The Kingston Trio
When we think of the "sounds of Coronado", one of the first things that we hear are the stylings of The Kingston Trio! Read below to learn more about this iconic trio.
Kingston Trio changed popular music forever, but the Reynolds family made an impression on Coronado long before then!
Captain Stewart S. Reynolds, USN, and Mrs. Reynolds settled their family in Coronado in 1933. The military family occupied what came to be known as “the Reynolds House” on-and-off for six decades. They were active in the community in a number of ways, everything from hosting high ranking military officials to participating in local tennis tournaments. Nick Reynolds, the most famous family member, spent several of his childhood years and received his early musical education in Coronado. A graduate of Coronado High School, Nick later went on to found the Kingston Trio, a popular folk band in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Kingston Trio is credited with creating a pop-folk musical movement that would reverberate for generations to come. They started out playing calypso music, which is why the group was named the Kingston Trio (for Kingston, Jamaica), but quickly expanded their repertoire. Within a year of being “discovered” at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, these talented college performers had produced the number one song on the pop charts—“Tom Dooley”—which became the record of the year in 1958.
The Trio became an overnight sensation, and in the first four years, cut ten albums, four of which were on the top ten Billboard list at one time—more than even the Beatles achieved in their hey-day. “At the height of their popularity, the Kingston Trio was arguably the number one vocal group in the world, single-handedly ushering in the folk music boom of the late 1950s and early ‘60s that spawned the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary, and many others.
“The release of Tom Dooley in the fall of ’58 changed popular music forever, inspiring legions of young people to pick up guitars and banjos and sing folk music,” according to Bill Bush, music journalist and author of a book about the Trio, in a memorial tribute after Nick Reynolds death in 2008.
“We got America up and singing,” Reynolds once modestly reflected.
Although the Kingston Trio’s music was apolitical, the group opened the door for 60’s protest music and later for rock ‘n roll. But their music also contained an element of fun as exemplified by one of their biggest hits, a song about getting poor Charlie off “The M.T.A.,” sung by Reynolds.
Between 1961 and 1967, the Kingston Trio produced 13 more albums before disbanding to pursue individual careers. By 1967, “pop music tastes were changing,” says Bob Shane and the members decided to part ways. Bob Shane bought the rights to the name and went on to perform during the next couple of decades with other musicians.
From 1967 to 1988, John Stewart went on to record with Buffy Ford on Capitol Records and continued to write songs (“Daydream Believer” was a million-seller for the Monkees). He and Buffy (by this time his wife) became politically active and campaigned vigorously for Robert Kennedy before the presidential nominee’s assassination in 1968. During this period, Nick hung up his guitar to spend more time with his family on a ranch in Oregon. He continued his passion for photography and wildlife and did some recording with Lindsey Buckingham and John Stewart.
In 1982, the PBS television network presented “The Kingston Trio & Friends Reunion,” hosted by Tommy Smothers. Bob, Nick and Dave Guard played together for the first time since 1961; Bob, Nick and John Stewart harmonized for the first time since 1967.
In 1988, Bob Shane invited Nick to tour with him again, which he did for the next 11 years. In 1999, he and his third wife, Leslie, also a Navy junior and Coronado native, retired full-time to their hometown, where Leslie and other family members still live today. Nick Reynolds died in October 2008, preceded in death just a few months prior by John Stewart.
