"Buffalo Bills: История вокального квартета"

Barbershop quartet

The Buffalo Bills were a barbershop quartet formed in Buffalo, New York in 1947. The quartet won the 1950 International Championship and is best known for appearing in the 1957 Broadway production The Music Man and its 1962 film version. The quartet was in existence for 20 years, until their last performance in New York City in 1967.

The quartet started out as an unnamed foursome, singing for community groups around Buffalo. The original members were tenor Vern Reed, an executive for the Tonawanda Boys' Club; lead Al Shea, who was a City of Buffalo policeman; baritone Herschel Smith, a corporate executive; and bass Bill Spangenberg, a truck driver for a steel company. During an appearance at the Buffalo Quarterback Club, the nameless quartet was introduced as the "Buffalo Bills", which was meant to be just for the occasion, but the name stuck from that day on. In February 1957, the Buffalo Bills competed on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, won first honors, and received an invitation from Godfrey to perform on his morning show for the rest of the week. The foursome took one year leaves from their jobs (which later became permanent) and moved with their families to New York City. They continued to make television and radio appearances, including the Arthur Godfrey show. The Music Man was a hit on Broadway, running for three years and 1,375 performances. Mitch Miller, the director of artists and repertoire for Columbia Records, was a fan of barbershop harmony and signed the quartet to the label. The Bills recorded four albums for Columbia through 1961. The Bills reprised their stage roles in The Music Man for the 1962 film adaptation of the musical. Shortly after the film was completed, bass Bill Spangenberg became ill and was forced to leave the quartet; he died in 1963. Spangenberg was replaced by Jim Jones, bass of the Sta Laters quartet.