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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | Thursday, January 11, 2007 10:14 AM HST
Folk legend returns to Hilo during port visit
by Alan Schnepf
Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
One of Hilo's most famous sons returned to his birthplace Wednesday, prompting the county to dub the occasion "Kingston Trio Day."
Bob Shane, one of the founding members of the seminal folk band, arrived via cruise ship at Hilo Harbor. The band is celebrating its 50th anniversary and had more than 100 fans on board the ship. Each of the fans paid at least $2,000 to spend 15 days on the ship with Shane and John Stewart, who joined the band in 1961, four years after its formation.
Shane was born in Hilo nearly 73 years ago and moved to Oahu shortly after. He was in Waikiki when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and on Wednesday recalled seeing a bomber flying low enough so that the pilot's smiling face was visible.
Shane, a Punahou graduate, founded the Kingston Trio in 1957 in Palo Alto, Calif. with Dave Guard, a high school friend, and Nick Reynolds. The trio's simple folk rhythms sold well -- at one point in the 1960s the group had four albums simultaneously in the top 10 -- and gave folk music a firm footing in popular American music.
Fans spoke excitedly Wednesday of seeing Shane perform "Scotch and Soda," one of the trio's most popular songs, during a private concert on the voyage from San Diego to Hawaii. The tune has always been performed solo by Shane, but it is now a rare treat for fans because he retired from the band in 2004 after a heart attack.
Janet Snyder, press secretary for Mayor Harry Kim, was on hand to present Shane with the proclamation for Kingston Trio Day during a short gathering on the Zaandam, a Holland America ship.
"I wonder what I could get for this on eBay," Shane joked as he accepted it.
"Money, money, money, all he wants is money," Stewart laughed.
Although Shane and Stewart had been performing, hosting guitar clinics and mingling with fans throughout the five-day trip from San Diego to Hilo, fans still snapped a flurry of pictures during Wednesday's presentation.
Shane, who now lives in Arizona, and his entourage visited with friends in Volcano after leaving cruise ship. They returned Wednesday afternoon and the ship sailed off to Honolulu.
Hit Parade
Some of the Kingston Trio's
hits from their 23 albums
M.T.A.
Scotch And Soda
Tijuana Jail
Hard Travelin'
Tom Dooley
Wreck of the John B
Greenback Dollar
Zombie Jamboree
Merry Minuet
They Call The Wind Maria
Reverend Mr. Black
Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Worried Man
From http://www.kingstontrio.com |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Pretty long run. |
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Joined:
May 2005
Posts: 486
Location: North Carolina | I started playing because I wanted to be Bob Shane. Glad to hear he's still chugging along and having fun. |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 5575
Location: big island | where does the time go? bob is 73 already! |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | The day my Montgomery Ward Airline guitar arrived, I guess in 1957, my mother helped me pick out the notes to Tom Dooley. |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 122
Location: Tucson, AZ | ...I play "Scotch & Soda" as a chordal jazz song, VERY nice changes and chords! |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I vaguely remember them. Back in '64, we (the Family) used to listen to them, and Peter, Paul & Mary, and Woody Guthrie, other folk music. That was kinda like the Hippie-music of the day. Since I was around seven-or-eight years old, I appreciated that alot of Folk music told a story. With a beginning, middle and end. It was a simple concept that I could relate to.
"You can hear the whistle blow 500 miles."
Simple concepts are the best, and appeal to the heart.
Now that you've touched my memory, I'm gonna go download some of that stuff. |
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Kingston Trio Day in Hilo
