The Brothers Four are a band who bear a distinction as one of the longest surviving bands in the late-'50s/early-'60s. They are a part of a folk revival and are probably the longest running "accidental" music act in history. They were almost 43 years and counting as of 2001.

Career:

All this without any break and with two original members still in the band for good. Very few fans recognize that mark because the Brothers Four were also part of a largely forgotten part of folk music in America.

Many stories from the post-WWII folk music part always focused on the political and issue-oriented genres of the music that was embodied by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Though this happened at the expense of the softer, more entertainment-oriented branch that was embodied by the like s of the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and the Brothers Four, they were still going on. Those acts and the music they made sold well. For many a year, they defined what many of us look as "folk music". They are are scarcely mentioned in most histories; the Brothers Four aren't even listed in the Guinness Who's Who of Folk Music.

One major misconception about the Brothers Four is that they were an attempt to emulate the Kingston Trio. Truth is that the members Bob Flick (upright bass, baritone, bass), John Paine (guitar, baritone), Mike Kirkland (guitar, banjo, tenor), and Dick Foley (guitar, baritone) had met as undergraduates at the University of Washington in 1956 and began singing together in 1957 which was more than a year before the Kingston Trio came out with their first record. Folk music was booming at most liberal arts colleges in those days. Almost every other campus seemed to have its share of trios and quartets.

Flick, Paine, Kirkland, and Foley were all members of Phi Gamma Delta and aspired to careers in medicine, engineering, and diplomacy

Why are the Brothers Four Famous?

They are famous because they were one of the longest surviving bands in the late-'50s/early-'60s.

Why do we like the Brothers four?

We like them for their great music.

Brothers Four Lists

	People from Seattle, Washington
	Musical groups from Washington (U.S. state)
	American folk musical groups
	1960s music groups
	Musical groups established in 1957

 

Brothers Four Movies
Hootenanny Hoot
Brothers Four Filmography

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Tags: band, seattle, 1957

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Category: Bands  - ( Bands Archive)

Date Added: 17 January '11

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