A Reluctant Teenager, a Barbershop Quartet and a Revelation

Since you mentioned an expanded appreciation of a capella, may I suggest the following, please? They're not barbershop, just astoundingly good: The Real Group (5-part a capella from Sweden) and Ragaton (6-part a capella from Finland; the name translates to "ultimate"). In my opinion, everything posted is good to great. Even more "ultimate" and mind-blowing: the two groups together recording as LevelEleven - check out the astonishing "Nordic Polska: (watch the 5:28 version with the "Star Wars" intro). All the above are on YouTube.

Bonus attraction: Loituma from Finland and "Levan's Polka," both a capella and with an overdubbed dance track on a story video. (There are a couple of live a capella versions with just the group, both really good.

Happy listening!

I have alyways enjoyed a Capella and even went to a meeting of local barbershop quarteters in the 70s. I didn't join as it was a bit too cultish socially for my tastes (I've been told that if I become a professional 'Santa' I am required to join the international fraternity) but I still love the sounds.

For a wonderful and unexpected take on barbershop, go on youtube and look for barbershop bioshock - this is from a video game!

Barbershop would be far from my first call, but it's close relative, Doo-Wop remains one of my favorite forms of vocal music. There are also a number of stunningly talented acapella groups like Straight, No Chaser and The Persuasions, but the best single performance I can recall is The Swingle Singers' rendition of Nick Drake's, "River Man." It's available on YouTube. Have a listen.

In the late 80s, my husband and I found ourselves in the empty bar of our Lousiville, Ky hotel. We were about to call it a night, when the bar started filling up with an exuberant crowd of people. We found out that a national barbershop quartet competition was in town and many participants were staying at our hotel, stopping by the bar to wind down after their performances. Soon the bar was filled with song from these amazingly talented voices; a few songs were performed as solos or quartets, while most songs the whole bar joined in. After awhile, my husband and I joined in on the few we knew, our bad singing thankfully drowned out by the others, yet feeling completely a part of the group. This joyous and spontaneous concert went on for at least an hour. We look back on that night as a magical experience, and consider how we would have missed it altogether if we'd left the bar a few minutes earlier. I've been a big fan of barbershop quartets ever since.

I had a similar experience when going to one of the shows that my dad's chorus put on. Their guest quartet was Storm Front, and what got me about them wasn't just their harmony (which was great, the too won a BHS gold medal), but their side splitting humor. I was never a great singer but the thought of being able to entertain like that hooked me. I went to BHS site that evening, found a chapter near me, and I've been singing barbershop ever since. Barbershop is a very welcoming hobby, all you need is a love of singing and a willingness to have a good time.

Thank you Mr. Genzlinger for this excellent article. As a current member of the Barbershop Harmony Society at the age of 54 and a member of a fledgling Quartet ( really just at the beginning of its existence and learning the ropes) I had the privilege just a month ago to volunteer at and experience the BHS International right here in my hometown. You are correct in saying that the blend of the voices our competing quartets and our International Champions have is just absolutely sublime. It is awesome to see an article about one of our societies past champions and how they inspired the appreciation of A'Capella music in you.

It would take an extremely brave teen today to admit to liking barbershop quartet music, much less actively listen to it. It has never seemed to dawn on one teenager that the entire music industry regards them merely as empty skulls with wallets. It's an industry predicated upon stigmatizing anything older than a couple of years, regardless of quality, as a dusty relic just so they can sell new stuff of even more dubious merit to the next cohort of suckers.

A BARBERSHOP QUARTET, Gentleman's Agreement, was a bit of Americana only kept alive by the quartet's members. They take us back to simpler times, giving us a window onto what life was like when people had to entertain themselves as there was no recorded music. The sweet harmonies and lyrics are very comforting, a balm to the spirit, for those of us who crave musical innocence. I wonder--were there every any Barbershop Quartets such as they in real life?

I had a similar "Ah-Ha!" musical experience 25 years ago in the basement of a Kansas City record store. I was on a break from attending the Association of Recorded Sound Collections annual conference and was scanning the 78 racks in the basement of one of those gigantic record stores that catered to every kind of record collector. What were those heavenly harmonies? "Oh Boy, Oh Joy!, O-Vo-do-dee-o. Ooo-Vo-do-dee-o" Looking around I spotted one of my fellow travelers spinning a 10 inch disc of "Lucky Day" by the great vocal ensemble, The Revelers, at a nearby 78 turntable, obviously provided by the owner for his selective clients.
Immediately smitten, I proceeded to haunt every junk shop and library sale to purchase the group's discs. For the uninitiated, The Revelers recorded copiously during the early '78 era. Their rhythmically complex and sinuous close harmonies are foolproof cures for the blues. Truly gratifying listening!
Nowadays it's relatively easier to 'revel' in their sublime inventiveness and musicality via Spotify. However, I have still been known to drag out an original disk, plop it on my 78 player, listen for the swish and pierce the 100 year veil.

