The Four Freshmen were an American vocal group popular from the 1950s through the early 1960s. Well-known for their multi-part harmonies, they are notable as early purveyors of vocalese and as the forerunners of vocal-harmony based rock music, particularly that of The Beach Boys Abba Crosby Stills & Nash Danny & The Juniors Dion & the Belmonts Dixie Hummingbirds Earth Wind & Fire Fifth Dimension Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers Gladys Knight & The Pips Hank Ballard & the Midnighters Jay & the Americans Little Anthony & the Imperials Martha & the Vandellas Peter, Paul and Mary Smokey Robinson & The Miracles Sonny Til and... Jump to: navigation, search // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the... Jump to: navigation, search The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity and chords, actual or implied, in music. ... Vocalese is a style of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation. ... The Beach Boys, 1963 (L to R, David Marks, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Mike Love, Brian Wilson) The Beach Boys are a pop music group formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961, whose popularity has lasted into the twenty-first century. ...

Career start and commercial success

One of the most influential vocal groups of the 1950s, The Four Freshmen pioneered a revolutionary new style of close-harmony vocals that set the stage for bands like the Beach Boys, Spanky & Our Gang, the Hi-Los, the Manhattan Transfer and countless others. In 1948, brothers Ross and Don Barbour formed a barbershop quartet called Hal's Harmonizers at Butler University's Arthur Jordan Conservatory in Indiana. The band also featured Marvin Pruitt and Hal Kratzsch. Later that year the group switched to a more jazz-oriented repertoire, and the quartet was renamed the Toppers. Pruitt soon left the group and was replaced with Ross and Don's cousin Bob Flanigan. Jump to: navigation, search // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the... The Beach Boys 1976 album 15 big ones The Beach Boys are a pop music group formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961, whose popularity has lasted into the twenty-first century. ... Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s folk-rock band led by Elaine Spanky McFarlane. ... Manhattan Transfer is From 1910 to 1937, a Pennsylvania Railroad and Hudson and Manhattan Railroad station between Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey where passengers had to change trains on their way to New York. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Barbershop harmony is a style of unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Hoosier State Other U.S. States Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Governor Mitch Daniels (R) Senators Richard Lugar (R) Evan Bayh (D) Official languages English Area 94,321 km² (38th)  - Land 92,897 km²  - Water 1,424 km² (1. ... Jump to: navigation, search Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

Early on the group was influenced by Mel Torme's Mel-Tones, but began to show signs of their own unique style of free improvisational vocal harmony. By September of 1948, the quartet went on the road as the Four Freshmen. The group was highly touted by jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman. In 1950, the Four Freshmen got their big break when bandleader Stan Kenton heard the quartet in Dayton, Ohio. He called his label Capitol Records and arranged an audition. The group was signed later that year. In 1952, the band released their first hit single "It's a Blue World," which brought them instant recognition among mainstream audiences. Kratzsch was replaced by Ken Errair in 1953, but the group never lost its stride. Their subsequent releases of "Mood Indigo" in 1954, "Day by Day" in 1955 and "Graduation Day" in 1956 showed that the Four Freshmen were more than just a one-hit wonder sensation. September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Dizzy Gillespie photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1955 John Birks Dizzy Gillespie (October 21, 1917 - January 6, 1993) was born in Cheraw, South Carolina. ... Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913–October 29, 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and Big band leader. ...

The group remained popular throughout the 50s and early 60s, releasing a wide array of successful albums, movie and television appearances and performing countless sold-out concerts. The band eventually lost mainstream attention with the emergence of the British pop bands of the 60s, even though they managed to stay together even after the retirement of final original member Bob Flanigan in 1992. New lineups of the Four Freshmen have continued the legendary vocal tradition of the original band, while adding new touches. In 2000 the group won Downbeat Magazine's reader's poll award for Vocal Group of the Year, proving the quartet's timeless appeal and securing their role as one of the most important vocal groups in jazz history. Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the year 2000. ...

External link

The Four Freshmen