R.I.P Bob Shane

[Nymuso]

I didn’t see this anywhere on the forum, but I learned he passed this morning.

Many here may not even have heard of him, who he was or his significance, but he’s probably the reason many of us are here discussing acoustic guitars.

[Wade Hampton]

I was never heavily into the Kingston Trio, but I certainly heard plenty of their recordings when I was a kid. They also had a massive influence on folk music as it was played at the time and on the folk-rock music that followed.


Wade Hampton Miller

[roberts]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

I didn’t see this anywhere on the forum, but I learned he passed this morning.

Many here may not even have heard of him, who he was or his significance, but he’s probably the reason many of us are here discussing acoustic guitars.

I'm one of them.

[SteveS]

My father went to high school with those three in San Francisco. They asked him to join them but he thought being a naval aviator was a better idea for him. Yes, he regrets that decision.
I called to tell him about Bob tonight and he was quite sad. He told me I should listen to Scotch and Soda. I never really listened to the Trio, but I did listen to Bob sing Scotch and Soda tonight. I was pretty impressed with his singing.
RIP Bob!

[Wade Hampton]

The first time I can recall ever hearing live music being performed was when I had just turned six years old and we took a family vacation at Estes Park in Colorado. One night we had dinner in what I remember as a dining room paneled in knotty pine, and just a few feet from our table a trio of college age guys sang folk songs, accompanying themselves on two guitars and a banjo - they stood maybe ten feet away from us, singing without amplification of any kind.

My parents listened mostly to classical music, but they were fond of folk music, too, so all of us enjoyed their performance. It was very typical of the performance style of the time, mostly uptempo songs but some slower ballads like "Lily of the West" and "Darcy Farrow," as well. I think they threw in "Charlie On The MTA," too.

When I got older and started playing music myself, I sometimes thought back on that first encounter of mine with live folk music, and recognized that both their repertoire and performing personae were heavily influenced by the The Kingston Trio. But one could certainly do a lot worse than that!


whm

[norseman]

I was a big fan of the Kingston Trio. Their music appealed to me and the debate over where to pigeonhole them seemed silly at the time (and even more so now). I loved what was usually known as country-western in my earliest days; folk music didn't seem all that much different to me so Tom Dooley and the MTA fit right in. Burl Ives and Tom Paxton come to mind. I was inspired to buy a guitar. All I could afford was a cheap Stella found in a pawn shop in downtown St. Paul, MN circa 1954. Money I earned from delivering newspapers twice a day allowed me to buy 45 rpm records of Johnny Cash. Later when I was in college my limited budget was stretched to buy the LP records of the Kingston Trio. I did my best to work out the chords playing by ear. Hank Williams songs like Your Cheating Heart were easier to figure out than the more "exotic" chords of Scotch and Soda, but those efforts got me started on a path that led to where I am today. RIP Bob Shane. Thanks for the music.

[fretfile100]

I have more KT albums than I should and cut my guitar playing on some of their arrangements. Always enjoyed his bawdy humor at night clubs and respected both his singing and playing.

[valleyguy]

Another huge fan here, they definitely got me into playing the guitar. Bob had a marvelous voice, very distinctive, which I think added to their appeal. I still listen to their music today, on my iPod, having bought most of their albums in the past.

The New Kingston Trio, with three new members still tour today. They draw an aging crowd.....And how would you think I know that.....

[Inyo]

Originally Posted by SteveS

My father went to high school with those three in San Francisco.

An impossible story, if by "those three" the poster refers to the three original members of the Kingston Trio.

Two original Kingston Trio members--Bob Shane (real name Robert Castle Schoen) and Dave Guard--met in high school while attending Punahou School in Honolulu of then pre-statehood U.S. Territory of Hawaii; and the other original member Nick Reynolds graduated from Coronado High School in San Diego.

Of course, "those three" do share an Atherton, California, connection (about 30 miles south of San Francisco). Shane and Reynolds both graduated from Menlo College in Atherton (a private business college), and Guard finished high school at Menlo School in Atherton in 1952, a private college preparatory school that comprises a middle school--grades 6–8--and a high school, grades 9–12; Guard eventually graduated from Stanford in 1956 (Palo Alto, roughly 4 miles south of Atherton).

This is a pretty good show--taped live in November, 1981, and first televised over PBS in March, 1982:

[Frostie]

Bob, Nick Reynolds and Dave Guard changed my life - the Trio hooked me on guitar, singing, harmony, folk music, etc. They sparked in me a passion for acoustic guitar That is still with me today.

[619TF]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

I didn’t see this anywhere on the forum, but I learned he passed this morning.

Many here may not even have heard of him, who he was or his significance, but he’s probably the reason many of us are here discussing acoustic guitars.

It's interesting when people post statements like that and yet don't tell us who that person was. It's only through the other postings that you find out.
Why not post something... anything... about the man instead of such a cryptic posting?

If anyone is interested in learning more about Bob Shane: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/a...trio-dies.html

[Frostie]

Originally Posted by 619TF

It's interesting when people post statements like that and yet don't tell us who that person was. It's only through the other postings that you find out. Why not post something... anything... about the man instead of such a cryptic posting[/url]

This is a good point. It’s just hard sometimes to admit that our idols will not be at all familiar to someone born after 1969.

[golfreggie]

Tom Dooley was the first song I could play all the way through, key of E if I remember correctly. I bet I haven't played it in 15 years! After that I tried to learn most of the easier to learn by ear songs, like MTA, Bad Man's Blunder, Where Have All the Flowers Gone and several others. Their version of "The First Time" Ever I Saw Your Face is really good. Loved me some Kingston Trio. I always had a hard time deciphering who sang what tho'.

[619TF]

Originally Posted by Frostie

This is a good point. It’s just hard sometimes to admit that our idols will not be at all familiar to someone born after 1969.

My vintage is prior to that year and I was only somewhat familiar with the man (though I know about TKT as a unit of course) but I think with the age median here I'd think 1979 might be closer.