KWXY Presents ● The Music of The Four Freshmen
The Four Freshmen / Publicity Photo - Fan Club handout - date & author unknown
The Four Freshmen are a vocal quartet/instrumental band. The group began as a barbershop quartet, but later evolved into a jazz quartet. The Beach Boys cite the group as a major influence on their singing style.
The group was founded as Hal’s Harmonizers on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1948. The original lineup consisted of brothers Ross and Don Barbour, Marvin Pruitt and Hal Kratsch. Pruitt was soon replaced by Bob Flanigan, a cousin of the Barbour brothers, and Kratsch was replaced by Ken Errair in 1953. Renaming themselves The Toppers and moving away from the barbershop sound into a jazz sound, the group’s agent renamed them The Four Freshmen prior to a show in Fort Wayne, Indiana and began touring in the fall of 1948. During that tour at a show in Dayton, Ohio, bandleader Stan Kenton heard the group perform. He was told about the “quartet in town that sounded like his 43-piece ensemble.” Upon hearing the group, Kenton arranged an audition with Capitol Records; the label signed them before the end of the year. The Four Freshmen went on to tour with Kenton, recording two albums with the ensemble. In 1951, The Four Freshman appeared in a cameo role in the MGM musical, Rich, Young and Pretty, their one and only movie role alongside Jane Powell and Wendell Corey.
Their first big hit in 1952, “It’s a Blue World,” was at first rejected by Capitol who then dropped them from the label. Kenton demanded the demo tapes and the bandleader helped to promote the song, getting radio airplay and charting. As a result, Capitol re-signed the group in July 1952 with Hal Kratzsch leaving the group the following year. Ken Errair was chosen to replace him. After their first album in 1954, Voices in Modern, Errair left to get married; his replacement was Ken Albers. A 1960 single, “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring,” was rewritten in 1963 to become “A Young Man Is Gone,” a hit for The Beach Boys. In 1964, The Beach Boys covered another Four Freshmen hit song, “Graduation Day.” Brian Wilson described the influence of The Four Freshmen in his biography, stating “I couldn’t get enough. I bought every album and single I could find. I played them till the grooves wore out. Transfixed. Fascinated. I absorbed every note of every song, figuring out how the lush, intricate harmonies were woven together, discovering on my own how to do it myself.”
Although nominated six times for a Grammy Award, the group failed to win one. The Four Freshmen continue to perform with the current lineup of Bob Ferreira, Tommy Boynton, Jake Baldwin and Ryan Howe. The last original member, Bob Flanigan, retired in 1993 and managed the group until his death on May 15, 2011 at age 82. Ross Barbour retired in 1977 to pursue a career in real estate, passing in 2011. Thirteen months after Don Barbour left the group in 1960, he was killed in a traffic accident. Hal Kratzsch passed away in 1970.
The Four Freshmen Publicity Photo / www.fourfreshmen.com
The Four Freshmen have won JazzTimes magazine's Readers Poll for Best Vocal Group multiple years and have been nominated for a Grammy Award six times.
Since their inception in 1948, The Four Freshmen continue to tour and perform worldwide, entertaining audiences year-round. Check out their official website at fourfreshmen.com
Listen to the Music of The Four Freshmen on The Wink Martindale Show today at 1pm on KWXY Music Radio 92.3FM ● 1340AM ● streaming at kwxy.com and ivoxradio.com