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.
Isle in the Water
The Kingston Trio Lyrics
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Shy one, dear one, keeper of my heart. She moves in the pantry quietly apart.
There she pours the flour. There she kneads the dough to an isle in the water with her I would go.
Shy one, dear one, keeper of my heart. She moves in the parlor quietly apart.
She stands against the window, all in the fire glow to an isle in the water with her I would go.
And there she smoothes the linen and fluffs the pillows so to an isle in the water with her I would go.
But I cannot sail for my boat has holes. So I rumple her pillow and I stir the coals.
And in the parlor I guess she knows to an isle in the water with her I would go.
The song "Isle in the Water" by The Kingston Trio, with lyrics by Rod McKuen, is a poetic and romantic piece about a shy and dear woman who captures the singer's heart. Throughout the song, the woman is depicted in various domestic settings, such as the pantry, parlor, and bedroom, where she engages in mundane tasks like kneading dough, standing by the window, and smoothing the linens. However, the singer sees immense beauty in these mundane activities and longs to escape with his beloved to an "isle in the water," a place of peace and tranquility away from the chaos of the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Shy one, dear one, keeper of my heart. She moves in the pantry quietly apart.
The singer is describing someone he cares deeply about who works in the pantry, doing her job quietly and diligently.
There she pours the flour. There she kneads the dough to an isle in the water with her I would go.
The woman is making bread and the singer imagines going with her to a peaceful, isolated place surrounded by water.
Shy one, dear one, keeper of my heart. She moves in the parlor quietly apart.
The singer is again describing the woman he cares about, this time working in the parlor while he watches from afar.
She stands against the window, all in the fire glow to an isle in the water with her I would go.
The woman is standing by the fire, and the artist imagines going with her to the same secluded place he thought of before.
Shy one, dear one, keeper of my heart. She moves in the chamber quietly apart.
The woman is now in the bedroom, taking care of the linens and pillows.
And there she smoothes the linen and fluffs the pillows so to an isle in the water with her I would go.
The singer wants to accompany the woman to the idyllic place in his imagination but can't because his boat is broken, so he fidgets around the house while she works, always thinking of her.
But I cannot sail for my boat has holes. So I rumple her pillow and I stir the coals.
The singer can't actually go anywhere because his boat is damaged, so he does small, meaningless things to pass the time while still imagining being with the woman in the quiet, peaceful place he's been dreaming of.
And in the parlor I guess she knows to an isle in the water with her I would go.
The artist thinks the woman is aware of his feelings for her and his desire to go to the secluded place with her.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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