RIAA Gold Record for The Kingston Trio: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This plaque was presented to The Kingston Trio by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) in 1960 [as indicated on the RIAA website]. It is a dark stained wood plaque with gold-colored record, RIAA medallion and engraved plate. The plate is engraved:

AWARDED TO DAVE GUARD, NICK REYNOLDS AND BOB SHANE THE KINGSTON TRIO FOR THEIR ALBUM ”THE KINGSTON TRIO” A MILLION SELLER

The Kingston Trio is the Kingston Trio's debut album, released in 1958. It entered the album charts in late October 1958, where it resided for nearly four years, spending one week at #1 in early 1959. The Kingston Trio was one of the most important commercial forces in the folk revival of the postwar years. As such they were critical in expanding the borders of American popular song to include material that originated throughout the world. The trio also were influential in the folk revival's emphasis upon an American heritage in their repertoire; as such they were important exemplars of the ways in which popular culture engaged American history in the Cold war era, an approach in which social conflict was downplayed and in which aesthetics or emotion took precedence over historical accuracy. Although the Weavers, the Almanac Singers, Huddie Ledbetter and Moses Asch's Folkways records all were much more significant in promoting folk music through politically active circles, the Kingston Trio and other groups who followed in their wake brought folk music to a much broader audience, one that transcended the issues of politics and authenticity that marked the folk revival in the early years of the Cold War. The Trio recorded indigenous songs from around the world. Their wholesome college-youth attire and demeanor along with their substantially muted politics all made folk music appealing to a vast

audience. Recording for a major label, Capitol, the trio sold millions of albums which are still in demand around the world. While scorned by so-called "purists" during the height of the 1960s folk "boom" the Trio had a major impact on American culture. They inspired many other to seek out folk music, and presented it as worthy art even when divorced from its original context. Without this group, it is quite likely that the impact of folk music in American popular culture would have been much more limited.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1960
• referenced: Kingston Trio
• Object Name: plaque
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 15/16 in x 21 in x 15 in; 2.38125 cm x 53.34 cm x 38.1 cm
• ID Number: 1998.0355.03
• accession number: 1998.0355
• catalog number: 1998.0355.03
• Credit Line: Gift of Leslie and Nick Reynolds
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.