The Kingston Trio Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stanford University

Bob Shane and Dave Guard were both born in Hawaii, on February 1, 1934, and October 19, 1934, respectively, and both attended Honolulu's Punahou School, graduating in 1952. Nick Reynolds first spotted Bob asleep in the back of the hall during an accounting lecture at Menlo College, and the two soon became friends, playing music together at parties. Bob introduced Nick to Dave and before long the three were performing at frat parties and playing at a local tavern two nights a week.

Answer: The Ivy League / Calypso crossover appeal

Bob went home to Hawaii after graduation and worked for a while at his father's sporting goods company, also performing as an Elvis-influenced solo act. Meanwhile, Dave and Nick began playing with bassist Joe Gannon and singer Barbara Bogue as Dave Guard & the Calypsonians. Nick left that group following his graduation and was replaced by Don McArthur. The group then called themselves the Kingston Quartet. Calypso was very popular at the time and Bob lists Harry Belafonte and various other Hawaiian and calypso groups among his musical influences. The Calypsonians were advised to part with Gannon, whose bass technics were not so very well developed, and when he left, Bogue went too. Nick and Bob, now back from Hawaii, were welcomed back into the group, and the name was revised to the Kingston Trio.

Nick Reynolds was actually born in Coronado, California, on July 27, 1933. Bob Marley was not born until 1945, so could not have been an early musical influence on the Kingston Trio.

Answer: The Cracked Pot

The Hungry i, operated by Enrico Banducci, was instrumental in launching the careers of many artists and comedians such as Barbra Streisand, Lenny Bruce, Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, The Smothers Brothers, and Woody Allen. The Kingston Trio would later record two "live" albums there. The Purple Onion was a popular cellar club in North Beach, considered the premiere "discovery" venue for new talent. After months of rehearsal, working with voice coach Judy Davis, Frank Werber booked the Kingston Trio there for a one-week engagement that resulted in sell-out shows and lasted five months. The group was spotted by Bob Hope's agent, Jimmy Saphier, who took demo tapes to both Dot and Capitol Records. Capital producer Voyle Gilmore was sent to the Purple Onion and signed the group to a seven-year contract.

McCabe's is a guitar shop which opened in Santa Monica in 1958. The popular folk concert venue there did not open until about 1969.

Answer: Tom Dooley

DJs at Salt Lake City's KLUB, Bill Terry and Paul Colburn, began playing "Tom Dooley" and soon other stations across the country were picking it up. Capitol's Voyle Gilmore called Frank Werber in Hawaii and told him to "Get those boys back here. It looks like you're going to have the record of the year." Indeed, it stayed on the charts for five months and sold over three million copies, becoming the first of six gold records - and only gold single - for the group.

It received two 1958 Grammy nominations, winning for Best Country & Western Performance. "Scotch and Soda" was also on the first album, but wasn't released as a single until 1962.

Although recorded by the Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" would go to number two for Peter, Paul and Mary in 1963, and "Sloop John B." would become a hit for the Beach Boys in 1966.

Answer: Yes

The song is based on the true story of Thomas C. Dula, a Civil War veteran from North Carolina, who was tried and convicted in October, 1866 of murdering Laura Foster, a young woman he was supposedly intimate with. He was hanged in Statesboro, North Carolina on May 1, 1868. http://www.ohek.co.uk/history/dooley1.htm

Pictures of Tom and Laura's graves:
http://www.davidholt.com/photos/tomdula.html

Answer: The Kingston Trio At Large (fourth album, released June 1959)

The Grammy Award for 'Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording' was awarded from 1960 to 1986. The years reflect the year in which the awards were presented, for works released in the previous year. At first it was called 'Best Performance - Folk', and after several more name changes, the award was split in 1987 into two separate categories, 'Best Traditional Folk Album' and 'Best Contemporary Folk Album'.

The December 12, 1959 issue of Billboard listed four Trio albums in the Top Ten Best Selling Albums, a feat unmatched for nearly 40 years. "At Large" was the Trio's first stereo album. http://www.kingstontrio.com/content/discography1.htm

Answer: John Stewart

Leaving the Trio, Dave Guard formed the Whiskeyhill Singers with an old high school friend, Cyrus Faryar, and bassist David "Buck" Wheat, who had worked previously with the Kingston Trio as an accompanist. Judy Henske completed the quartet. Dave moved to Australia in 1962 where he taught guitar and hosted his own TV program called "Dave's Place." He authored several books including "Color Guitar," a method of teaching guitar using color in place of musical notation, "Deirdre" on Celtic mythology, and "Hale-Mano" on Hawaiian mythology. Dave succumbed to lymphatic cancer on March 22, 1991 in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, at the age of 57.

Roger McGuinn was actually considered as a replacement for Dave. He worked with the Limeliters, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Bobby Darin as a guitarist and banjo player before forming the Byrds in 1964. John Sebastian founded the Lovin' Spoonful, and John Phillips was one of the Mamas and the Papas.

Answer: Daydream Believer

Contrary to all their silliness, the Monkees material came from some of the best pop songwriters of the time. "Last Train to Clarksville" was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and their biggest hit, "I'm a Believer" came from Neil Diamond. "Daydream Believer" charted again in 1980 when Anne Murray took it to number 12.

John Stewart was born on September 5, 1939 in San Diego. At the time Dave Guard left the Trio, John was a member of the Cumberland Three, who Frank Werber was also managing, along with the Journeymen. John had already written two songs recorded by the Kingston Trio, so it was not by happenstance that he was chosen to join the group. John's 1969 album, "California Bloodlines" came in at number 36 on Rolling Stone's list of the '200 Best albums of All Time.' His 1979 album "Bombs Away Dream Babies" produced the Top 10 single "Gold" which featured Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, who cites the Kingston Trio, and John Stewart in particular, as one of his major musical influences. In 1999, Rosanne Cash had a hit with John's song "Runaway Train."

Answer: Auto racing, ranching, opened a movie theater, antiques business

The group's final performance came at the end of a three week stint at the Hungry i on June 16, 1967. Nick Reynolds left the music business and for a time took up auto racing before moving to Oregon to raise a family. There for the next 20 years he ranched, opened a movie theater, and later ran an antique business.

In 1988 he would come out of retirement to replace Bob Haworth, formerly of the Brothers Four, and join George Grove and Bob Shane once again in the Kingston Trio.

Answer: Scotch and Soda

"Scotch and Soda" has an interesting history. Writing credits go to Dave Guard, but the actual composer has never been found. http://users2.ev1.net/~smyth/linernotes/thesongs/ScotchAndSoda.htm

"Pop music tastes were changing," says Bob. "That whole rock revolution spread from San Francisco across the country and took a lot of our audience with it. But folk music is timeless, and I knew it would come around again." Bill Zorn, formerly of the New Christy Minstrels, was replaced by George Grove. Bob Haworth filled the spot when Roger Gambill died suddenly. Rick Dougherty came in from the Limeliters when Nick Reynolds retired the second time. Bob Shane suffered a heart attack in March, 2004 and has since retired, Bill Zorn stepping up once again to keep the group alive. As of 2005, The Kingston Trio consists of George Grove, Bill Zorn and Rick Dougherty.