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"Vocal Group of the Year"! | |
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Since the Freshmen started out as Hal's Harmonizers in Indianapolis in 1948, they've appeared in Wisconsin scores of times. But did you know that it was in Wisconsin where the decision was made to begin using the name "Four Freshmen?" It was in January 1949, and the guys had just performed in Ross and Don Barbour's hometown of Columbus, Ind., returning to Columbus High School for a convocation -- "coming home...to wow the high school kids." They had been performing professionally for less than three months, briefly using the name "The Toppers" and then, at their agent's insistence, the "Freshmen Four." But let Ross tell it. Here's his account on page 47 of "Now You Know: The Story of the Four Freshmen." "A few days later, we were off to Green Bay, Wisconsin." "Dick Sheldon (the group's first booking agent) came to hear us a second time and, hey, he had never heard music like this from us before! We had choreographed ourselves to play our instruments while we sang, standing around a single mike, belting out "Basin Street Blues", "My Kind of Love", "Slow Boat to China", and "Kate". "We begged Sheldon to turn our name around, so from this point on we were billed as "The Four Freshmen"." Ross adds another "Freshmen First" took place in Wisconsin at the same time: "And we were developing. We were working "some of the best supper clubs in the Midwest!" In Green Bay, we introduced (brother) Don's rendition of "Stormy Weather". Dick Sheldon was impressed." (In his book, Ross doesn't identify the Green Bay venue that night, but in a 2005 interview with the Four Freshmen Society Wisconsin's Representative, he recalls the locale as the Picadilly on Green Bay's south side.) Want to read the rest of the story? Bookstores may be able to special order Ross' book for you, or here's the Web site of the publisher, Balboa Books so you can order it directly from them. |
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