To my surprise, I just happened to run across this article. I think I may have you all beat on memories. As a 10 year old the den door in our home would be shut, with the old upright piano playing away as my father and the G.A. would be harmonizing. The piano was being used for just "pitch" control and would constantly stop, as conversations could be heard emanating from behind the door reference who had a better idea on the flow of the song. These practices took place for long periods, way into the evening hours, as us children went on with our playing. During breaks the members of the G.A. were like father figures to us, always asking us kids "how are you, did you do well in school today?" Barbershop music was not foreign to me as a child, but many of my childhood friends heard it for the first time at my house and are fans of it today. Besides the music, male and female barbershopper's left a lasting impression on me, not only for their desire to be competitive at what they do, but for their outward display of kindness to those around them while having fun at the craft. You do not have to be the best to be a part of this great organization, only a desire to enjoy yourself while working at it. I still stop in my tracks whenever I am at a county fair or social event when I hear someone blow into a pitch pipe and hear "humming." My father, Drayton, is on his way now to my home for a visit, I can't wait until I show him this article and all of your kind comments!

Excellent article but I can't stop thinking about one line in it, on another topic entirely. You mention attending a local college while you were living with your parents. And then you say "I realize a lot about that says 'loser' " Well, no it doesn't at all. Not in my world. But this off-hand attitude is a microcosm of the class anxiety that really drives the higher education business. Again, great story about your experience but I had to weigh in about this since, even with all of the major news in the NYT today, I'm thinking about that line.

A pungent point and so well-written. Thank you, Mr. Genzlinger. Shela Xoregos

Drayton Justus also sang lead with the top quartet that ever existed in SPEBSQSA...The Suntones...

Sometimes I think our culture, caught up in raw emotion, messages, and parables, doesn't allow us to understand what an exquisite and unique joy it can be to see or hear an artistic performance of technical perfection.

It mostly doesn't matter how dated the medium might be, and how jaded might be our attitude toward them. It might be barbershop quartets, or tap dancing, or rhymed poetry, or Shakespearean tragedy, or the wit and romance of Casablanca.

It is the perfection of these performances that thrills us and transports us almost despite ourselves.

No one has mentioned - quoting Wikipedia "Acoustix is a Texas-based quartet that won the 1990 International Quartet Championship of SPEBSQSA (now Barbershop Harmony Society, or BHS). They have all, at different times, been members of the Dallas-based Vocal Majority chorus. Acoustix shot to fame in 1990 at their first SPEBSQSA International Contest appearance in San Francisco, just six months after the quartet formed. They stormed to victory in the third round, overcoming 139th Street Quartet and The Naturals to take the gold medal home." There record "The New Science Of Sound" really took me and made me realize serious musicians were performing Barbershop and taking risks as well. Look into there recordings for the kernels that has bloomed in the big barbershop choirs...

I'm always amused at the initial pejorative tone given to barbershop groups - witness the "old fogey" comment in the article. My father started his career as a music teacher/choir director. Barbershop was the music he played on Sunday mornings, and I loved it. Still do.
My favorite episode of the TV show "Frasier" involves the title character's dreaded high school reunion, where he's always relegated to sit with the lowest of the low: the chess club's barbershop quarter, the Checkmates.

My Mom was a Sweet Adeline (the female organization of barbershoppers) for more than 50 years. She was in a chorus that won the International Title (Island Hills chapter) and although I was totally a rock and roll girl, I went to every show. I swear could always hear my Mom's voice among the chorus. When she passed away, some of her friends from the chorus stood close to her casket and sang "Softly As I Leave You". The same women sang "I Have Dreamed" from the King and I at my wedding. I will never forget either moment....

Have sung and loved BBS harmony for 30+ years. Any NYT reader who wants a mind blowing experience, I suggest they You Tube the following quartets: Vocal Spectrum, Crossroads and/or Realtime Quartet; all international champions. For Choruses singing 4 part A Capella harmony, I suggest the following: Vocal Majority, Ambassadors of Harmony and/or Westminster Chorus. Again, all multiple international champions. Your opinion of barbershop will be forever changed. The close harmonies and showmanship are stunning.

Really great to see barbershop singing get some positive attention, in spite of the "old fogey" comment. Whatever style of music, it's about the music! Good barbershop singing is about the harmony and it can be transcendent, give you goosebumps, sometimes it makes what I think the barbershoppers call an "overchord" (something like that). That harmony is just in tune with something deep in the human soul. Sometimes when I hear that deep resonating chant of "Om" with a group of Buddhist monks, I hear echoes of that transcendent barbershop singing. Nothing more joyful than to be at a gathering of barbershoppers when they're all over the place in little groups "woodshedding" and making a place just hum with harmony. It's good music and a style of singing that can bring people together - in harmony.

It must have been 1990 that my son had the same experience with barbershop music - but he was only 7 at the time. My mom said that he sat in the front row and never moved a muscle all night - riveted by the sound. He went on to sing all through school with various choral and a cappella groups.

