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All three current members, Mike Marvin, Tim Gorelangton and Don Marovich, have intrinsic links to and experience with the original group: Mike is the adopted son of founding member Nick Reynolds, who was also his musical mentor; Tim, a close friend since boyhood, is one of the few musicians outside the Trio who has recorded with Nick Reynolds; and Don Marovich, who has performed with the Trio and who plays the guitar, banjo and mandolin. Many of their personal memories recall the iconic trio’s performances and journey as folk music made its extraordinary ascent to the pinnacle of popular culture – and the top of the music charts.
Mike Marvin - Taken in as part of the Reynolds family as a teenager, Mike learned his music ropes at the foot of Nick Reynolds, his late “adopted father.” With Nick’s approval, Mike was present at Trio rehearsals during the years when the Trio was the biggest act in the world. Under Nick’s tutelage, Mike learned backstage support, how Nick and the Trio picked songs, how the Trio managed their tours and many other critical insights. Mike was a member of the Trio’s inner circle and with the opportunity to expand his musical horizons, learned from the Trio’s manager Frank Werber everything from booking an act to conducting an orderly rehearsal to running a complicated business in an orderly fashion. After years of touring as a folksinger with band mate Tim Gorelangton, Mike branched into movies. Mike pioneered the editing of ski films, including the seminal 1972 90-minute ski movie Earth Rider featuring the legendary skiparachute jump off Yosemite’s El Capitan. This was the birth of extreme skiing in America. It was also the first time music was edited and inserted, note for note, as a driving force in cinematic imagery as Mike implemented the music of John Stewart, Leo Kottke, and The Kingston Trio in Earth Rider and three subsequent feature films. Mike is also an author, artist and architectural designer. Today Mike shares his time between Los Angeles and the southern Oregon coast as he, besides singing and performing with the Kingston Trio, fulfills his official role as the Chief Executive Officer of the Trio.
In the Kingston Trio, Mike plays a Martin D-28 guitar and Deering Plectrum Banjo. His voice is best described as “Patron Tequila Baritone.” He has been playing and performing for over 50 years. Mike is native of Lake Tahoe and Tahoe City and fourth generation Californian.
Tim Gorelangton - Like Bob Shane and Dave Guard, Tim was born in Hawaii. Dad was an Air Force pilot and the family lived all over the United States. Ask Tim and he’ll tell you, “This whole country is my home town!” Tim started playing woodwinds in high school and ended up serving in US Army Headquarters bands in San Francisco and Stuttgart, Germany. Music was in his family heritage. His father was from Honolulu and was a terrific ukulele player. Mom was a California girl who was prone to bursting into song around the house.
Tim has played in folk and bluegrass groups in Northern California and Nevada for years. A seasoned singer/songwriter, he wrote “Colorado Sun,” which climbed to number 11 in the regional western US. His heroes include Pete Seeger, John Stewart and Tom Paxton. Tim is one of the very few musicians outside the Kingston Trio that Nick Reynolds ever recorded with. Tim’s main goal is to ensure that the group’s music remains true to its original intentions. He’s the Trio’s Chief Musical Director, arranger, and cat wrangler. Tim plays the Martin J40 6 String, Vega Pete Seeger Longneck Banjo, and the Guild F512 12 String.
Don Marovich - Raised in a family of musicians, in Gary, Indiana, Don Marovich started playing guitar in seventh grade – practicing every day, before long, a music journeyman was on his way. In high school, Don sang with the Indiana barbershop group, The Chorus of the Dunes, competing nationally to place 2nd and 3rd in consecutive contests. This proved a formative experience: through the barbershoppers, Don mastered singing and hearing harmonies.
In the seventies, having relocated to Arizona, Don continued his music career, starting a very popular group in the Phoenix area that was the subject of a one-hour music special
that aired in 36 states on ABC television. Thereafter, he switched to a private event format for major resorts, private country clubs, and socialite events in the southwest. He also added a solo career to his portfolio and produced his first original album entitled All I Can Do. In 2012, Don was discovered by The Limeliters and was hired to be their tenor. In addition to being a professional musician,
Now in their 60th year of performing and recording, The Brothers Four continue to delight millions of fans worldwide with their smooth, musical sounds. Since the early 1960s The Brothers Four have played thousands of college concerts, sung for U.S. presidents at the White House, appeared at countless Community Concerts, performed with symphony orchestras and jazz stars and toured dozens of foreign countries. They are truly “America's Musical Ambassadors to the World.”
Musical million-sellers for The Brothers Four include such releases as “Greenfields,” “Seven Daffodils,” “Try to Remember,” and “Across the Wide Missouri.” Their hit recording of “The Green Leaves of Summer” from the motion picture The Alamo was nominated for an Academy Award and they performed the song at the awards presentation for the network telecast.
