By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
In the late 1950s, three Bay Area college kids formed the Kingston Trio and fostered a national folk music revival. Their 1958 release of “Tom Dooley” changed popular music forever, inspiring their contemporaries to pick up guitars and banjoes and join in the fun.
Nick Reynolds met Bob Shane at Menlo College, and Shane introduced him to Dave Guard, a graduate student at nearby Stanford. The group was later discovered by San Francisco publicist Frank Werber and signed to Capitol Records.
“Tom Dooley,” an old standard inspired by a Confederate veteran’s conviction for murder, was featured on their debut album. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts, won a Grammy and helped launch other artists including Joan Baez; Peter, Paul and Mary; and, eventually, Bob Dylan.
Five Kingston Trio albums topped the Billboard charts, with favorite songs including “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, “500 Miles,” “It Was a Very Good Year,” (also recorded by Frank Sinatra) and “Sloop John B,” later a Beach Boys hit.
“Their music was a balm to the growing angst of a generation that was soon to turn our country and our world upside down,” Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary wrote of them in 2014. “They tossed off renditions of song gems that felt effortless yet genuine, cool yet caring, sympathetic yet ‘no big ting.’”
With their manager, Frank Werber, they purchased a jazz club called the Yacht Dock on Bridgeway in 1960. They kept that name until about 1966 before renaming it the Trident. According to the Trident website, the restaurant “quickly became a gathering place for like-minded locals and celebrities from around the world, and was known for its its laid-back vibe, healthy, organic cuisine, creative cocktails (such as the tequila sunrise), comely waitresses, artistic decor, stellar views and its many famous patrons. Janis Joplin (a regular with her own table), Jerry Garcia, Joan Baez, Clint Eastwood, Bill Cosby and the Smothers Brothers were often on the scene, and Bill Graham was a frequent patron — most notably hosting parties at the restaurant for the Rolling Stones during their two Bay Area concerts in the1970s.”
In 1980, the Trident closed and became Horizons Restaurant. But in 2012, owner Bob Freeman reverted back to the Trident, restoring the original decor from the 1960s, including the famous wall and ceiling art and rich, warm woodwork featuring voluptuously flowing curves.
Two of the original trio members, Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds, lived here later in their careers. In 1964, the Sausalito News saluted Reynolds and his road manager Don McArthur “for the guts they displayed when a car went off the unprotected sea wall on Bridgeway” going into the Bay to pull out survivors.
Frank Werber and all the members of the Trio, which changed personnel over the years, are all gone now, but the Trident remains on Bridgeway.
Bob Freeman has hosted some memorable Historical Society fundraisers in the Bridgeway location. In 2009 we staged a Trident Flashback, encouraging everyone to come in 60s regalia, and featuring music by some of the groups that had performed live there back in the day. Then, in January 2013, we helped Bob celebrate the return of the Trident name with a party that featured the World Premiere of "The Lion Sons," a trio put together by Josh Reynolds. Josh is the son of Nick Reynolds and was raised in Sausalito.
Nick Reynolds (at right on the cover of the Kingston Trio’s debut album) was known as the Runt of the Litter by his bandmates.