The Kingston Trio is an American folk group that helped launch the folk rev… Read Full Bio ↴The Kingston Trio is an American folk group that helped launch the folk revival of the 1960s and continued to thrive despite the emergence of rock and roll.

The Kingston Trio was formed in 1957 in the Palo Alto, California area by original lineup of Dave Guard (1934–1991), Bob Shane (1934–2020), and Nick Reynolds (1933–2008), who were just out of college. Greatly influenced by The Weavers, the calypso sounds of Harry Belafonte, and other semi-popular folk artists such as the Gateway Singers and the Tarriers, they were discovered playing at a college club called the Cracked Pot by Frank Werber, a local publicist then working at the Hungry i. He became their manager, and secured them a one-shot deal with Capitol Records.

Their first hit was a catchy rendition of an old-time folk song, "Tom Dooley", which went gold in 1958. It was so popular that it entered popular culture as a catchphrase: Ella Fitzgerald, for example, parodies it during her recorded version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". It won them the first Grammy award for Best Country & Western Performance in 1959. The next year, they won the first Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording category for the album The Kingston Trio at Large.

At one point in the early 1960s The Kingston Trio had four albums at the same time among the Top 10 selling albums, a record unmatched for nearly 40 years. In spite of this, they had a relatively small number of hit singles.

The group's music was simple and accessible, with much use of tight vocal harmony, signature riffs (often played on the banjo), and repetitive choruses. Capitol producer Voyle Gilmore[1] enhanced their vocal sound to great effect with reverb and the relatively new process of doubletracking, in which the performers sang along with their own pre-recorded part to produce a stronger sound than with a single voice, in part due to a natural time gap of a fraction of a second between the original recording and the overdubbed part. At first pairs of tape recorders were used, then later multitrack recording machines, to produce the effect.

Guard left the band in 1961 as part of a disagreement over its musical direction. He formed the group Whiskey Hill Singers, and was replaced by John Stewart, who led the group through several more years of popularity until the arrival of The Beatles and British invasion rock bands pushed them from the charts.

In 1967 the Trio disbanded after a final performance at the Hungry i, June 17, 1967.

Shane, the lone member to resist the break-up of the Trio, started a new group, aptly named, "The New Kingston Trio," in 1969. Eventually, Shane was successful in reaching a contractual agreement with his former partners, Guard, Reynolds, and Werber, to secure and license once again, the original name, "The Kingston Trio" (unencumbered by the adjective new), in 1976.(Blake et al. 1986.) Shane still owns the property today, 2006.

For a number of years in the 1980s Reynolds, one of the original three members, rejoined Shane.

In 2004 Shane retired from the group due to health problems. He was replaced by Bill Zorn, who had been with Shane in an iteration of the group called The New Kingston Trio; Zorn also has been a member of The Limeliters.

In 2005 Bobby Haworth (a one-time member of The Brothers Four) left the group to be replaced by Rick Dougherty, who also had been a member of The Limeliters.

As of 2006, The Kingston Trio consisted of George Grove, Bill Zorn and Rick Dougherty.

in October 2017, Grove, Zorn, and Dougherty were replaced as the Trio by new licensees Reynolds and Marvin and their friend, Tim Gorelangton. In 2018, Josh Reynolds left the group and was replaced by Bob Haworth, who became a member of the band for the third time. At the end of 2018, Haworth left the group and was replaced by Don Marovich.

Farewell Captain
The Kingston Trio Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

[Chorus:]
Farewell to you, captain, the bravest in command. Goodbye to all the soldiers who didn't give a damn
For we're goin' back to Richmond, buddy, leavin' here today. Gonna sell our rifles for a jug and get drunk along the way.
'Twas in Virginia harbor Gen'ral Parker disappeared, tied sleeping soundly to a tree.
How we wept as we launched him and so cheerfully we cheered as the gen'ral drifted slowly out to sea.
[Chorus]
At the battle of Manasses, I had my certain chance to bravely fight the red and white and blue.
I was so blasted brave I stuck branches in my pants and, yes, I played a tree 'til it was through.

Please don't think that we are cowards. What a horrible suggestion! It's just that we don't feel that we belong.
Bobby misses his dear mother, John has acid indigestion and I think I feel a migraine coming on.

[Chorus]
Farewell to you, captain, we're goin' to leave you now.

Overall Meaning

The Kingston Trio's "Farewell Captain" is a satirical take on the experiences of soldiers during the Civil War. The chorus, "Farewell to you, captain, the bravest in command. Goodbye to all the soldiers who didn't give a damn," sets the tone for the song. Its anthemic melody is deceptively upbeat and belies the dark humor in the lyrics. The soldiers are depicted as disaffected and disillusioned with their experiences, an attitude that was uncommon in songs that romanticized war and soldiers' sacrifices.

The song also touches on the absurdity of military life, as evidenced by the mention of General Parker's disappearance and the soldiers' nonchalant response to it. The soldiers couldn't care less about the general's fate and instead use the opportunity to get drunk. The mention of playing a tree during the Battle of Manasses is another example of the soldiers' lack of enthusiasm for the fighting. The song ends with the soldiers bidding farewell to the captain, who is depicted as the only one who cares about the war and its outcome.

Overall, "Farewell Captain" is a biting commentary on war and the military, a perspective that was not commonly explored in popular music during the time period it was released.

Line by Line Meaning

Farewell to you, captain, the bravest in command.
We bid farewell to you, captain, the bravest among us who led and commanded us with all your might.

Goodbye to all the soldiers who didn't give a damn
We say goodbye to all the soldiers who did not care about the battle and their duty.

For we're goin' back to Richmond, buddy, leavin' here today.
We're returning to Richmond, my friend, leaving this place behind today.

Gonna sell our rifles for a jug and get drunk along the way.
We plan to sell our rifles and drink alcohol all along our journey.

'Twas in Virginia harbor Gen'ral Parker disappeared, tied sleeping soundly to a tree.
General Parker disappeared while sleeping and was tied to a tree in Virginia harbor.

How we wept as we launched him and so cheerfully we cheered as the gen'ral drifted slowly out to sea.
We shed tears when we launched him into the sea, yet we also cheered cheerfully as General Parker left us slowly.

At the battle of Manasses, I had my certain chance to bravely fight the red and white and blue.
During the Battle of Manasses, I had an opportunity to bravely fight for our country's flag - the red, white, and blue.

I was so blasted brave I stuck branches in my pants and, yes, I played a tree 'til it was through.
I was so brave that I even stuck branches in my pants and pretended to be a tree until the battle ended.

Please don't think that we are cowards. What a horrible suggestion! It's just that we don't feel that we belong.
Do not accuse us of cowardice; it's a terrible idea. We just do not feel like we belong here.

Bobby misses his dear mother, John has acid indigestion and I think I feel a migraine coming on.
Bobby misses his mother, John has an upset stomach, and I think I am about to have a migraine.

Farewell CaptainThe Kingston Trio Lyrics

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Farewell Captain
The Kingston Trio Lyrics