Four Freshmen Society Wisconsin
A JazzTimes Readers Poll
"Vocal Group of the Year"!

FOUR FRESHMEN, FANS HEADING TO ATLANTA AUG. 20-22! It's the annual Freshmen reunion and fan convention 1/13/2009

The Four Freshmen today!

REGISTRATIONS NOW ARE BEING TAKEN FOR THE 2009 FOUR FRESHMEN REUNION AND FAN CONVENTION in Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 20-22. Get full details here. The Freshmen will perform at two dinner concerts and Freshmen past and present will be available to socialize. Dinner concert seating is determined by registration order.

For more information on the optional tours beyond that explained during the online registration process, click here.

THE LATEST ISSUE OF 'FRESH NEWS' NOW IS AVAILABLE ONLINE. To read the January-March 2009 edition of our international Society newsletter (and others issued since January 2002), click here.

FOUR FRESHMEN MARK 60 YEARS OF ENTERTAINING MILLIONS. Four Freshmen fans around the world Sept. 20 (2008) celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Four Freshmen's first professional appearance. They've been singing the same great harmonies ever since – a remarkable achievement!

The celebration actually started Aug. 21-23 when current and past Four Freshmen, and about 600 of their fans from around the world, gathered in downtown Indianapolis for their annual get-together.

Here's a fan video from the convention of the Four Freshmen singing "Route 66" with the Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra:

That first gig was at the 113 Club in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where they were booked for a week and were paid $325. That worked out to $81.25 each after the guys paid their agent's fee, the hotel, food, and gas bills, plus the union and other expenses.

"We realized then and there that our prime motive had to be having fun because we weren't clearing any money," original member Ross Barbour recalled later in his book, "Now You Know: The Story of the Four Freshmen." And fun they – and we – have had every since.

(Did you know they became known as the Four Freshmen while they were performing in Green Bay, Wis., in mid-January 1949? Read the story here.)

In the days before Sept. 20, Freshmen fans were encouraged to pick out some of their favorite Freshmen numbers over the years – including those of the current generation -- and spend part of that Saturday imagining they were at their own 113 Club.

FRESHMEN 'AT TOP OF THEIR CLASS,' SAYS WALL STREET JOURNAL WRITER

The Wall Street Journal took note in its Aug. 20 edition, on the eve of the Indianapolis convention, of the upcoming 60th anniversary and the fan gathering in the home state of the original Freshmen.

William H. Smith, who writes about jazz and the big-band era for the Wall Street Journal, wrote: "Widely known for basketball, the Indy 500, and a plethora of covered bridges, Indiana also proudly claims The Four Freshmen as its own….Although not the first successful vocal group, The Four Freshmen was, without question, the most innovative….Every vocal group that followed -- except for those that sang with no or minimal chord structure -- was influenced by the Freshmen, including The Lettermen, Manhattan Transfer, Take Six, the Beatles and the Beach Boys."

He covered more of the history of the group in his article and included some of the comments made to him by original member Ross Barbour in an interview for the article.

"Over their 60 years of performing throughout the U.S. and abroad, the Freshmen have recorded some 45 albums and 70 singles, and have received numerous honors, including six Grammy Awards. Down Beat magazine awarded the quartet the Best Jazz Vocal group honor in 1953 and again, 57 years later, in 2000, an example of the quartet's timeless appeal. The present lineup placed No. 1 in this same category in the 2007 JazzTimes Readers Poll."

If you want to read the entire article, you may be able to find it at your local library. Some libraries also offer access to the otherwise-subscription only WSJ through the ProQuest newspaper search engine.

Goldmine magazine also spotlights the Freshmen

Goldmine magazine also devoted two full pages to the Four Freshmen and the group's long history in its July 18 (2008) issue. Goldmine is a Wisconsin-based publication which describes itself as "The Collectors Record and Compact Disc Marketplace."

Besides quoting 44-year Freshmen Bob Flanigan, current member Brian Eichenberger also is interviewed about his approach to arranging and talks about where he got the idea for a Freshmen treatment of "If I Only Had a Brain."

Both Bob and Brian also talk about the Four Freshmen Society and its importance to the Freshmen. In addition, Brian comments about the challenges of attracting younger audiences.

For the complete article and multiple photos: click here

2008 CONVENTION BRINGS SPECIAL MEMORIES TO TWO EX-FRESHMEN. When Four Freshmen alumni and friends gathered in Indianapolis to hear the current Freshmen perform Aug. 22 and 23, as part of the annual Freshmen reunion and the 2008 international convention of the Four Freshmen Society, it was a particularly memorable time for two former members of the Freshmen. The shows were held in the same room as the 1977 concert in which original member Ross Barbour and later member Ray Brown appeared for the last time as members of the group. Read more here

FANS CAN CUSTOMIZE A LICENSE PLATE FRAME to promote the Four Freshmen and the Society. Click here to learn how to do it.

JOIN THE FOUR FRESHMEN SOCIETY! Click here for more details.

We still have more information for you on our second main news page. Click here.