Although usually described as a jazz ensemble, The Four Freshmen’s music drew on a number of different styles, among them barbershop and pop.
From leftt: Ross Barbour, Bob Flanigan, Ken Errair and Don Barbour
As the clean-cut quartet’s tenor and lead singer, Flanigan developed a vocal style that later influenced such close-harmony groups as The Beach Boys, The Lettermen and The Manhattan Transfer, among others.
With his cousins Ross and Don Barbour, Flanigan formed the group in 1948 at college with a friend, Hal Kratzsch. Flanigan played trombone and string bass and sang lead vocals. Don Barbour was killed in a car crash in 1961, and Kratzsch died in 1970. Although they had only a handful of chart hits, the group produced more than 50 albums and 70 singles, and over the years earned six Grammy nominations.
Their best-known recordings were It’s a Blue World (1952), Mood Indigo (1954), Day by Day (1955) and Graduation Day (1956).
Robert Lee Flanigan was born on August 22 1926, at Greencastle, Indiana. After service in the US Army, he went to Butler University in Indianapolis, where he joined a barbershop quartet, Hal’s Harmonisers, started by Ross and Don Barbour.
When the group’s tenor, Marvin Pruitt, developed stage fright, Flanigan replaced him in 1948. They changed their name to The Four Freshmen — they never graduated from college on account of their musical success — and Flanigan quickly became the group’s frontman.
Unlike other close harmony groups, The Four Freshmen provided their own backing sound, all doubling on at least one instrument. Flanigan played trombone in the smooth style of Stan Kenton and sang in the way he played.
All four Freshmen admired Kenton’s jazz orchestra arrangements and began to layer and arrange their vocals in a similar style.
The group developed a following among other jazz artists, among them Woody Herman and Dizzy Gillespie. When Stan Kenton attended a Four Freshmen concert, he was so impressed that he recommended the quartet to his record label, and Capitol signed them immediately.
The group’s first single, Mr B’s Blues, was released late in 1950. But their first big hit came in 1952 with It’s A Blue World. By 1954, when they released their arrangement of Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo, one of the group’s biggest hits, The Four Freshmen were well-established. They charted consistently between 1954 and 1957.
Throughout the 1950s they also found success with their albums. These were thematic in approach, all the tracks having some common element, and were promoted with titles such as Four Freshmen and Five Trombones; Voices In Modern; Voices in Latin; and Voices in Love. This thematic approach, as much as the style of harmony, influenced and inspired Brian Wilson when he founded The Beach Boys.
According to Ross Barbour, the last surviving original member of the group, the Freshmen always intended to perpetuate their sound by replacing individual members as they left or retired. In 1992 Flanigan became the last founding member to stand down, after 44 years on the road.
His last album as a performer with The Four Freshmen was the 1992 Christmas release Freshmas! But he continued as manager for another five years and remained the group’s musical adviser and mentor until his death.
The Four Freshmen continue to perform and record. The current line-up — the 22nd — comprises Brian Eichenberger, Curtis Calderon, Vince Johnson and Bob Ferreira.
Their close-harmony sound continued to earn praise in American jazz circles, winning the Down Beat reader’s poll in 2000 as Best Vocal Group of the Year.
Bob Flanigan’s first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife, Mary, whom he married in 1963, and by two children from his first marriage and four from his second.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8524476/Bob-Flanigan.html
Unlike other close harmony groups, The Four Freshmen provided their own backing sound, all doubling on at least one instrument. Flanigan played trombone in the smooth style of Stan Kenton and sang in the way he played.
All four Freshmen admired Kenton’s jazz orchestra arrangements and began to layer and arrange their vocals in a similar style.
The group developed a following among other jazz artists, among them Woody Herman and Dizzy Gillespie. When Stan Kenton attended a Four Freshmen concert, he was so impressed that he recommended the quartet to his record label, and Capitol signed them immediately.
The group’s first single, Mr B’s Blues, was released late in 1950. But their first big hit came in 1952 with It’s A Blue World. By 1954, when they released their arrangement of Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo, one of the group’s biggest hits, The Four Freshmen were well-established. They charted consistently between 1954 and 1957.
Throughout the 1950s they also found success with their albums. These were thematic in approach, all the tracks having some common element, and were promoted with titles such as Four Freshmen and Five Trombones; Voices In Modern; Voices in Latin; and Voices in Love. This thematic approach, as much as the style of harmony, influenced and inspired Brian Wilson when he founded The Beach Boys.
According to Ross Barbour, the last surviving original member of the group, the Freshmen always intended to perpetuate their sound by replacing individual members as they left or retired. In 1992 Flanigan became the last founding member to stand down, after 44 years on the road.
His last album as a performer with The Four Freshmen was the 1992 Christmas release Freshmas! But he continued as manager for another five years and remained the group’s musical adviser and mentor until his death.
The Four Freshmen continue to perform and record. The current line-up — the 22nd — comprises Brian Eichenberger, Curtis Calderon, Vince Johnson and Bob Ferreira.
Their close-harmony sound continued to earn praise in American jazz circles, winning the Down Beat reader’s poll in 2000 as Best Vocal Group of the Year.
Bob Flanigan’s first marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his second wife, Mary, whom he married in 1963, and by two children from his first marriage and four from his second.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8524476/Bob-Flanigan.html
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