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KINGSTON KORNER NEWSLETTER
Kingston Trio Continues with Bob Haworth
When Roger Gambill was first stricken on March 2nd and appeared to be facing a six-month recovery period, Bob Shane and George Grove went looking for a capable fill-in performer to meet their already-scheduled concert commitments. Although they considered canceling the dates and taking the time off, they quickly realized that they not only had obligations to the dates they were booked to play, but to their fans as well.
The first person they thought of was Bob Haworth of the Brothers Four, a gifted singer and instrumentalist whom they had known for many years. As Bob Shane was quoted by John S. Wilson in the April 5th edition of the New York Times as saying, "Roger's illness came out of nowhere during the first week in March. We weren't prepared for it at all. But I had asked Bob Haworth about five years ago if he could sub if anything happened to anyone in our group and he said he probably could. He was the first person I called when Roger had a heart attack. He'd never sung with us but he admits he learned how to play rhythm guitar by listening to our stuff."
As soon as the decision was made to keep going, Bob Shane was on the phone to Bob Haworth, and by Tuesday afternoon, only three days later, Bob and George were on a plane to Seattle, near where Bob Haworth lives on Vashon Island, Washington. Two days of working together and getting to know each other's musical styles were follow-ed by a flight to Los Angeles on Thursday where the Trio met with their sidemen for one day of rehearsing before their first show on Friday — less than a week after Roger was stricken.
In the days that followed, Bob Haworth quickly and competently worked his way into the Trio, despite the fact that he was still obligated to fulfill Brothers Four concerts. Fortunately, the Brothers Four concerts and the Trio shows meshed together such that neither group missed a show-while Bob was performing with both of them.
Even though Roger's condition had been deteriorating to the point that his death was not unexpected, when the tragic news came on March 20th, it was still hard to take. But in the two weeks that Bob Haworth had been with the Trio, and with the rapidity with which he had become a part of the group, there was no doubt to whom the invitation to become a permanent member would go. Bob Haworth ex-pressed it as follows:
"I was 12 years old and had been playing guitar for a year and a half when 'Tom Dooley' hit. I was enamored of the Kingston Trio and hoped to some day know them, and it was exciting when I finally got to know them and associate with them later. But I never dreamed of being part of the group. I never thought there would be a change, and even though I had agreed to sub if I was ever needed, until Bob called, it never occurred to me that I might ever be part of the Kingston Trio.
"When it became obvious that Roger would not return and I realized that I might be asked to stay on, it was a bit of a dilemma for me. Both as a solo act and as a member of the Brothers Four I had reached the level of professionalism I had always aspired to and felt I had found my performing niche. But as I got into it with the Trio, found out how well I worked with Bob and George, and felt the love and enthusiasm of Trio audiences, my dilemma was quickly resolved. When the invitation was given, it was a thrill to accept it."
But still, Roger's death was a shock. The Associated Press quoted Bob Shane as saying, "It's pretty hard to take, but you go on and do the best you can under the circumstances." And under the
circumstances, some changes were inevitable, as Roger's solos were very much his own. Bob Shane was quoted in the previously mention-ed New York Times story as saying, "We do individualistic things as
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