16 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

The Kingston Trio still going

* Continued from page 13

lasted until 1967, at which time the group decided to call it quits — largely due to the changing musical climate, which at the time was under the “British Invasion.” The last 54% years of the group saw the band change labels from Capitol to Decca Records such hits as “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” and “Reverend Mr. Black.”

Following their split, each member went their separate way. Stewart pur- sued his solo career which has seen him write such hits as “Daydream Believer,” and he also went on the campaign trail for Robert Kennedy. Reynolds moved to Oregon, where he raised his family and ranched, and Shane briefly dabbled with a solo career.

After quickly realizing he missed being in a group, he formed the “New King- ston Trio” in 1969, a group that broke up in 1972. De- ciding to begin playing the songs that made the group famous again, he started an- other “New Kingston Trio,” realizing this time that he shouldn't ignore the material that made the original group so popular. As Shane said, “we have 17 songs we've done over 25,000 times.”

Having long since dropped “New” from the name, the current lineup of the band was solidified when Reynolds returned to the group in 1988. The lineup now features Shane,

Reynolds and George Grove

and the release of

still “the new guy” after

22 years in the band The current Trio lineup has one release under their belt the very well done “Live At The Crazy Horse” from 1993 (see re- view). Where does the band 20 from here? According to Shane there are no current plans for a new cd, although he doesn’t dismiss the notion it’s just a matter of get- ting the backing from a label to produce it. On the other hand, he will be cutting a solo album shortly, thanks to free time donated from a studio looking to boost their image. Also, Grove is working on the creation of his second solo album, the follow-up to “In The Middle Of A Life.” As for the Kingston Trio, they appear to remain prima-

rily as a live group.

I had a few question to ask Mr. Shane, one of which had to do with their name.

“One of the reasons we're called the Kingston Trio is because there’s a Kingston in every seaboard state... and it sounded very ivy league.” The other rea- son is that their calypso in- fluence came from Jamaica, of which the capitol is King- ston.

How about those striped shirts that the group is known so well for? Ap- parently the reason they started wearing them is that it was easy to buy three that matched at any clothing store.

Although the band was largely known for their “folk oriented” material, they

never managed to receive the acceptance from the folk pur- ists. Much of this had to do with the group consisting of three young, middle class guys that considered them- selves — above all else — to be entertainers. As it is now and always has been, a King- ston Trio show is comedy — something that the purists didn’t like. Also, in a me- dium known largely for it’s protest songs, the Trio didn’t bother because “we didn’t have anything to protest.”

The Trio may not have been “genuine” in this fash- ion, but like skilled actors they managed to portray the role of such for the duration of each song. Performing a song such as “The Patriot Game,” one could picture the three as being Irish rebels, or like dustbowl migrants in “Hard Ain’t It Hard.” The bottom line is that they did the songs well.

Things may change yet again for the Trio as it appears likely that Reynolds will be leaving the group in the next year or so (having been the recipient of three hip operations has made traveling much harder for the former avid tennis player). However, even if such hap- pens the music will continue, for Shane has every intention to keep on the road.

“I wanted to work in this business for 50 years, which would take us to the year 2007,” he says. “I'll be 73 by that time — I'll prob- ably be ready to slow down a bit!”

The Cadre

6 April 1999

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