Obituary: Nick Reynolds

Oct 7 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

THEY were so clean-cut that the American dream seemed to shine from their polished faces. Any apple-baking momma would have been proud to have one as a son-in-law.

Whether by accident or design, they had found a winning way of presenting songs of love, betrayal, murder, hardship and the evils of war to a mass audience.

Only a few years earlier, Senator Joe McCarthy’s witch-hunters had effectively banned from their airwaves much of the USA’s folk music tradition, condemning groups such as The Weavers as subversive “Commies”.

It was ironic that, in the late 1950s and early 60s, the Kingston Trio had the till-boxes rolling, as they soared up the charts with songs that had been sung by The Weavers and others.

The difference was marketing. The Kingston Trio looked good with their swept-back hair and striped shirts, later copied by the Beach Boys.

The original line-up was Nick Reynolds, Bob Shane and Dave Guard, all college boys from California, who could play the banjos and guitars.

In traditional style, they began playing in coffee-bars, where their fine harmonies were heard by Frank Werber, an impresario of considerable influence. The boys called themselves the Kingston Trip because they all liked Caribbean calypsos.

Werber booked them into the Purple Onion Club, in San Francisco. Soon they had a record deal with Capitol.

As their popularity was growing in the States, the skiffle craze had broken out in Britain. The Trio’s Tom Dooley, a ballad about a man hanged for killing his wife, was a number one in the States, reaching five in England, where Lonnie Donegan’s version just topped it.

Shane took the vocal lead on many of the songs, with Reynolds harmonising higher.

It was a winning combination and, in 1959, they had four albums in the LP charts at the same time, a feat which has only been equalled by The Beatles.

Their protest songs, including Greenback Dollar and Where Have All the Flowers Gone, ushered in the new generation of American folkies, including Bob Dylan, whose angrier presence made the Trio seem uncool.

In the late 60s, after some personnel changes, the Trio broke up. Reynolds and his wife, Lesley, brought up their four children in a 300-acre sheep ranch in Oregon.

There were later reunions.

Nick Reynolds, singer/guitarist; born July 27, 1933, died October 1, 2008.