SAN DIEGO -- (AP) -- Nick Reynolds, a founding member of the Kingston Trio who jump-started the revival folk scene of the late 1950s and paved the way for artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, has died. He was 75.

Reynolds had been hospitalized with acute respiratory disease and other illnesses, and died Wednesday in San Diego after his family took him off life support, said son Joshua Reynolds.

''Dad was so happy he turned people on to music in a way that people could really approach it, in a simple and honest way,'' Josh Reynolds told the AP. ``He was a very gracious and loving performer. He was a devoted family man.''

The Kingston Trio's version of the 19th century folk song Tom Dooley landed the group a No. 1 spot on the charts in 1958 and launched the band's career. Born on July 27, 1933, in San Diego, Nicholas Reynolds demonstrated an early love of music and did sing-alongs with his two sisters and their Navy captain-father, who taught him to play guitar.

He graduated from Coronado High School in 1951 and attended the University of Arizona and San Diego State University before attending Menlo College, a business school near Palo Alto, Calif. He graduated from Menlo College in 1956.

It was during the 1950s when Nicholas Reynolds met Bob Shane, who introduced him to Stanford student Dave Guard. Guard and Shane knew each other from playing music in Guard's native Hawaii. The three formed the Kingston Trio.

Reynolds is survived by his wife, Leslie, sons Joshua and John Pike Reynolds, daughters Annie Reynolds Moore and Jennifer Reynolds and his two sisters.