This year they are celebrating their 60th anniversary, and are doing so with a new CD, The Brothers Four Renewal, which showcases newly conceived versions of some of their old classics. These new recordings combine
For 50+ years the Limeliters have entertained standing-room-only crowds with their incredible musical talent and zany sense of humor. They first made their mark in folk clubs and on college campuses during the height of the folk music boom of the early 60′s, which led to numerous TV appearances. With different configurations over the years,
Don, who has a BS degree in secondary education from Indiana University and a Masters of Education Administration from the University of Phoenix, also taught school from 1991 through 2013, then retired to tour with The Limeliters. He plays acoustic, electric, bass, and tenor guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and percussion. It is with great enthusiasm that Don has now joined The Kingston Trio as their tenor.
the strengths of the original emotional folk tunes with the advantages of modern, more electronic production.
Website: BrothersFour.com
About the New CD
Bob Flick, group leader and a founding member of The Brothers Four, writes this about the new collection: “From the soundtracks of our lives, forever touched by common chords of humanity, Classic Songs of Solace, lovingly reimagined for our times ...
“Now the musical journey continues: hope for the planet (Winds of Green); eternal hope for peace (Where Have All the Flowers Gone); a story of America through migrant workersʼ eyes (Pastures of Plenty); a sweet family lullaby (Turnaround); comfort and hope in light of loss (To Forgive And to Forget); the arc of a life well lived (Try To Remember); historical recollection of cultural classics (Sakura/Greensleeves My Heart of Gold); the epic odyssey (New Shenendoah — Wide Missouri); the journey home (The Green Leaves of Summer); and the eternally hopeful lost-love ballad (Greenfields).”
Website: brothersfour.com
the group has preserved their signature vocal sound.
The Limeliters were formed in July 1959 by Louis Gottlieb (bass), Alex Hassilev (baritone), and Glenn Yarbrough (tenor). It was springtime in Los Angeles, and “Cosmo Alley” was the nightclub to frequent. Lou Gottlieb, fresh from
obtaining his Ph.D in musicology, happened to be in the audience when Alex Hassilev and Glenn Yarbrough appeared on stage to sing a duet together. It was a chance meeting...and a legendary one. Lou, who was then working as a vocal arranger, originally thought that “these two guys” could help him make some demos for The Kingston Trio. However, when the three started working together, they could not restrain the magic. Soon, they packed up and headed to Aspen, CO to work at a ski lodge called “The Limelite.”
After a short period of perfecting their act, they set off for the “Hungry i” in San Francisco, which at the time was the West Coast nerve center for the mushrooming contemporary folk movement. The owner had just hosted a group with three long names and wasn’t about to put “Yarbrough, Hassilev, and Gottlieb” on the marquee. But the group hadn’t really decided on a name yet. So where had they last been playing? When they answered, “The Limelite,” he said, “That’s your name from now on!”
Their success was immediate. Two days after their professional debut, the group received offers from three recording companies and in early 1959, they released their first album on Elektra. Soon after, they signed with RCA and a string of best selling albums followed, making the Limeliters a household name.
The Limeliters’ album, Tonight in Person reached number 5 in the U.S. charts in 1961. Their second album made the top 40, and their third release, The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters, made the top ten in the same year. But their album with the longest staying power is undoubtedly their album of folk songs for kids of all ages, Through Children’s Eyes.For three years, The Limeliters were the musical representatives for Coca-Cola. Their rendition of the jingle, “Things Go Better with Coke” became a national hit.
What The Limeliters are truly famous for is their trademark “Limeliters sound.” They are loved for a large collection of rousing songs including such audience-pleasers as “There’s a Meetin’ Here Tonight,” “City of New Orleans,” “A Dollar Down,” “Have Some Madeira M’Dear,” “Lonesome Traveler,”
“Wabash Cannonball,” “Whiskey in the Jar,” and many others.
Glenn Yarbrough left the group in 1963. For about two years, Ernie Sheldon (who wrote the lyrics for what became Yarbrough’s biggest solo hit, “Baby the Rain Must Fall”) filled in for Yarbrough. Then in 1965, at the pinnacle of their success, the group decided to take a break. For the next few years they pursued their own individual interests; Glenn Yarbrough as a successful soloist on records and in concert; Alex Hassilev as a producer with his own recording studio; and Lou Gottlieb as owner of a commune ranch in Northern California.
During the seventies The Limeliters embarked on a series of reunion tours with Glenn Yarbrough. These were so successful that in 1981, Alex and Lou decided to reform the group and get back into the mainstream of entertainment. With the addition of the soaring tenor of Red Grammer they once again began thrilling audiences with the unique sound that made them famous.
After eight very productive years, Red left the group to pursue a solo career as a children’s artist. In 1991, he was replaced by another outstanding tenor, Rick Dougherty, whose wide-ranging musical background and bright stage presence brought another fresh dimension to the group.
Lou Gottlieb’s passing in 1996 was a great loss for the group, but his high baritone part was taken up by a former Kingston Trio member, Bill Zorn, a banjo-player extraordinaire with the powerful vocals needed to complete the group’s unique sound. In 2003, Bill and Rick left the group, and in early 2004, tenor Mack Bailey and comedian baritone Andy Corwin joined “the limes”, bringing new energy, enthusiasm and musical material to the group.
Today, after 6 decades in the music business, The Limeliters are still one of the most exciting and entertaining vocal acts touring the country. With the addition of newest members, C. Daniel Boling and Steve Brooks, The Limeliters are poised to “pass the music on” to new audiences, young and old.
