Kingston Trio man dies in San Diego

Nick Reynolds, who co-founded the influential American folk band the Kingston Trio, died Wednesday (October 1) in San Diego, California at the age of 75.

His band was credited with reviving the US folk music scene in the late 1950s that paved the way for artists including Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and their cover of the 19th-century folk song 'Tom Dooley' earned them the top spot on the US chart in 1958. They also won a 1959 Grammy for their album 'The Kingston Trio At Large'.

Reynolds had been in a San Diego hospital with acute respiratory disease and other illnesses, and died earlier this week after his family took him off life support, his son Joshua Reynolds told the Associated Press.

Reynolds, who was born and grew up in San Diego, sang and played several instruments including ukulele, guitar and bongos.

He left the Kingston Trio in 1967 and moved to Oregon to raise his family. He moved back to California in the mid-1980s and reunited with former band member Bob Shane to record more albums as a new version of the Kingston Trio. He stayed with the group until retiring in 2003.

--By our Los Angeles staff.
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