Ross Barbour "I’m a Gershwin fan too. I’m a Berlin fan. But that soul, that strength of the tune, I gotta give Hoagy a little extra nod on that. There are so many opportunities to make good chords happen, and you just kinda get to feeling them when it’s a Hoagy tune-you just get to feelin’ those good notes." - Ross Barbour Ross Barbour interview on Hoagy Carmichael
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Born in Burnsville, Indiana, Ross Barbour is one of the founders and
original members of the celebrated vocal quartet The Four Freshmen. Known for their
renditions of such Hoagy tunes as "Ole Buttermilk Sky," I Get Along Without You
Very Well," and "Baltimore Oriole," the Freshmen met at the Arthur
Conservatory of Music (part of Butler University in Indianapolis) in ‘47 and
‘48. The original Four Freshman were: Hal Kratzsh, from Warsaw, Indiana, who sang the
low part; Ross’s brother Don, who sang the second part; and cousin of Ross and Don,
Bob Flanigan, from Greencastle, Indiana, who sang lead; and, of course, Ross, who sang the
third part, played the drums and trumpet, and acted as the master of ceremonies for the
Freshmen for almost twenty nine years. In 1995, Barbour wrote Now You Know, a book
chronicling the life, times, and history of the Four Freshman; a Golden Anniversary
Edition became available in 1998.
The Four Freshman
was one of the few vocal groups to provide their own accompaniment; in addition, they sang
what they called an "Open" harmony, spreading four voices over the area a
five-part group would normally cover. Through the distinctive culmination of this sound
and their jazz voicings and imitations of the phrasings of a big band brass section, the
quartet was immediately recognized as a group on the rise. In 1950, Stan Kenton, a
bandleader famous for his aggressive brass sections, discovered them in a lounge in
Dayton, Ohio and insisted that Capital Records, his fledgling label, sign them
immediately. The result was over 46 albums on Capital and a half-dozen major pop hits and
Grammy nominations between 1952 and 1956.