Four Freshmen - Poinciana (1952)

[@timmcblackmore]

Brian Wilson brought me here, YT comments are sending me to Vulfpeck

[@neonmall9907]

I like vulfpeck

[@darthxerox15]

Dean Town

[@dank5018]

I'm 5 years late, but don't forget Ahmad Jamal!!

[@wizzardofpaws2420]

Me too!

[@exjazzbassbaz]

the best vocal group ever. nobody ever got near.i have carried them with me to this day my 76th year and what joy they have brought to my life.r.i.p. to them all.many thanks.

[@minralb]

It must be true that great minds do think alike, I'm 77 and I couldn't agree with you more. The original 4 Freshmen were the very best ever IMO, and the '50's were the last of the great decades before real pop music went out of style and the mind-numbing trash that later generations call music took over the music industry.

[@katamarigirl93]

minralb I'm 21 and I like good singing and tight vocal harmonies. I love singing pop and doo wop from the 50s. It has a sincere, heartfelt quality to it that you just don't hear in most songs that come out now. :(

[@ballerino-films]

nah, the hi-lo's went way beyond

[@JeryTillotson123]

you and me both. love to listen to them on my car cd player. brings back so many great memories of the early fifties and growing up in a small southern town with it raining outside.

[@henrybrowne7248]

@@minralb I don't like to try and pick just one group, or one guy, or one type of music, or one anything. But damn, are these guys magical. I came into the world just as this era faded out and just can't get enough of the music that came just before me. Bless You Tube.

[@baggins555]

I have studied all styles of music and play professionally. In my opinion, these guys are the most amazing vocal group ever. Truly modern harmony and music theory, beyond any music being produced these days, not to mention beautiful!!

[@kijijiallin]

the vulf does it justice. so much justice.

[@stuwest4217]

My dad who passed recently introduced me to these guys and Singers Unlimited, I introduced him to Take 6 and Pentatonix, We were best mates

[@johnstill9490]

WONDERFUL!! This was 1952...I never knew of The Freshman until 1958...I have ever since loved all their music. The "new" Freshman are very good, however the "original" are always the BEST!!

[@8028erbway]

My father just past away last week and he introduced to me the Four Freshmen when I was a boy. I will play this song at his funeral services. I love you pop!

[@chauncywashington2227]

So melancholy...a sense of joy but tempered with a kind of sadness that goes with the realization that we can't hold on to the past. Hope when all is said and done, we took advantage of surrounding ourselves with such awesomely beautiful voices.

[@leisuregal1939]

Growing up in the 1950s, I was a fan of the Four Freshman, and still to day, I listen.

[@peterhughes614]

Crushingly beautiful.

[@peterhughes614]

Still is

[@flaredrake8058]

Stay well​@@peterhughes614

[@unclebbmunson1084]

In 1954 my mom visited her sister in Miami Beach. There was a hotel the Poinciana. She said they played this song in the lobby.

[@MrTeenidol]

The greatest vocal group of all time, period...!!!!

[@toyne38]

Boy, they don't make music like this anymore.The 40's and 50's had music for every taste...swing, jazz, and beautiful melodies like this. I loved living in that era.

[@reduxmisc]

I remember seeing them perform in a little jazz club in Chicago many years ago. They really were great a very talented group. Now I wish I'd gone back and seen them over and over again.

[@harrisafiari6938]

Lagu ini pada era 1960-an sering dinyanyikan orang tuaku bersama kawan-kawan nya dalam formasi band yang sederhana di Jawa Barat (Indonesia). Selanjutnya, aku yg kelahiran 1957, setelahnya sering mendengar lagu ini dibawakan oleh Ahmad Jamal. Intinya, aku hingga tahun 2024 masih memutar sesekali Poinciana.

[@vivienaddinall1395]

I had the great honour of meeting The Four Freshman when I was in the US and they are as delightful as is their singing

[@DD-sr7no]

You're so lucky, good for you ..I feel envious 🙃

[@jfg375]

Magnificent harmony - beautiful phrasing - discovered them in '57 in Dayton, when I was stationed there in the USAF at WPAFB. Saw them in a downtown venue, and have never stopped listening. Wonderful music, just wonderful.

[@Jotzeph89]

as much as the vulf gang is incredible for emulating this, I think it's more incredible that these guys sound as "accurate" as a talkbox-ed performance. The sheer precision of the notes they're singing... just wow!

[@jdtoddjazz]

For sure!

