Nick Reynolds, who helped propel the 1950s folk music revival as a founding member of the Kingston Trio, died Wednesday in San Diego. He was 75.
The group’s recording of the tragic 19th-century folk ballad “Tom Dooley” went to No. 1 in 1958 and earned Reynolds and his partners Dave Guard and Bob Shane a Grammy Award for best country and western performance at the first Grammy ceremony.
“It really started with the Weavers, in the early ’50s,” Reynolds said in a 2006 interview speaking of the group that included Pete Seeger. “We were big fans of theirs, but they got blacklisted in the McCarthy era. Their music was controversial. Suddenly, they couldn’t get any airplay; they couldn’t get booked into the big hotels, nothin’. “
Nicholas Wells Reynolds was born July 27, 1933, in San Diego to Stewart Shirley Reynolds, a Navy captain, and Jane Keck Reynolds.
“Nobody could nail a harmony part like Nick,” Shane once said. “He could hit it immediately, exactly where it needed to be, absolutely note-perfect, all on the natch. Pure genius.”
Los Angeles Times
House Peters Jr. best known as Mr. Clean
House Peters Jr., a TV actor who became the original Mr. Clean on Proctor &Gamble’s commercials for household cleaners, died Wednesday. He was 92.
Peters’ most memorable role came as Mr. Clean — a muscular man with a bald head, a hoop earring and a no-nonsense attitude toward dirt and grime. From the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, Peters helped advertise the famous household cleaner.
Peters played many supporting roles through his career, including working with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry on their television shows. He also appeared in “Perry Mason,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Lassie.”
Associated Press
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