The Kingston Trio were one of the most popular bands of the 1950s/'60s folk revival, riding the crest of the folk-pop craze with one massive hit record -- their 1958 version of "Tom Dooley" -- as their calling card and the first of many Pop hits over the next few years. The Trio was co-founded in California by singer Dave Guard, who left the group in 1961 to be replaced by the multi-talented John Stewart, who later became an influential singer-songwriter in the early 1970's folk scene. Eventually the Trio dissolved as the American folk scene faltered in the face of the '60s rock revolution; the Kingston Trio folded in 1967, though founding member Bob Shane put together a "New Kingston Trio" a couple of years later and various revivals and other incarnations cropped up over the years. Here's a quick look at the band and its legacy...
The Kingston Trio "The Kingston Trio" (Capitol Records, 1958) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "...From The Hungry i" (Capitol Records, 1959) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Stereo Concert" (Capitol Records, 1959) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "At Large" (Capitol Records, 1959) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Here We Go Again!" (Capitol Records, 1959) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Sold Out" (Capitol Records, 1960) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "String Along" (Capitol Records, 1960) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "The Last Month Of The Year" (Capitol Records, 1960) (LP)
Ho-ho-ho!! It's a Christmas album, my friends!
The Kingston Trio "Make Way" (Capitol Records, 1961) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Goin' Places" (Capitol Records, 1961) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Close Up" (Capitol Records, 1961) (LP)
This was their first album with John Stewart...
The Kingston Trio "College Concert" (Capitol Records, 1962) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Something Special" (Capitol Records, 1962) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "New Frontier" (Capitol Records, 1962) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "#16" (Capitol Records, 1963) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Sunny Side!" (Capitol Records, 1963) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Time To Think" (Capitol Records, 1963)
The Kingston Trio "Back In Town" (Capitol Records, 1964) (LP)
With session player Glen Campbell on guitar...
The Kingston Trio "The Kingston Trio: Nick, Bob, John" (Decca Records, 1964) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Stay Awhile" (Decca Records, 1965) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Somethin' Else" (Decca Records, 1965) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Children Of The Morning" (Decca Records, 1966) (LP)
This was the last album with John Stewart (although an archival live album was released in 1969 that also features him with the group... See below.
The Kingston Trio "Once Upon A Time" (Tetragrammaton Records, 1969) (LP)
A live show recorded in 1966 but unreleased until '69. John Stewart is in this lineup of the band...
The New Kingston Trio "The World Needs A Melody" (Longines Symphonette, 1973) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Aspen Gold" (Nautilus Records, 1979) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Looking For The Sunshine" (Xerxes Records, 1983) (LP)
The Kingston Trio "Everybody's Talking" (Folk Era Records, 1989)
The Kingston Trio "An Evening With The Kingston Trio" (Folk Era Records, 1994)
Vintage recordings of the Nick Reynolds/Bob Shane/John Stewart trio, with the threesome warming up and goofing around during a pre-concert sound check.
The Kingston Trio "Live At Newport" (Vanguard Records, 1994)
A classic concert performance from 1959 Newport Folk festival, featuring the original Trio in a buoyant live set. Amazingly, this archival album was kept in the can for over three decades!
The Kingston Trio "Live At The Crazy Horse" (Silverwolf Records, 1994)
The Kingston Trio "Live! At The Historic Yuma Theater" (2006)
The Kingston Trio "The Lost 1967 Album: Rarities, v.1" (Collector's Choice, 2007)
The Kingston Trio "Nick, Bob And John: The Final Concert" (Collector's Choice Records, 2007)
The Kingston Trio "Live At The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium" (Collector's Choice Records, 2007)
The Kingston Trio "On A Cold Winter's Night" (Kingston Trio Productions, 2008)
The Kingston Trio "Turning Like Forever: Rarities, v.2" (Collector's Choice Records, 2008)
The Kingston Trio "Flashback: 1963" (Folk Era Records, 2009)
The Kingston Trio "Above The Purple Onion" (Kingston Trio Productions, 2010)
The Kingston Trio "Born At The Right Time" (Kingston Trio Productions, 2012)
The Trio as old-timers, with a lineup that includes Rick Dougherty, George Grove and Bill Zorna, with group founder Bob Shane joining them on a few tunes...
The Kingston Trio "Capitol Collector Series" (Capitol Records, 1990)
The Kingston Trio "The Essential Kingston Trio" (Shout Factory, 2006)
The Kingston Trio "The Capitol Years" (Capitol Records, 2000)
Another 4-CD set, which is probably more than enough for most fans and Kingston-curious...
The Kingston Trio "The Guard Years" (Bear Family Records, 2000)
A 10-CD set, with Kingston Trio's original lineup from 1958-1961, including a bunch of previously unreleased live material and all the studio work with the band's co-founder Dave Guard... This features Bear Family's signature fine sound quality and amazing archival research, housed in a lavish hardcover book. Holy Moses! That's a lot of folk music!
The Kingston Trio "The Stewart Years" (Bear Family Records, 2000)
Another 10-CD set, covering the Kingston Trio's 1961-67 era, when John Stewart took over from the outgoing Dave Guard...