Nick Reynolds | Kingston Trio singer, 75
Nick Reynolds, 75, a founding member of the Kingston Trio whose smooth tenor and gift for harmonizing helped propel the group to worldwide fame in the folk-music revival of the late 1950s and early '60s, died Wednesday in San Diego.
Nick Reynolds, 75, a founding member of the Kingston Trio whose smooth tenor and gift for harmonizing helped propel the group to worldwide fame in the folk-music revival of the late 1950s and early '60s, died Wednesday in San Diego.
Mr. Reynolds, of Coronado, Calif., had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and died after his family took him off life support, said his son Josh Reynolds.
Although regarded as overly commercial by purists, the trio inspired the folk-music revival and paved the way for the breezy and ingratiating Limeliters and Chad Mitchell Trio and later for more political artists such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary. "We got America up and singing," Reynolds said.
Wary of the political songs that had caused trouble for the Weavers during the era of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the Kingston Trio, formed in 1957, steered clear of protest music and stuck to a mixture of traditional songs like "Tom Dooley" and "A Worried Man" and humorous ballads like "MTA" and "Tijuana Jail," with storytelling between songs during their live performances.
The formula was astonishingly successful. Thirteen of the group's albums reached the Top 10; in 1959 alone, four of its albums placed in the Top 10, a record matched only by the Beatles.
In the mid-1950s, Mr. Reynolds met Bob Shane and Dave Guard, and the three formed a group that added and subtracted members and performed under different names. A publicist who caught their act booked them at the Purple Onion nightclub in San Francisco and, after their one-week engagement became an extended sold-out run, signed them to a contract with Capitol Records.
By this time they had renamed themselves the Kingston Trio, in a nod to the popularity of calypso music, and chosen a team uniform - button-down, striped, short-sleeve shirts - that exuded a wholesome, collegiate image.
Mr. Reynolds remained with the Kingston Trio until it disbanded in 1967. After a brief time building and racing Formula B cars, he moved to a cabin in Port Orford, Ore., without a television, telephone or radio. There he worked as a rancher and antiques dealer.
In 1988 he joined a reconstituted version of the Kingston Trio and performed until retiring in 1999. N.Y. Times News Service