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Hear The Close-Knit Harmonies Of The Four Freshmen

Courtesy photo

How have The Four Freshmen managed to sound so young all these years? The voices come and go, but that beautiful four-part harmony remains the same.

“Well, we always like to use the analogy… it’s more like a sports team. The organization is the same, it’s just the players and the faces have changed throughout the years,” explains Bob Ferreira, the low (or 4th) voice in the group.

The Four Freshmen were founded in 1948, and the last original member of the band, Bob Flanigan, retired from the group in 1992. At that time, over a dozen members had already come and gone as members of The Four Freshmen. Today, the group also includes Tommy Boynton, Stein Malvey, and Jon Gaines.

The members carry on that tradition of vocal harmonizing that went on to influence many other pop and rock music ensembles such as the Frankie Valli and the Four Seastons, the Manhattan Transfer and the Beach Boys.

The songs they perform span the 20th century. “Our philosophy is it doesn’t matter whether a song was written in 1928 or 2018. A good song is a good song, and what defines a timeless song is the fact that it can hold up lyrically and musically in any generation,” says Ferreira.

The Four Freshmen are the special guests on this edition of "Live at Jazz, TX." Hear the program Saturday night at 7:00 on Texas Public Radio, or preview the show using the player below.