Formed in 1957 in San Francisco, the folk group called the Kingston Trio took the country by storm with its three-part harmonies and energetic, humorous approach to folk music. Courting a pop audience and sporting striped shirts, neatly pressed chinos, and an upbeat, Sing-Out! attitude, the group originally consisted of guitarists Bob Shane and Nick Reynolds and banjoist Dave Guard (he was replaced by songwriter/rock artist John Stewart in 1961). Backed by Guard's five-string banjo, an acoustic guitar, and congas, the Trio's first big hit was "The Ballad of Tom Dooley," a harmonized saga of a condemned man awaiting execution, based on an old song of the Civil War era. The recording sold three million copies and won the Kingston Trio its first Grammy. Among its numerous albums, several of which now count among the best selling records of the 1950s and 1960s, five of...