Biographical / Historical
The history of the original Kingston Trio and its subsequent permutations has been well chronicled. The group came to national prominence in 1958 during the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. At that time the trio consisted of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds. Their first album released in 1958 contained their first gold record,
Tom Dooley
. Success continued for the trio but in 1961, Dave Guard left the group and John Stewart joined the group as his replacement. The group continued to have a successful run, their cover of
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
and
Greenback Dollar
made the
Billboard
Top Ten chart in 1961 and 1963 respectively. The group in its configuration of Reynolds, Shane, and Stewart ceased actively performing in June 1967. Subsequent incarnations of the group performed into the twenty-first century.
Nicholas (Nick) Wells Reynolds, tenor, was a founding member of the Kingston Trio. He was born in San Diego, California on July 27, 1933. His parents were Stewart S. and Jane Keck Reynolds. His father was a commander in the United States Navy. Reynolds attended schools in Coronado, California graduating in 1951 from Coronado High School. He graduated from Menlo College, Atherton, California in 1956.
Reynolds, Bob Shane (1934-2020) and Dave Guard (1934-1991) formed the Kingston Trio in the 1950s. Reynolds left the Trio in 1967 moving to Oregon. He rejoined the Trio in 1988 after recording the album
Revenge of the Budgie
in 1983, and remained with the group until retiring in 2003. Reynolds died in San Diego, California on October 1, 2008 survived by his third wife, Leslie Yerger Reynolds, and four children.
Sources
Family Search, 1940 United States Census, accessed July 9, 2019. Obituary, Nick Reynolds,
The New York Times
, October 2, 2008. Obituary, Nick Reynolds,
The Los Angeles Times
, October 3, 2008. Kingston Trio Legacy Project, (http://kingstontriolegacyproject.com) last accessed July 9, 2019.
