Thursday, December 03, 2009

1026 - Mojo 4. Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones (1956)



















Track Listing

1. Angel Eyes
2. Love Is Just Around The Corner
3. Mam'selle
4. Speak Low
5. The Last Time I Saw Paris
6. You Stepped Out Of A Dream
7. I Remember You
8. Love
9. Love Is Here To Stay
10. You Made Me Love You

Review


Again a choice by Mojo that I can hardly find fault with. Again we stay in the realm of the standards, but this time played in a very different way. Somewhere between barbershop and quite avant-garde music sit the Four Freshmen.

As you start listening to this album you'd be forgiven to think that this is some kind of forgotten early Beach Boys album, the vocals sound uncannily like them, and it is not hard to see how inspired Brian Wilson was by this. Of course their harmonies are not as complex as what the Beach Boys would come up with, but the line is completely straight between this and the Beach Boys.

Their approach to well known songs is so original that sometimes it is hard to understand what music is being sung unless you pay attention to the lyrics. So it sounds like a jazzier, swingier, Beach Boys years before they came to be. Great stuff.

Track Highlights

1. Love is Just Around the Corner
2. Last Time I Saw Paris
3. Angel Eyes
4. Love Is Here To Stay

Final Grade


9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The Four Freshmen influenced many vocal groups. These groups include from the beginning — The Hi-Lo's, The Hilltoppers, and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross — to later on — The Lettermen, The Four Preps, The Skyliners, Spanky and Our Gang, The Mamas & the Papas, The Association, The Four Seasons, ABBA, The Swingle Singers, Take 6, New York Voices, The Manhattan Transfer, and The Bobs. In his autobiography, Brian Wilson attributes the success of the Beach Boys' initial sound to the harmonic chord choices found in Four Freshmen arrangements. In concert, the Beach Boys honors the Four Freshmen verbally and illustrates the Four Freshmen's voicing with an a cappella version of its hit, "In My Room".

Love Is Just Around the Corner:

No comments: