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Music – 1982 – Folk Music Special – Lindsey Buckingham + The Kingston Trio + Peter Paul + Mary

Lindsey Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer….best known as lead guitarist and one of the vocalists of the music group Fleetwood Mac from 1975–1987 and 1997–2018.  In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac….Buckingham has released six solo albums….and three live albums.  In his early days, he was heavily influenced by The Kingston Trio, especially the banjo element to the folk music sound. 

As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.  In 2011, Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 2011 list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”….as he was well known for his finger picking guitar style.

The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950’s to late 1960’s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds. It rose to international popularity, fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records….and helped alter the direction of popular music in the U.S.

The Kingston Trio was one of the most prominent groups of the era’s pop-folk boom that started in 1958….with the release of their 1st album and its hit recording of “Tom Dooley”….which sold over three million copies as a single…as The Kingston Trio released 19 albums that made Billboard’s Top 100….14 of which ranked in the top 10…..with five of which hit the # 1 spot. Four of the group’s LP’s charted among the 10 top-selling albums for five weeks in November and December 1959….which is a record unmatched for more some 60 years….and the group still ranks in the all-time lists of many of Billboard’s cumulative charts…. including those for most weeks with a # 1 album….most total weeks charting an album….most # 1 albums….most consecutive # 1 albums….and most top ten albums.

In 1961, the Trio was described as “the most envied, the most imitated, and the most successful singing group, folk or otherwise, in all show business” and “the undisputed kings of the folksinging rage by every yardstick.”  The Trio’s massive record sales in its early days made acoustic folk music commercially viable….thus paving the way for singer-songwriter, folk rock, and Americana artists who followed in their wake.

The Kingston Trio continues to tour as of 2019 with musicians who licensed the name and trademark in 2017.

Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961….during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio was composed of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Noel Paul Stookey and alto Mary Travers. The group’s repertoire included songs written by Yarrow and Stookey….early songs by Bob Dylan….as well as covers of other folk musicians. 

Mary Travers said she was influenced by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and the Weavers.  In the documentary Peter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On — A Musical Legacy members of the Weavers discuss how Peter, Paul and Mary took over the torch of the social commentary of folk music in the 1960’s.

The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.  Peter, Paul and Mary received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.

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