January, 1959

THE COVER

Not only has the Kingston Trio’s recording of "Tom Dooley" been riding the hit charts for many weeks, but it has caused quite a furor in political circles (see page 4).

The versatile trio first came to prominence in San Francisco where they came to the attention of Capitol Records. An album, titled "The Kingston Trio," was immediately released and promptly became a hit. So two of the tunes from the album were released as a single. One of them was "Tom Dooley" and the rest is history.

TOM DOOLEY ACQUITTED!

Just after the Civil War, a Confederate veteran named Tom Dula was convicted of murdering his sweetheart whom he suspected of having taken up with a Yankee schoolteacher named Grayson. He was sentenced to hang. In 1958 Dula (his name now changed to "Dooley" because it sings better) was given a retrial and found "not guilty." Unfortunately for the jilted young suitor, the reprieve came too late. He had been hanged some 90 years previous.

Interest in the case was, of course, rekindled by the Kingston Trio's smash Capitol recording, ^"Tom Dooley." As the record climbed the hit charts, Jerry Dexter and Bob Salter, a couple of Las Vegas deejays with a penchant for justice, began a campaign to save Dooley from the gallows. The "better late than never" appeal brought tremendous response. The Governor of Nevada received a petition signed by some 200 citizens, asking for a new trial and the release of Dooley.

As is usually the case with controversies of this nature, there were political repercussions. During the height of the recent political campaign, voters (many of whom really believed that a person named Tom Dooley was being held in the Clark County jail) began asking the candidates how they stood on the case of Tom Dooley. The Sheriff, running for re-election, tried to convince hundreds of callers that his guest list did not include anyone named Dooley.

Las Vegas politicos, already faced with sufficient problems, began tearing their hair out. They demanded that Dexter and Salter "stop all this foolishness" and put an end to their campaign for Dooley's release.

Meanwhile, back at the Governor's mansion, no comment was forthcoming on the pleas for a new trial. So the two intrepid disk jockeys took justice in their own hands and arranged for a new Trial. A prominent attorney from a nearby city volunteered to provide Dooley's defense and the trial got underway in one of the radio station's studios. Frequent news reports kept listeners informed as to progress of the trial and, eventually, the long-awaited bulletin was flashed. New evidence had proved that the real killer was Mr. Grayson, the Yankee schoolteacher. Tom's confession ("stabbed her with my knife") was repudiated Tom Dooley was acquitted!

Victory celebrations were staged while the anti-Dooley’s grumbled and threatened lynching.

All this time, the Kingston Trio's recording climbed higher on the hit lists. The entire nation is now aware of the plight in which poor Tom found himself back in the 1800's. The Confederate soldier from the Pick Britches Valley, Tennessee, has become a national figure.

However, since the ending of the song does not tell how the whole thing turned out, there are still many who are not aware of Tom's recent exoneration in Las Vegas. Like other interested observers they will doubtless find satisfaction in the knowledge that the triumph of justice is Inevitable, even if it comes 90 years late.