Uncategorized

Tenor: Bob Dowma Lead: Rod Johnson Bass: Jim Foy Bari: Bob Spong The Happiness Emporium, 1975 International quartet champions, is living proof that experience pays off. The "Emporium" members averaged 37 years of age when they won gold medals. Their collective experience, even before they came together for the first time in 1972, included participation [...]

Tenor: Harry Williamson Lead: Joe Mazzone Bass: Hal Kauffman Bari: Ron Knickerbocker When the Regents won the international quartet championship at Kansas City's 1974 contest, it may have seemed to some that they had an easy road to the gold. It was their fifth international contest, and they had placed third on two previous tries, [...]

Tenor: Al Kvanli Lead: Bill Thornton Bass: Gary Parker Bari: Brian Beck In 1973 four dedicated, determined young men from Dallas, with two years of grueling, almost daily work behind them, "came out of nowhere" in Portland to win the international title on their first try. The Dealer's Choice thus became the first quartet in [...]

Tenor: Gary Harding Lead: Milt Christensen Bass: Mike Senter Bari: Jack Harding The long road to the gold by southern California's Golden Staters, 1972 quartet champions, was marked by a number of "firsts".They were the first foursome ever to win all five medals (although the Boston Common later duplicated this feat), the only one to [...]

Tenor: Bob Welzenbach Lead: Jim Grant Bass: Don Stratton Bari: Fred King The real beginning of the Oriole Four, 1970 International champion quartet, was in 1951 outside a Baltimore high school - although no one, of course, knew it at the time. That's when students Fred King and Jim Grant first met, discovered they had [...]

Tenor: Franklin Spears Lead: Al Koberstein Bass: Morris "Mo" Rector Bari: Dale Deiser Luck and the US Government - combined, of course, with the well-known Rector talent - won Morris "Mo" Rector his second International gold quartet medal in 1969.San Antonio's Mark IV was the champion that year, and C.O. Crawford had been the bass [...]

Tenor: Al Mau Lead: Ted Bradshaw Bass: Phil Foote Bari: Paul Graham A funny thing happened to the Western Continentals on their way to the 1968 International championship. In 1965, only a year after they first got together, Dr. Curt Kimball, Ted Bradshaw, Paul Graham and Terry Diedrich placed eighth in the International competition.Shortly thereafter [...]

Tenor: Frank Lanza Lead: Dick Chacos Bass: Don Beinema Bari: Richard "Doc" Sause It's not unusual, with today's modern highways and plane connections, for members of a quartet to live some distance apart. But in the mid-1960s, when the Four Statesmen were working their way toward the 1967 International championship, it was almost unbelievable that [...]

Tenor: Al Rehkop Lead: Glenn Van Tassel Bass: Carl Dahlke Bari: Clint Bostick Several famous foursomes, and even a barbershop quartet among them have gone on to have distinguished professional careers (the Hi-Lo's, Four Freshmen and Osmond Brothers, for example). The Auto Towners, 1966 International champions from the Detroit area, decided they would seek out [...]

Tenor: Warren 'Buzz' Haeger Lead: Ben Williams Bass: Tom Felgen Bari: Jim Foley Every gold medal quartet crowned by the Society in its 50-plus year history has been a great one. A handful - the Schmitt Brothers, Confederates, Suntones and a few others - went on to become legends. The Four Renegades, 1965 champions, was [...]

Tenor: Jerry Fairchild Lead: Joe Daniels Bass: Jay Wright Bari: Gene Boyd Saturday, June 27, 1964, undoubtedly was the happiest day in the history of the Riverside, CA chapter. On that day the Riverside Citrus Belterschorus won 5th place bronze medals in its first International competition. And four chapter leaders, a group known as the [...]

Tenor: Leo Sisk Lead: Larry Autenreith Bass: Ralph Anderson Bari: Jack Elder After winning the 1958 Johnny Appleseed District Quartet Championship and a third-place International bronze medal in 1959, the Town & Country Four distinguished itself as the first Barbershop Harmony Society-quartet to go on to win its gold medals after having won three consecutive [...]

