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Bob Shane:
"I was born and raised in Hawaii, When I was young I started playing the Ukelele and singing more or less as means of self-defense Everybody in high school played, danced or sang. I had to do something to avoid going unnoticed, so I picked up the nearest instrument, the Ukelele. I played that for awhile and later on learned the Tiple and tenor guitar. I used my music the way some guys used Southern Comfort and Coke, if you know what I mean.

My first professional singing date was New Years Eve at the Club Jetty on the island of Kauai. After that, I went to Pearl City Tavern on the north end of Pearl Harbor. In 1957, I went back to California and got together with Dave Guard and Nick Reynolds to form the original Kingston Trio. We decided to give the trio a try for a year and if we didn't starve, we'd continue. Well we got lucky, "Dooley" hit and our first was an overnight success. I guess the "Tom Dooley" recording has sold almost six million copies to date. The first year was really unbelievable.

The original Trio broke up in 1961 when Dave Guard left for Australia and John Stewart took his place. Finally, in 1967, after ten years, we decided to retire.

After a while I discovered that entertaining had become such a part of my life, I wanted to continue. So I started out again. The Kingston Trio is an entertainment idea and I'm going to keep it alive as long as I can."