It had to be a year ago. At least. It occurred to me that the movie, “The Reivers,” which stared Steve McQueen, is the exact kind of story that is the best. It’s a story of adventure. To have a good story, you have to have adventure. The greatest thing that can ever happen to someone is an adventure. If you have an adventure when you’re young, it will carry you throughout the rest of your life. Because you will always be looking for another one. They don’t come around very often. If you’re having a difficult time, you must remember that all adventures have their cost. You have to pay for them before you can have them. If you believe you’ve paid enough, and it’s high time that you have an another adventure, and you haven’t had one… there’s only one thing that you can do. You have to invent one. But, it better be damn good. Or, no one will want go with you on it. It’s no fun to have an adventure and not have anyone along for the ride. While nothing can ever beat being on an adventure, the next best thing is remembering one that you’ve been on with someone who went on it with you. As I see it, three things are going on at the same time during all of this. We weren’t kids anymore when Dave left the Trio. The country was changing. And, music was changing. “Puff “ (the magic dragon) was released in January of 1963. I’d say that it was the last of the children’s songs that were a big part of the beginning of the so-called “Folk Era.” All of which came about largely due to The Weavers. The Weavers gave this music, and this time its birth. They’re the key to it all. The answer lies with The Weavers. When John Stewart was with the Trio Vietnam became an issue, and a war. Many believe that if Kennedy hadn’t been killed, there would not have been a Vietnam War. I feel certain that this is true because Johnson was the one who turned it into a war. We lost this war, and our generation lost its innocence. On June 17th, 1967, The Kingston Trio (with Stewart) did its last show in San Francisco at the Hungry i.” That same evening, in Louisville, Kentucky, Jackee and I got married. We weren’t kids anymore. We’d seen Nick, Bob, and John twice together. (I’d seen them once, by myself.) Jackee and I ####ed after the first time we saw them―late that night in an enchanting place. It was exactly as I hoped it would be. I remember it well. The second time we saw them was in November of 1966. In Nashville, at the Ryman, on a Sunday afternoon. The audience was subdued. Nothing like a college campus show. It was Sunday, and it was the Ryman. (On Sundays, Jackee had to be back in the dorm by 10:00 pm) The shit hit the fan not long after the first of the following year. They’d had enough, and they were quitting. The bubble had burst. Guys my age were shown on the news every night. Coming home in body bags. Life in this country has never been the same since then. I think it all goes back to Kennedy. Kennedy was, and is the key to our generation. Its rise, and its downfall. I think it’s very interesting that Aaron Sorkin is working on a revival of “Camelot.”
So, I’m going to make up an adventure. I want you to come along with me on it. So, we can all talk about it together afterward. I believe I’ve been trying to come up with a good idea to be able to do what we all want to have happen for at least twenty years. Probably longer. I think I’ve come up with a way to make it happen.
During our youth, in the late 1950s, and 1960s, we were all on a great adventure. None of us here knew each other then. There are probably a few of you who might have known each other. But, in most instances, back then, we were strangers. We were living in parts of the U.S., and in the world and we were each on an adventure. We didn’t know that it would last our entire lives. But, that’s what it has done. This adventure, of course was The Kingston Trio. Some people believe that this adventure ended when Dave left the Trio in 1961. In certain respects, this is true. Things were certainly different when John Stewart joined the Trio.
However, I have my own beliefs about all of this. John F. Kennedy took office in 1961. Frank Sinatra organized one of the inaugural balls, and since Kennedy was a Trio fan, and they were fellow Capitol recording artists, who had risen to great popularity, he asked the Trio to perform at the ball. I think Dave’s parents were Republicans. I could be wrong about this. At any rate, I think Bob and Nick were in favor of doing the gig. Dave wasn’t. The way they operated, it had to be unanimous. Since it wasn’t, they didn’t play the inaugural.
When Kennedy because president, everything in our country changed. It wasn’t the 1950s anymore. I believe that during the years that Dave was with the Trio, those years were very 1950ish. For me, they were also about being a kid. Walt Disney was still very much my guiding light during the time Dave was with the Trio. When John Stewart joined the Trio, Hugh Hefner had begun to show me the way.
This is a story that needs to be told. Only Spielberg can do it justice. But, what about the Trio? That’s what we all want to know. The Kingston Trio deserves to have a place in history. It’s something we all believe should happen. Why? Because they started it all. “I dig Rock and Roll Music” ended it in 1968. For about 10 years songs that had meaning were on the Billboard Hot 100. Beginning with “Tom Dooley” in 1958.
So, what can be done about this? How can the Kingston Trio have its rightful place in history? If it was going to happen in the usual way, it would have happened long before now. Last month, Joni Mitchell got the Gershwin Award. Would there be a Joni Mitchell if there hadn’t been a Kingston Trio? Not on her life. It would have never happened. She would have never gotten out of Canada. Because there would not have been a place for her. The Kingston Trio carved out that place, and they did it for many others. So, why haven’t they been given credit for it?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/theater/aaron-sorkin-camelot-broadway.html
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