Numbers

The Kingston Trio

• Dave Guard
• Nick Reynolds
• Bob Shane

The Kingston Trio was one of the most popular folk-pop music groups of the 1950's and 1960's. Dave Guard, Nick Reynolds, and Bob Shane were the original members of the group. There have been several different combinations of performers in the decades since.

How It's Used

"Recorded at a North Carolina show, Vertical Horizon's 'Live Stages' sounds like the Kingston Trio updated with bits of Hootie, Phish and Sting. Acoustic guitars dominate, but some lo-cal jam is served..."

"Howard Hughes, to quote the old Kingston Trio song about John Foster Dulles, didn't like anybody very much [Editor's Note: "The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles/Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch/And I don't like anybody very much!"—"John Foster Dulles"]. He hated doctors. He fought with lawyers. He despised his relatives. And most of all, he loathed tax collectors. And yet these were the folks who laid their hands on his vast estate -- in part because no one could ever find a bona fide Hughes will directing the money somewhere else."

"The most notable is the 12-seat gem in the basement of the historic Sentinel Building, Zoetrope's headquarters since 1972, at 916 Columbus Ave. The space was originally the home of Caesar's Grill, a turn-of-the- century political hot spot shut down during Prohibition. Later it was a radio station and recording studio -- the Kingston Trio recorded many albums there, and the Grateful Dead recorded 'Anthem of the Sun' in the room. 'People like the colorful history and the intimacy,' said Howie Stein, Zoetrope's facilities manager."

"Banjo jokes? Trischka, 50, has undoubtedly heard them all, given that he has devoted his life and career to the instrument since 1973. Together with his protege Bela Fleck, Trischka has brought credibility to the oft-maligned instrument and expanded its influence far beyond Nashville...

"Both came to the instrument by happenstance. 'The first time I ever heard the banjo was on a Kingston Trio song called M.T.A.,' explains Trischka in a phone interview from his home in New York. 'There was a banjo break in the number by David Guard, and as soon as I heard it, I was hooked. It's been banjo, banjo, banjo ever since.'"

"Last week, I asked readers for great commuting songs, in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Kingston Trio's version of 'The MTA Song,' the most famous ballad dedicated to local transit, and the inspiration for the MBTA's Charlie Card.

"Readers offered some excellent suggestions - from the obscure to the popular. My favorite came from WBRS True Blues radio host Greg Sarni, who pointed to 'Boston Driving Blues,' by Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin."

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