Kingston Trio Lives On

In June 1957, comedienne Phyllis Diller canceled a week-long engagement at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, and three Bay Area musicians stepped into the void, turning the serendipitous gigs into a six-month stint and a subsequent national tour.

Nearly 55 years later, through nearly 60 albums and compilations, breakups, makeups, medical scares, business ventures, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and countless concerts and vertically striped shirts, the Kingston Trio - Bob Shane, Dave Guard and Nick Reynolds at first, famed singer-songwriter John Stewart early on and nearly a dozen others since then – remains.

The latest iteration of the Trio - George Grove, Bill Zorn and Rick Dougherty – comes to Friday, March 30. They’ll be joined by Shane, who retired from touring in 2004 after a heart attack.

“If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would’ve done better drugs back in the day,” the 78-year-old Shane says from his home in Phoenix.

Shane moved to Phoenix some 20 years ago after 23 years in Georgia. Before that, he lived in the Bay Area, including renting an apartment in Shelter Bay for a mere $300 a month in 1967.

“It doesn’t cost that now, I can tell you that,” Shane says with a laugh.

It was during those years that the band was officially on hiatus, as Reynolds tired of touring and Stewart sought to go solo. Shane organized two troupes under the name of "The New Kingston Trio," and he, Reynolds and band manager Frank Werber focused on a number of business ventures, including the famed Sausalito haunt the Trident, which .

In 1976, Shane sold his share of the company that owned the Trident and a number of other ventures for the rights to the band's original name, and the various troupes headed and owned by Shane have performed and recorded simply as the Kingston Trio ever since.

“I’ve just kept it going through all kinds of changes because it’s a worthwhile thing,” Shane says.

In 2004, as he exited an airplane in Phoenix on his way back from a gig, Shane had a heart attack. He’s been on oxygen ever since, and the need to keep tanks nearby prevents him from flying to gigs. As a result, he rarely joins Grove, Zorn and Dougherty and hasn’t been to the Bay Area “in a long, long time.”

Shane will be onstage at the Throckmorton, however, and says he’s excited to sing famous tracks like “Tom Dooley and “Scotch and Soda” with both longtime and newbie fans.

“It’s been a great thing,” Shane says. “I always say that if you had to put anything on your gravestone it should be like Marlon Brando said, ‘What was that all about?’”

The 411: The Kingston Trio with special guest Bob Shane plays the 142 Throckmorton Theatre on Friday, March 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $49 advance, $54 at the doors and $68 for reserved seating. To buy tickets, call the box office at 415.383.9600 or visit the website. The Kingston Trio also plays the Uptown Theatre on Saturday, March 31.