As he awaits the birth of his son, I want to remind him to sing to his little boy every day because the sound of music can be life changing for one who has music in his heart.

I remember either seeing Gentleman's Agreement or hearing their albums
in the seventies or eighties. I still remember their sound.
"Hush" was so well done..The special way
they sang the chorus making it sound like an old pedal organ...
Also Bumpity Bump I remember as such a fun song of romance
with an exotic dancer and its outcome. Truly a great group. Thanks for the memories...

My three best friends and I started a barbershop quartet in high school in Jackson, MI. Its how i got my start in the entertainment business and I still recall when we first made it ring! Thanks for bringing back such great memories.

Neil,

I am a second-generation barbershop quartet singer. My parents were huge fans of The Gentlemen’s Agreement. Their recordings were always on in the house….I know every song on them. They were one of the groups that inspired me to form my own quartet, called “Joker’s Wild.” We went on to win the very same international competition of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 1994. This led to my going back to grad school to get MFAs in Acting from Carnegie Mellon and the Moscow Art Theatre School (several barbershoppers coached me on the auditions). Furthermore, the barbershop experience helped me to be cast in the First National Tour of THE MUSIC MAN, as the musical director had seen a Joker’s Wild performance and bought our albums for his father...after he had gone into the performance expecting nothing and was surprised.

Yes, there is something magical about “going into a performance expecting nothing and coming out transformed.” Happened to me, too...and actually caused me to want to be an artist, as I'm now an actor in New York.

One can never know how a transformative performance can affect a life or a life’s work.

By the way, I found those recordings by The Gentlemen’s Agreement on iTunes. 40 years later, their legacy lives on.

Thanks for a great piece.

Best,

Steve

Let's not forget the Buffalo Bills, the quartet that brought barbershop to a wide audience in the 1950s and 1960s. A tip of the straw hat goes also to Meredith Willson, who wrote barbershop into "The Music Man." The Bills were cast in the show as well as in the movie, and made several albums. The members settled in northern NJ.

I hardly know where to begin! This was an article that brought back such joyful memories!! I lived in Anchorage Alaska in the 70', We had a friend, Leo Smith, and he belonged to the quartet active in those years. He invited us to a show one time, and I was totally hooked on Barbershop!! Anchorage hosted groups from all over, but I will never forget the Salt Flats. They were National (or International?) champions and never has an evening gone so fast or been so energizing!! They were precision! They were entertaining! They harmonized to where words just could not describe the beauty of it all. Truly professional quality. This may sound superfluous but the show in its entirely brought one to a different dimension of welcome, sharing, and just losing all else but the experience. Talk about talent!! Often not only in melody, but the ability to entertain in an unintrusive way. Whatever brings us joy is a blessing!

If you think you have heard it all listen to Tanya Tagaq, the 2014 Polaris Music Prize winner for her album 'Animism'. An astonishingly innovative and haunting illustration of nature and native sounds that urban dwellers are unfamiliar with. This was the most original listening experience I have ever had!

The cavernous old wooden auditorium at Ocean Grove, N.J. played host to the barbershop singers one night every summer. Their soaring, intricate harmonies would levitate the building. And the wit and humor of the lyrics were always charming, with perennials like "Paddlin' Madelyn Home".

The Gentleman's Agreement! Wow. My parents started singing Barshop with their local chapters back in 1964. My mom sang in two championship quartets and served as International President of Sweet Adelines. I had the marvelous opportunity to see The Gentleman's Agreement on several chapter shows and their three albums played regularly in our hose. Couldn't agree with Neil G. more when describing their sound and their showmanship. Thanks for the article!

A friend attended a rock concert years ago. During the intermission a barbershop appeared. The audience was restless. The barbershop-ers began to sing. The rowdy crowd became "transformed" and cheered and cheered when they were done.

Wow, Neil! You brought back some great memories. My brother and I have those albums and all the singing parts embeded in our brains from the countless times we would play them on our stereo Hi-Fi. Both our parents were barbershoppers, and my mom sang in a quartet that performed in a show with the Gentlemen's Agreement. I still have a Kodachrome slide of the G.A. performing in their red velour tuxes and white pants. My brother later sang in the International Chorus Champions, the Ambassadors of Harmony, and met the bass, Bob Whitledge, at one of the competitions a few years ago. The tunes you mentioned are running through my mind, but a Burt Bacharach medley with "What do you get when you fall in love..." Style and grace was their calling card. Truly Gentlemen...wouldn't you agree?

The Beelzebubs of Tufts University used to have 5 year reunions where all the groups of the past got up and sang. It started with barbershop and moved on into acapella. Then the latest incarnation of the group would perform for everyone. I lived in Medford in 80s and 90s and caught two of the reunions. My daughter and I were uninvited as it was just for the members and their families. Nobody cared and we were allowed in with no problem. Both of us never forgot what we witnessed. It was just beautiful!