23 Facts About Bob Shane

Robert Castle Schoen, known professionally as Bob Shane, was an American singer and guitarist who was a founding member of The Kingston Trio.

In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the revival of folk and other acoustic music as a popular art form in the United States in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s.

Bob Shane was born on February 1,1934, in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, the son of Margaret and Arthur Castle Schoen, a wholesale distributor of toys and sporting goods.

Bob Shane's mother was from Salt Lake City, and his father was a Hawaiian of German descent.

Bob Shane attended local schools, including the prestigious Punahou School for his junior high and high school years.

Punahou's curriculum emphasized native Hawaiian culture, complementing Bob Shane's already developing interest in music in general and Hawaiian music in particular.

At Menlo, Bob Shane met and became fast friends with Nick Reynolds, originally from the San Diego area and a musician and singer with a broad knowledge of folk and popular songs, due in part to Reynolds's music-loving father, a captain in the Navy.

Bob Shane introduced Reynolds to Guard, and in 1956, the three began performing together as part of an informal aggregation that could, according to Reynolds, expand to as large as six or seven members.

Bob Shane dropped out of college in his senior year and returned to Hawaii to work in the family business.

However, Bob Shane had discovered a natural affinity for entertaining and at night pursued a solo career in Hawaii, including engagements at some of Waikiki's major hotels.

Bob Shane's act consisted of an eclectic mix of songs from Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Harry Belafonte, and Broadway shows.

Bob Shane reciprocated by issuing a number of "signature" models honoring Shane and the Kingston Trio in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Bob Shane decided that the group should be recorded without additional orchestral instrumentation, unusual for the time; both decisions came to characterize nearly all of the Kingston Trio's subsequent recordings and live performances.

Bob Shane had not been in favor of the break-up of the Kingston Trio, both because he felt that the Trio could adapt to changing musical tastes and because he had by then become a thoroughly accomplished entertainer and a canny marketer.

Bob Shane organized two troupes under the name of "The New Kingston Trio".

The first consisted of guitarist Pat Horine and banjoist Jim Connor in addition to Bob Shane and lasted from 1969 to 1973, the second including guitarist Roger Gambill and banjoist Bill Zorn from 1973 until 1976.

Bob Shane realized that the group's greatest asset in addition to his vocals and his presence as a founding member was the name itself.

Bob Shane was the only member of any configuration of the Kingston Trio to sing at Guard's memorial service.

Bob Shane guided the group to a success that, if never the equivalent of the group's first decade, was nonetheless steady and consistent.

In March 2004, a month after his 70th birthday, Bob Shane suffered a debilitating heart attack that forced him into retirement from touring and performing after 47 years with the act.

Bob Shane was replaced by former New Kingston Trio member Bill Zorn.

Bob Shane was married for 23 years to the former Louise Brandon; they had 5 children and 8 grandchildren.

Bob Shane died on January 26,2020, at a hospice facility in Phoenix, Arizona.