We had a couple of new guests at our chorus practice last Sunday. One of them was an older gentleman who said he had been a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society for fifty years! He had maintained his membership while not being active in recent years. When he mentioned the name of the quartet he had been singing in in the seventies and eighties, Friends of Yesterday, our director noted that they used to be one of his favorite groups. They had even won a few championships in their heydays. After practice that evening he proceeded to to look for their old performances on the Internet. He sent us this link. The song being sung is an old barbershop classic from The Music Man, and it was the same song I sang in a quartet that night.
Listen carefully to the four parts coming together to create chords that ring. Even the simplest of songs can sound amazing when sung properly in the barbershop style.
The gentleman’s name is Richard Bentz.
Splattered Brains 