Rev. Craig Jones was kind enough to send me the two Kingston Trio songs The New Frontier and Song For a Friend . Rev. Jones' father worked in the White House mail room starting in the Truman administration and up through the Reagan administration. Craig was on the White House grounds when the funeral cortege left for the church. He writes: "The Kingston Trio played at the White House for Jack. [Pres. Kennedy] asked [trio member] John Stewart how Rev. Mr. Black was doing on the charts. John wrote two songs expressly for Jack." John Stewart told a Japanese interviewer in 1984: I met Robert Kennedy when he was Attorney General and I was with the Trio. I'd kept in touch with him and he was very kind and kept in touch with me. When I left the Trio, he had run for Senator in New York and I had campaigned there. I would go out at a rally and sing a few songs. Then, when he was running for President, he said ''Would you and Buffy come out and sing for me?" and we said, "Of course." We dropped the album we were making - just put it on hold - and we would fly into a town with him. We would get off the plane and dash to the rally where there would be people who had been waiting two, three or four hours to see Kennedy. They were tired and restless and we'd give them a point of focus and get their energy up, so that when Kennedy arrived they wouldn't be so splintered. It was a dog and pony show but it was politics. We were there as the court jesters if you like, the travelling band.
"The Kingston Trio played at the White House for Jack. [Pres. Kennedy] asked [trio member] John Stewart how Rev. Mr. Black was doing on the charts. John wrote two songs expressly for Jack."
John Stewart told a Japanese interviewer in 1984:
I met Robert Kennedy when he was Attorney General and I was with the Trio. I'd kept in touch with him and he was very kind and kept in touch with me. When I left the Trio, he had run for Senator in New York and I had campaigned there. I would go out at a rally and sing a few songs. Then, when he was running for President, he said ''Would you and Buffy come out and sing for me?" and we said, "Of course." We dropped the album we were making - just put it on hold - and we would fly into a town with him. We would get off the plane and dash to the rally where there would be people who had been waiting two, three or four hours to see Kennedy. They were tired and restless and we'd give them a point of focus and get their energy up, so that when Kennedy arrived they wouldn't be so splintered. It was a dog and pony show but it was politics. We were there as the court jesters if you like, the travelling band.