Tenor: Gene Cokeroft Lead: Bob Franklin Bass: Bill Cain Bari: Harlan Wilson A young Florida quartet crowned as International champion in Philadelphia in 1961 was destined to become one of the most popular, active and long-lived in the Society's history: the Suntones. Formed less than three years earlier, the quartet sang for over 25 years, [...]

Tenor: Johnny Whalen Lead: Britt Stegal Bass: Sam Barnes Bari: Red Elliott The Flat Foot Four was organized in the Oklahoma City Police Department by the Mayor, O. A. Cargill, in 1923. The quartet's personnel changed many times over the years, but Johnny Whalen was always the tenor. The original foursome was Whalen, lead Frank [...]

Tenor: George McCaslin Lead: Harry Hall Bass: Herman Kaiser Bari: Bob Durand In 1937 the American Legion in Bartlesville, Oklahoma decided to put on a minstrel show. New in town, a wiry little man by the name of Harry Hall who was born and raised in England, had produced a minstrel show in Pawhuska, OK [...]

Tenor: Turk Evans Lead: Pres Evans Bass: Jack Evans Bari: Gene Smith Trivia question: What quartet sang Lindy, Lucky Lindy for Charles A. Lindbergh in 1927 and, with a couple of personnel changes, was still singing as an International champion 50 years later? Answer: the Evans Quartet of Salt Lake City, the 1960 gold medal [...]

Tenor: Larry Hedgepeth Lead: Keith Keltner Bass: Joe Delzell Bari: Keith Young From a high school in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks to the winners' circle onstage of the Civic Opera House in Chicago is an even longer trip than the miles indicate. The Four Pitchikers made it, though, in 1959, to become International [...]

Tenor: Don Pitts Lead: Dan Aycock Bass: Gil Wallace Bari: Carl Wright While some quartets continue singing for years as International Champions, others are forced, for one reason or another, to "hang up the pitch pipe" soon after winning the gold. The Lads of Enchantment, 1957 winners, was one of the latter. And yet tenor [...]

Tenor: Bud Bingham Lead: Bob Groom Bass: Jay Bond Bari: Pete Tyree "We probably had the shortest reign on record," laughed Pete Tyree, baritone of the 1954 international champion quartet, the Orphans of Wichita, Kansas. But during their championship year - and especially in the 24 hours following their winning of the Landino Trophy - [...]

Tenor: Bob Maurus Lead: Bruce Conover Bass: Bob Livesay Bari: Bob Lindley Bob Lindley, baritone; Bob Maurus, tenor; Bruce Conover, lead; and Carl Stuhr, bass were all ex-service men who liked to do a little harmonizing. All four were attending Augustana College in Rock Island, IL on the GI Bill. The year was 1946. They [...]

Tenor: John Steinmetz Lead: Jim Chinnock Bass: Don Cahall Bari: Don Lamont The Four Teens originated in the Eau Claire, WI Chapter in September 1949. Three members - Jim Chinnock, lead; Don Lamont, baritone; and Gene Rehberg, bass, were high school students; the fourth, tenor John Steinmetz, had graduated the previous year. On January 8, [...]

Tenor: Joe Schmitt Lead: Fran Schmitt Bass: Jim Schmitt Bari: Paul Schmitt Joe, Jim, Paul, and Fran Schmitt began singing together as a quartet in September, 1949 at their mother's home in Two Rivers, WI. Two months later a local businessman and international president of the Barbershop Harmony Society, O.H. "King" Cole, heard them singing [...]

Tenor: Vern Reed Lead: Al Shea Bass: Bill Spangenberg Bari: Dick Grapes In 1945 a quartet called the Barber Shop Four had a radio program that aired every Sunday at 12:45 in Buffalo, NY. Al Shea sang lead; the other quartet members were Bill Delfield, tenor; Ross Davis, bari; and Ralph Bone, bass. The group [...]

Tenor: Bob Mack Lead: Marty Mendro Bass: Art Gracey Bari: Forry Haynes A quartet was organized by four employees at the Bell & Howell Company. Marty Mendro, lead; Forry Haynes, baritone; and Bob Corbett, bass. Haynes had been a member of a quartet that was one of the last to appear on the Keith road [...]

