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POPULAR FOLK MUSIC TODAY, SPRING 1991

It seems as though I have been asked to perform this duty far too often, this task of writing some words of eulogy for a Trio personality. I don't know why, I only know for whom.

I did not know Dave Guard well, but if the measure of a friendship is the manner of mutual treatment, then Dave and I were friends. I know that between us, in our exclusive banjoness there was respect and joy.

I first met Dave in 1982 when he, Bob, Nick, Roger and I met at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco in order to begin the task of putting together the Reunion Show for PBS. I happened to look out the window of Nick's suite on the fourth floor and saw His Tallness gliding towards the hotel. When he, Bob and Nick sang their first song together in twenty-one years I realized why I had become hooked on the Kingston Trio sound so superbly - It was something more, though, than what any individual brought to the gathering, but something that was inspired by each individual.

In November, 1990 Dave and the rest of us met in Los Angeles, again to put together a Reunion Show. All of us were in agreement on all points. All that was left was the joy of actually creating something - not just the music, but the feeling. Dave and I spent some one-on-one time one evening: I was wearing his euphoric-phantasmogorphic-sight-and-sound machine, he was guiding me through the ritual and the joy of its ridiculousness.

It would have been spectacular, this Reunion Tour, and so much will never be - no musical manglings, no creative crap, no gestation energy, no banjo players banging it about and talkin' picks and such.

Groove juice, My Captain...

-- George Grove

I was sorry to hear about Dave Guard's death recently.

I've always been a fan of the Kingston Trio and this marks the end of an era.

Growing up in Rochester, NY I can remember working in a department store and frequently stopping by the record department to see if a new Kingston Trio album had come out yet. And every time one did I could hardly wait to get home and play it. Over and over! I was never disappointed.

I can also remember how bad I felt when the group broke up. It was noteworthy enough at the time that it was on the front page of the Rochester newspaper.

We can all be thankful that they left us such a great body of work to enjoy.

Please send along my prayers and best wishes to the Guard family in this difficult time and let them know how much joy Dave and the group brought to so many people.

-- Jim McMahon

In the late fifties and early sixties, there was a healthy spirit of competition between ourselves and the Kingston Trio. Still, we always enjoyed meeting them in performing situations and, over the years we became friends. Certainly we were always admirers of the creative force Dave brought to the music business... undeniably, he has influenced thousands of young players and writers. The legacy of his recordings will help us remember him fondly. We are all greatly saddened by his death and we extend our deep sympathies to his family.

-- Dick Foley

I'll never forget Dave. He was a brilliant man with a wonderful sense of humor who made a difference in the lives of millions all over the world.

-- Dick Cerri

I first got in contact with Dave in late winter 1990. He called me up and asked me if I could help him to get in touch with the former Abba member Benny Andersson. I said, "Call Hansi Schwarz" who is a long time friend of Benny. Hansi Schwarz is also the General for Sweden's biggest folk music festival in Vastervik. So Dave called Hansi and got Benny's address and at the same time an invitation to visit the festival in July. To Dave that sounded great. He could not only come to the festival and meet Benny Andersson but he could also visit the first world equestrian games that was taking place in Stockholm in July.

We talked a lot on the phone during Spring. I sent him CDs with music of Abba members and Swedish folk music. He sent me some Hawaiian stuff and an autographed copy of his book HALE-MANO.

Dave finally came to Sweden in July, when the festival in Vastervik had just started. The first evening Dave got up on stage and sang "Tom Dooley" and "When the Saints." Joined by the other artists who had performed that night and by Kapten Whesk. Kapten Whesk is the band that is playing at the festival party between 1:00am-3:00am. After Dave's performance at the festival we got back to the hotel and the party.

During that week Dave got up on stage and joined Kapten Whesk many times. We sang "Cottonfields," "Hard Ain't It Hard," "Goodnight, Irene" and many others. Looking back, I have a lot of great musical memories from those early morning shows.

After the festival Dave and I got back to Stockholm, where he would stay at my place for the following three weeks. Apart from visiting the World Equestrian Games he would be working on his Workout video projects. During those weeks we had a lot of good conversations over evening dinners. Talking about life, music and another interest we had in common, cooking.

After Dave got back to the States we talked regularly on the phone. He told me he was suffering a setback from his illness but that he was determined to join the Trio on the Reunion Tour. I called him on Christmas Day and the last time about a week before he passed away. He sounded weak but was (as always) in good spirits and said that he had to think positive about his situation. But on March 25 I got the message that he had died.

Dave was an intelligent man with a lot of humor. I'm grateful to have met him and for the time we spent together. Dave is gone, but my memories of him are alive. I will miss him.

-- Totte Bergstrom

Totte and Dave before going on stage the final night at Vastervik.
Photographed by Sune Ekstrand.

I was shocked and deeply saddened by the news of Dave Guard's passing, as I'm sure all the readers of PFMT were. So many Trio fans were looking forward to the impending reunion tour and recordings, that Dave's death is rendered doubly tragic. He was a monumental talent, and I am grateful he was at least able to produce one excellent solo album. While remaining true to his folk roots, he managed to expand and color his music on "Up and In," creating a unique fusion of divergent musical styles, all tied together by that remarkable voice. Given Dave's searching, spiritual nature, one can only guess at the great things he could have accomplished, whether solo or with the Trio. He will be greatly missed.

-- Brian Rice

What can I say? It's part of my childhood, indeed the very thing that propelled me towards taking music seriously, gone forever. I have no appropriate words for this feeling, though I can liken it to returning to the town you grew up in and finding that your old house had been razed. May he find peace, and freedom from his pain.

I suppose all anyone can ask is to feel like they've left some kind of positive mark on the world, and I can think of no more positive mark left than getting people together in song. Anyway, this is the mark Dave and his cohorts left on MY family. Pity I never got the chance to thank him in person.

-- Buddy Woodward