Return-Path: crispen <@ada3.ca.boeing.com:crispen@efftoo>
X-Envelope-To: ALLMUSIC@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Wed, 18 Nov 1992 08:05:01 CST
From:         crispen <crispen@EFFTOO.BOEING.COM>
Subject:      Re: A Capella and teleology

mjferzig@MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU (Marsha) sez:

>>Just wondering -- I've got a Kirby Shaw arrangement of "Their Hearts
>>Were Full of Spring" lying around somewhere.  Shall I send it?  Are
>>you (like me) a Freshmen fan?  A Kirby Shaw fan?
>
>I don't know much about either...can you give me more info? I'd hate for
>you to send it for nothing. Tape or sheet music arrangement?

Ahhh, the Four Freshmen.  Their first album for Capitol featured the
guys a cappella and playing instruments as they sang.  Capitol never
really figured out what to do with them.  They toured with Stan Kenton
for a while, and they recorded one of their best (which I'd kill for):
_Four Freshmen and Five Trombones_ with Stan's trombone section.

But mostly they were backed up by wimpy string arrangements.  This
was even deplored at the time by jazz critics.  Any time the 4F got
close to an acceptable sounding set of background arrangements,
DownBeat would name them jazz vocal group of the year.  And this was
in the early '60s during the heyday of Lambert Hendricks and Ross!

They also suffered from some of their vocal arrangements.  While their
group sound was IMHO unbeatable, none of them was really a solo singer.
Yet time after time a dreary 16-bar solo by one or another of the
Freshmen would spoil the whole rest of the song.

Still, there were some gems in there.  "It's a Blue World", "Polka
Dots and Moonbeams", "Atcheson Topeka and Santa Fe" (I know, but
their arrangement was pretty good -- they *didn't* do the original
one you're thinking about).

The rich vocal harmonies of the Freshmen inspired the vocal arranging
of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.  In fact, the Beach Boys "A Young
Man Is Gone" from _Shut Down Vol. 2_ is merely a re-lyric'ing of
Bobby Troup's song "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring".  Later on, the
Beach Boys did the song with the original words, and they did the
4F's "Graduation Day" on their _Concert_ album.

I believe I saw the Freshmen 5 or 6 years ago on TV and, like so
many of us, they'd lost a certain something.  A buddy of mine in
college had all their records, but I never bothered to buy them
(I could always listen in his room).  So I'm down to the Greatest
Hits album which I uncovered a few years later.

Kirby Shaw, whose arrangements force college jazz choirs to struggle
even to this day, is either a total plagiarist, or he was one of the
arrangers for the 4F (his chart for "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring",
which I have the sheet music of, for example, is note-for-note from the
Freshmen arrangement (though transposed for SATB, I believe)).

All the above was broad strokes.  Somebody please correct/fill in
details.

Anybody with Freshmen records he wants to tape for lots and lots of
money, email me.  I look pretty regularly in the CD bins, but haven't
found any.

>Enjoy!
>doo be doo wop bop...

skiddledy diddledy boppity bap -- WHAP
+-------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Rev. Bob "Bob" Crispen        | It's a bluuuuuuue world              |
| crispen@foxy.boeing.com       | Withouuuuuuuut youuuuu.              |
+-------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
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