Posted by Robert Friedman
on 10/20/2009, 9:17 pm
Message modified by user Robert Friedman 10/20/2009, 9:21 pm
As most of you know, October 1st marked the first anniversary of Nick's passing.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't listen to Nick. Fifty-two years later I still love him so. I walk most every morning with my iPod on and listen to the same Kingston Trio songs over and over and never tire of them. So many of them are Nick's songs. ONE MORE TOWN, OH MISS MARY, THE GYPSY ROVER, THE WANDERER (my favorite) and lots more.
There's no disputing it, Nick had a beautiful, clear voice and his harmonies were fantastic, but it was his enthusiasm that still gets me. You hear it in so many of the recordings like THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE or SARO JANE. I love the little nuances that Nick put into songs. For instance, if you listen to IF I HAD A SHIP he sighs in the last verse. It's a little thing, but you can't help but believe his frustration that he doesn't have a ship and if he did, he would sail away. Walking in the early morning and listening to good music you hear all those special ditties that makes the Trio so spectacular.
When I was a kid, my grandmother use to always ask me to play HOBO'S LULLABY over again. Her favorite line was, "When you die and go to heaven, you'll find no policemen there." I guess Nick has learned the truth about that line because there isn't any doubt in my mind that he's in heaven strutting his stuff.
Thanks Nick for still making all my days better by just listening to you.
I see Dave Guard just had his 75th birthday. Thanks to you Dave I play the banjo and have loved it all my life. I'm sure where ever you and Nick are, John must be close by. God bless and keep all three of you well.
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