Grammy nominees the Four Freshmen will receive the 350th star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars today.
Grammy nominees the Four Freshmen will receive the 350th star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars today. (Credit: Toohool/Wikimedia)
The public is invited to the star dedication ceremony, set for 3 p.m. at 139 S. Palm Canyon Drive, the walk’s president Bob Alexander said.
The Four Freshmen, who’ve had several membership changes, have made more than 50 albums, recorded 70 top-selling singles and received six Grammy Award nominations. They started in the 1950s as a barbershop quartet-influenced groupcalled Hal’s Harmonizers, organized by brothers Ross and Don Barbour at Butler University in Indiana.
The Barbours’ cousin, Bob Flanigan, and Hal Kratzsch later joined. The group signed with Capitol Records and released their first hit single, “It’s a Blue World” in 1952. They released their first album, “Voices in Modern,” in 1955.
Kratzsch left in 1953 and was replaced by Ken Errair, who was replaced by Ken Albers in 1956. Don Barbour left in 1960 and was replaced by Bill Comstock. By 1977, Flanigan was the last original member and he retired in 1992.
The group’s current members are Brian Eichenberger, Curtis Calderon, Vince Johnson and Bob Ferreira.
The group was named Downbeat Magazine’s vocal group of the year in 2000 and 2001 and Jazz Times Magazine’s vocal group of the year in 2007.
In 2001, Mosaic Records released a multi-CD box of the group’s 1950s recordings.
The Four Freshmen performed at Palm Desert’s McCallum Theatre last March.
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