Tenor: Harry Conte Lead: Tom Palamone Bass: Bill Conway Bari: John "Jiggs" Ward Anthony "Zebo" DiPerro first instilled a love for barbershop harmony in Tom Palamone. The two were part of a quartet that rattled the walls in the back room of Zebo's Pittsburgh grocery store in 1938. Palamone sang lead, Harry "Chummy" Conte was [...]

Tenor: H.H. "Jumbo" Smith Lead: Max "Junior" Cripe Bass: Lee "Reverend" Kidder Bari: Elton "Butch" Hummel When the Elkhart, Indiana chapter of SPEBSQSA was formed in September 1943, Ron Younce, lead; Lee "Reverend" Kidder, bass; and Elton "Butch" Hummel, bari were already looking for a tenor they could push around. They found H.H. "Jumbo" Smith, [...]

Tenor: Ted Rau Lead: Bob Freeland Bass: Jack Briody Bari: Jimmy Verdick The Garden State Quartet came to life in 1941. Jimmy Verdick, bari, and Ted Rau, tenor, worked together at Western Electric. Jim knew a lead singer named Bob Freeland in Newark and the three of them met at Ted's house in Jersey City [...]

Tenor: Joe Murrin Lead: Art Bielan Bass: Pete Buckley Bari: E.V. Perkins Art Bielan, lead, Joe Murrin, tenor, and E.V. "Cy" Perkins, bari, formed three legs of a quartet on a train en route to the national SPEBSQSA convention in July 1941. They shanghaied Pete Buckley to sing bass. All were members of the Chicago [...]

Tenor: Ed Gaikema Lead: Bob Hazenberg Bass: Gordon Hall Bari: Ray Hall The Harmony Halls came from a background of quartet singing that dated back two generations. Grandpa Hall sang bass in a quartet during Abraham Lincoln's presidency. Pop Hall, his son, was a choir and quartet singer at the turn of the century and [...]

Tenor: Charles Schwab Lead: Leo Ives Bass: Fred Stein Bari: Huck Sinclair The Four Harmonizers, a Chicago quartet, competed in the 1941 and 1942 national contests and finished just out of the medalist class. They were considered a top-flight foursome, composed of Charles Schwab, tenor; Leo Ives, lead; Ed Young, baritone; and Fred Stein, bass. [...]

Tenor: Herman Struble Lead: Roy Frisby Bass: Frank Thorne Bari: Jimmy Doyle Roy Frisby enjoyed singing as a young man and made some extra money as a professional singer while attending high school and college. He studied voice at the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music. After college, Frisby worked in the development division of a bank. [...]

Tenor: Norman T. "Doc" Enmier Lead: Bob Holbrook Bass: Tom Masengale Bari: Bobby Greer The 1941 national champions were organized in Tulsa, OK in the spring of 1940 with Virgil Dow, tenor; Bob Holbrook, lead; Bobby Greer, baritone; and Tom Masengale, bass. The next year, Norman T. "Doc" Enmeier replaced Dow, who had moved to [...]

Tenor: Harold Jones Lead: Howard Rinkel Bass: Morris "Mo" Rector Bari: John Loots The Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Harmony (SPEBSQSA) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so it was no surprise when Oklahoma quartets captured the first three International (then national) crowns. But it would be 20 years after the Society's formation [...]

Tenor: Wendell Heiny Lead: Deane Watson Bass: Dick Gifford Bari: Dwight Elliott In 1934, members of the Blackburn-Shaw Quartet, sponsored by a funeral home in Amarillo, TX, were paid a dollar each for singing at funerals or on the firm's Sunday radio program. Tenor Wendell Heiny joined the quartet in 1935 and was soon working [...]

Tenor: Al Rehkop Lead: Drayton Justus Bass: Bob Whitledge Bari: Glenn Van Tassel The Gentlemen's Agreement, 1971 International champion, is one quartet that really was an "overnight success." Almost, anyway.Organized in December 1969, they qualified for the international contest in the spring, went to Atlantic City in July and came home with fourth-place medals. The [...]

Tenor: Dave Panther Lead: Tom Keehan Bass: Gordie Lees Bari: Bill Cockrell "Experienced" - and proving it - might best describe the members of the 1962 International quartet champion, The Gala Lads from Alhambra, CA. While a few gold medalists have been young and won while in their teens, the Gala Lads averaged 36 years [...]