Catching Up with Mike Marvin of the Kingston Trio

JAFFREY --- The Kingston Trio, a legendary American folk and pop band that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s and 60s, takes the stage at the Park Theatre for the first time. Known for their runaway hit song, "Tom Dooley," -- which put the group on the map -- the Trio started in San Francisco in 1957 and released seven albums between 1958-60. During that time, every album went gold and became number one on the Billboard charts, featuring the Trio's original line up: Dave Guard, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds. Their current link up is Mike Marvin, lead guitar and lead singer; Tim Gorelangton, guitar and banjo; and Paul Robinson, tenor guitar, banjo and conga drums. The Keene Sentinel's ELF caught up with Mike Marvin somewhere off the coast of Venezuela while he was onboard the Celebrity cruise ship. They talked about the iconic trio's storied history, his history with the band (he joined in 2016) and the upcoming show at the Park Theatre. Here's an excerpt of the conversation: Victoria Chertok: Hi Mike, it's great to talk with you! Thanks for making the phone call possible while you're performing on the Flower Power cruise. Mike Marvin: Hi, Victoria! It took a few days to get this phone call worked out, but it's kind of fun. V.C.: This is a first for me -- interviewing someone on a cruise ship. How have your performances been received so far? M.M.: We had a show last night, mixed it up and tried different things that we normally don't try because it's a different kind of audience (on the cruise ship). We did really well, and people actually sat and watched the whole show. V.C.: What's your connection to Kingston Trio? M.M.: First of all: I'm the only living survivor of the "inner circle" of the Kingston Trio. There are a couple of wives still out there, but I'm the only one who is intimately connected with the Trio. I was taken in by Nick and Joan Reynolds when I was a teenager; I was essentially homeless. They gave me a home, and Nick gave me a guitar. In giving me that guitar, he set me on my life journey. V.C.: What do these songs mean to you personally? M.M.: Each song to me is a different version of a story of myself – and it's a story of every human being who's ever lived. There's love, there's loss, there's wins, there's failures, and all the songs really have a lot of deep meaning to me. We'll walk off stage and a woman will be standing there, maybe in her 60s or 70s, and her face is wet with tears, and I don't have to say anything. She will walk up to me and say, "I just want you to know my husband passed away eight months ago. But when he proposed to me, he dropped down on his knee and sang 'Scotch and Soda' to me. and he asked me to marry him." V.C.: What message are you hoping to convey to your fans by performing this music? M.M.: Three things. One: Don't think of this as correspondence from another country or another city. Think of (the Trio) as correspondents from another time, bringing you back to a time when maybe you were 20 years old and you met your (partner). Two. When you hear the music, you go: "Oh, yeah!" These are easy songs for a person to pick up; it is music intended for everybody, and it's infectious. Three. We're out there, and we're presenting the music to the country at large. This was the biggest music in the world for six years, and there was a reason for it: It's accessible and easy to sing. It's fun, you can have a great time and meet people. V.C.: I heard you say that there would be no Bob Dylan without the Kingston Trio! M.M.: True! Bob Dylan's management reached out to Nick asking that the trio use a Bob Dylan song, saying that Bob could use the exposure. So the Trio did, but there were others, Crosby Stills and Nash is another one. Dylan always said, "Ah, the Kingston Trio, I liked them. They influenced me." V.C.: You also said that the first song that Jimmy Buffett learned was "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio. M.M.: Yes. The Kingston Trio is responsible for changing the course of American music in a way that people don't realize. V.C.: I heard you wrote and directed many movies. Tell me about your movie career? M.M.: I was in the movie business for 50 years, and I wrote and directed some classic movies. For example, I worked on Predator: Legends of the Fall; I wrote Kenny Rogers' first movie. I just wrote a 12-hour mini-series for Netflix or Hulu based on the Kingston Trio's story. It is one of the more fascinating epic dramas. But my guitar was always with me. So, when Bob Shane wrote to me and asked me if I would take over his place in the Kingston Trio, I jumped. And the next thing I knew—almost 500 concerts later—we're keeping the music alive and passing it on to new generations. V.C.: Any closing thoughts? M.M.: I believe that this is a concert which is reminiscent of the original concerts. We stand around a single microphone, and we sing the songs like they were intended. This is actually one of the great concert shows to go to (at Park Theatre). We invite the audience in, and whether there are 10 people or 10,000 people, you can hear a pin drop because we tell stories of what it was like being in the Kingston Trio in the heyday of the Kingston Trio. I'm really proud of the fact that we're able to communicate with so many people at a visceral level. Our whole thing is passing (the music) on as peace, love and happiness, and passing it on to a generation of young people who never heard this music. When they hear it, they really love it. --- "This music is roots music for me. It's the reason I started playing guitar in the early 60s as well as the soundtrack of my youth. My Mom was a huge Kingston Trio fanatic, and it was playing constantly in our house. The Kingston Trio also set the fire for the folk boom that made us closer to our American and international folk heritage, really the beginning of the peace and love movement that got us all singing together! It's an absolute privilege to carry that torch," wrote Paul Robinson—tenor guitar, banjo and conga drums—in an email to the Sentinel. "This music means the world to me! I wanted to sing these songs the first time I heard them. I learned to play the ukulele and then the guitar because I wanted to have the kind of fun the Trio was sharing with the world. And now we get to share that same fun with our audiences," wrote Tim Gorelangton, guitar and banjo, wrote in an email to The Sentinel. He continues, "It is a joyous experience to have our audience singing along on so many of these wonderful songs. We are lucky and blessed to be a part of this legacy of American folk music, and we try to make every single one of our shows a fun and enjoyable experience for us all." "It's a privilege to have the Kingston Trio at the Park Theatre. Their songs have inspired generations. Their music embodies the heart and spirit of folk tradition, and our audience is in for an unforgettable night. We're so proud to host them and bring that legendary sound to the Monadnock region," wrote Steve Jackson, CEO and managing director of the Park Theatre, in an email to the Sentinel. IF YOU GO: WHAT: The Kingston Trio performs their timeless classics WHEN: Friday, April 17th at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. WHERE: The Park Theatre, 19 Main Street, Jaffrey. TICKETS: Tickets are $49 and $59. All seats are reserved. MORE INFO: https://theparktheatre.org/ https://www.kingstontrio.com/ Call: 603-532-9300