Customer Reviews

Complete 1950-1954

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A while back on Amazon there was an on going discussion of Jazz vocal groups, who was and who wasn't, who was innovative and who wasn't, who was about one singer, who was about the group and on and on. It was a fascinating discussion.

The Four Freshmen were absolutely one of the great Jazz vocal groups of all times. They had a distinctive style, they had a great blend, they had great vocal chops, and they had staying power. They survived the coming and going of 2 baritones, one of them a key player and a 15 year stint with Capitol records, during which they were one of Capitol Records 5 top sellers, behind Nancy Wilson (Yes, forget Sinatra, she was Capitol's #1 artist until the Beatles came along), Nat King Cole,and Frank Sinatra. Their albums sold, and sold well. And in retrospect the albums were teriffic, teriffic singing, teriffic style, teriffic tunes. The albums were unified pieces, almost all of them had a unified backing such as small group plus 5 trumpets or 5 trombones, or whatever configuration.

The sessions here were before the signing with Capitol and there is more diversity than is found on Capitol. Sometimes this is not a good thing as the whole can sound a bit disjointed. On some of the tracks the Four Freshmen sound is not quite there yet, but none of the cuts is poor, the group is just not fully formed yet. The tracks that are good, and many many of them are, are great. Chelsea Bridge gives me goose bumps for the vocal blending. This is a very tough song to sing, period. If you have any doubts about it, listen to Ella Sings the Duke, disc 3 as she works this song out with Duke. It takes a long while for her to get it down, and Ella was a GREAT musician. Ditto Tuxedo Junction and many others. This is wonderful in its own right and essential for fans of The Four Freshmen--count me in.

i became a 4 freshmen idol back in my highschool days 1948 when they were just coming onto the scene.from that time on i have purchest every album and cd that they have put out.no other group could produce the exact harmony that the 4 freshmen have.now in the present we have a new 4 freshmen group that replaced the originals,who sounds just as good

I have always loved the Four Freshmen, so I know I am prejudiced. Their intricate harmonies are very pleasing to my ear-on most of their songs. I prefer the ones where the 'traditional Freshman' sound comes through, though. I've got most of their LP's, so it was good to get a lot of them on CD.

I think my library contains all of their recordings; vinyl LP, compact discs and DVDs. If you appreciate their vocal and musical talents, add this one to your collection. If you are just starting to collect The Four Freshman, this is a good one to start with for you library. I have been fortunate to sing in a quartet using their style of harmony and their charts. GREAT STUFF !!!