Given the question: Facts: - years active: 1957 the present with different members -rrb- -- 67 -lrb- original lineup ; continues to - past members: bob connor pat horine roger gambill bob haworth shane nick reynolds dave guard john stewart jim - caption: the , bob shane and nick reynolds -lrb- spring 1957 -rrb- kingston trio 's original lineup : dave guard - origin: palo alto , california - label: capitol , decca - genre: folk , pop - notable instruments: martin guitar martin 018t 4-string tenor guitar vega banjos pete seeger guitars model long-neck 5-string banjo vega plectrum 4-string banjo martin d28 6-string guitar martin 0021 6-string - name: the kingston trio - image size: 250px - background: group_or_band - image: kingston_trio . jpg - current members: bill zorn george grove rick dougherty - associated acts: whiskeyhill singers , the new kingston trio Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of the kingston trio .
The answer is:
the kingston trio is an american folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s .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 33 1/3 rpm long-playing record albums -lrb- lps -rrb- , and helped to 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 first album and its hit recording of '' tom dooley '' , which sold over three million copies as a single .the trio released nineteen albums that made '' billboard 's '' top 100 , fourteen of which ranked in the top 10 , and five of which hit the number 1 spot .four of the group 's lps charted among the 10 top-selling albums for five weeks in november and december 1959 , a record unmatched for more than 50 years , and the group still ranks after half a century in the all-time lists of many of '' billboard 's '' cumulative charts , including those for most weeks with a number 1 album , most total weeks charting an album , most number 1 albums , most consecutive number 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 . ''music historian richie unterberger characterized their impact as '' phenomenal popularity '' , and the kingston trio 's massive record sales in its early days made acoustic folk music commercially viable , paving the way for singer-songwriter , folk rock , and americana artists who followed in their wake .