Dave Guard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dave Guard (born Donald David Guard, 19 October 1934, in Honolulu, Hawaii - died 22 March 1991) was an American folk singer and original member of The Kingston Trio.

He was considered to be a very important figure of the folk music scene of both the 1950s and 1960s. He was a founding member of the musical ensemble, the Kingston Trio (with Nick Reynolds and Bob Shane) that was formed in 1956, in Palo Alto, California. The group were together until 1967 when they disbanded to work on other projects, but Guard himself left earlier in 1961 due to disagreements over the direction of the group.

The Kingston Trio recorded on such labels as Capitol Records, Folk Era, Silverwolf, Pair, Collector's Choice Music, CEMA, and MCA, and had many hit songs in their eleven year history.

In 1961 Guard formed the group, Dave Guard's Whiskeyhill Singers, with Judy Henske,Cyrus Faryar, and David "Buck" Wheat. Together they recorded one album for the Capitol record label and a second that was never released, before their breakup in 1963. Guard also was a member of Dave Guard & The Calypsonians, and spent time in Sydney, Australia, where he hosted a national TV variety show called "Dave's Place" until his return to the United States in 1968. Over the years Guard worked with a number of people, including Henske, Faryar, Tim Buckley, and David White.

The Kingston Trio's many songs include "Tom Dooley," "A Worried Man," "Hard Travelin'," "Tijuana Jail," "Reverend Mr. Black," "Sloop John B.," "Scotch And Soda," "Merry Minuet," "Hard, Ain't It Hard," "Zombie Jamboree," "M.T.A.", "Three Jolly Coachmen," and "Raspberries, Strawberries."

Guard died in 1991, at the age of 56, from lymphatic cancer.