy Rogers, and Gary Moore, they earned their first Gold Record for the famous "Tom Dooley" recording, recently receiving the coveted "Grammy" -- (a gold gramophone), the record industry's equlivalent of Hollywood's "Oscar" and TV's "Emmy."

-- THANK YOU to Bill Welsch for sharing photo copies
of the foregoing articles for our reading enjoyment.