Customer Reviews

Tokyo Tapes

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This 2cd set is probably the best work ever put out by the Brothers Four. They started out BIG in Japan, and are now still very big in Japan. The sound quality is superb, making you feel entirely surrounded by the distinctive sound of their voices. The beautiful ballads, like "Seven Dafodils" and "500 Miles" are hypnotic, and the medleys are tremendous. Their talent really comes to a fruition on this recording as their singing and playing of instruments has never been better. Inside is probably the best fan letter any group or artist could want.

"The Tokyo Tapes" is a 1996 concert recording of the Brothers Four, the folk group that first emerged at the end of the 1950s. Although they were often dismissed as an imitation Kingston Trio, the Brothers Four were actually singing professionally before the more famous folk group. Actually, they were fraternity brothers at Phi Gamma Delta at the University of Washington and a practical joker at another fraternity had a girl call them up to convince the boys they had an audition at a Seattle club, the Colony Club. The owner ended up letting them sing and they ended up with a gig that lasted about a year while they honed their vocal style and got paid off in free beer (great story, huh?).

Now only two of the original quartet remain, Bob Flick and John Paine, joined by Terry Lauber and Mark Pearson (who does most of the arranging), which explains why you will not find a whole lot of overlap between these songs and what the Brothers Four recorded on their live recordings from the early 1960s. You will find their two biggest "hits," with "The Green Leaves of Summer" and "Greenfields," but also a lot of other folk hits from that period, such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "500 Miles," "Scarlet Ribbons," and "Michael Row the Boat Ashore." My favorite parts are the medleys, especially the first one, "The Railroad Medley," which brings together "City of New Orleans," "Wabash Cannonball," "This Train," and "Rock Island Line." There is also a "Bluegrass Medley" (which includes "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" and "Darlin' Corey"), a "Man of La Mancha Medley," "American Medley," "Calypso Medley," and even an "Old-Time Banjo Medley."

The result is that this 2-disc album has a lot more songs than the 24 tracks you will find here. The chief attraction of "The Tokyo Tapes" is that these songs come from all of the great folk artists of the period, from Woody Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, and Bob Dylan to the Weavers, the Kingston Trio, and Peter, Paul & Mary. Since hearing a song by one of these artists tends to put you in the mood to hear some songs by some of the others, this works out pretty well. This is a wonderful folk music concert album. I wish I had stumbled across it earlier.

Although only one original singer was in this group, they maintained the harmonies and style of the original group. I never tire of listening to them.

I prefer live music and live recordings. Live music showcases the talent and not the studio. The classic tunes on this album are pure and tight, the harmony is priceless and the musical accompanyment is superb.

I grew up with the Brothers Four and this current group is as good or better than the original. I attended a recent concert in Mt. Vernon Washington and had a great evening. The Tapes are highly recommended.

This is an amazing CD! I've never heard of "The Brothers Four" until I heard one of their songs on Pandora. It was "Winds of Green" and I thought it was a beautiful song.

Anyone that likes country/folk music will definitely enjoy this CD.

5 stars for the performance...product was packaged extremely well...but plastic cd case broken beyond use (holds 2 cds)....which makes me believe it was broken prior to mailing...