Bob Shane, the last remaining member of the Kingston Trio, died Sunday at 85. The Trio’s music helped spark the folk music fad of the late 50’s and 60’s. I recently read a comic quote, I can’t remember who said it, but it was something like “Folk music – – do you realize how close we came to that sh*t actually actually catching on?” It did more than catch on. It steamrolled the music world and left indelible marks.
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary wrote of The Trio in 2014:
“Their music was a balm to the growing angst of a generation that was soon to turn our country and our world upside down. They tossed off renditions of song gems that felt effortless yet genuine, cool yet caring, sympathetic yet ‘no big ting.’ Sometimes they were wistful, as in ‘Sloop John B’; sometimes they sang a great, happy joke, as in ‘M.T.A.’; sometimes they were oddly, at least for men in those times, sensitive, as in ‘Tom Dooley’; and sometimes they were wonderfully cutting-edge ‘hip,’ as in Bob Shane’s classic rendition of ‘Scotch And Soda.'”
To my mind “Where Have All The Flowers Gone” is their signature song.
THOUGHT:
“Sometimes life is too hard to be alone, and sometimes life is too good to be alone.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert
Thought of the day provided by Thomas Brown – Madwillow Creekhouse.