[@reythmband]

The Freshmen were also instrumentalists as well as vocalists. So I've heard, the Beach Boys learned and incorporated a lot of their harmonic voicings into their music a few years later.

[@henrybrowne7248]

@@reythmband I thought so. You can hear the influence.

[@105ad8]

I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't heard this song until I saw the Vulfpeck video

[@Jotzeph89]

@albertmojicajr I am referring to this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2WXq5prpr90ldE !

[@hhn1000]

The new Four Freshmen is very, very good! So glad the group has continued all these years!

[@portobob]

This is a great Freshman ballad....wish we could turn the clock back and see and hear them live again.

[@azucarinho1]

Poinciana... your branches speak to me of love

[@bobfitzgibbon6822]

Iwas living in Connecticut when they came to Hartford to appear in a downtown nightclub. I was a professional musician and singer and got to sit about 15 feet from the bandstand. I remember that performance to this day like it was yesterday even though it was 60 plus years ago. They were second to none.

[@bigemoney31]

Vulfpeck brought me here.

[@andrewhooper7603]

bigemoney31 I love how well the talk boxes emulate the vocals here.

[@montauk6]

The highest voice on the lowest instrument, SWEET!

[@cjaquilino]

A song I’d want for my own funeral. Just otherworldly, almost alien in its longing and beauty in a way not every piece of music can touch on. I think of “Mood Indigo” by Duke Ellington , “Arabesque” by Claude Debussy, and how even “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap reach into your consciousness and decrypt that eerie desperation for the past you can never get back.

[@marthabarcenas3364]

Their voices are so soothing. I love this song its like a llulaby to me 🌜

[@waynebrasler]

The recordings the original group made for Capitol remain remarkable, and a tremendous influence on countless other vocal groups.

[@callumrudyk8814]

Wow, these harmonies are so off the wall. Sounds almost electronic.

[@boomerang905]

Great is simply great and I have always placed them amongst the very best. To think they were all musicians, as well as singers. But sadly they are all gone now. I know we all must go but it hurts to see a passing of an era that you remember as a child.....and never forgot. I certainly didn't. Thanks.

[@tonyrivers]

I absolutely LOVE this vocal arrangement and performance. It's 55 years ago!!!!!!!! Tony Rivers.

[@skaterdude7277]

Thanks vulfpeck

[@raleighsquare]

I had the privilege to see them when I was in high school. Their harmonies were unbelievably great, I had a lot of their records. The present copy groups are like comparing a Chevy truck to a Ferrari. But I'm glad somebody's keeping their music alive.

[@Theoriginaltkg2902]

If a trombone quartet ever sang, it would sound like the these guys. !

[@fickalinni7]

If you like close harmony, these guys can't be beat

[@Frenite]

Harmonies right on point!

[@Rknbkr12]

I saw them live in the early 90's and had the good fortune to be able to speak with them after the show. I complimented them (totally tongue-in-cheek) on their rendition of Brian Wilson's arrangement of Graduation Day - you should have seen the looks on their faces one nanosecond before they 'got it.' Extremely talented gentlemen, one and all!

[@dewey44]

Simply the best vocal group...ever!

[@2KRW]

Just wonderful....sheer magic!

[@CosmosNut]

Love it! heard this on my local jazz radio station and found it here - thanks for uploading this great tune.

[@silverhammer79]

+CosmosNut You're welcome! :)

[@ernieenesi8942]

Amazing harmonies, I owe my parents alot for instilling and taking my brothers and I to music lesson (accordion/piano)the love of a capella harmonies definitely brought me here.😎

[@moryan6447]

Remember this and them from when I was 5-6 years old…mesmerizing then and now. A number of male quartets in the 50’s seemingly sprung from the Freshmen.

[@hachinohehorse]

First heard these gentlemen at Arnold Hall, Lackland AFB, in spring of 1955.

[@singinjohnny]

I have the studio version of this but hearing a live performance only testifies to the degree of the talent these guys had. What's so impressive to me was that they also were instrumentalists. Most singing groups stand and sing which is fine. But these guys played, and played well, while singing in the most incredibly beautiful and totally unique harmony. Just blows me away! When I heard that Brian Wilson also loves this stuff, I wasn't the least surprised. No wonder I love his music as well.

[@hootinouts]

What an enchanting song. Excellent version of it.

[@KingOFuh]

FOUR Freshmen and FIVE girls. Which one was lucky enough to get double=teamed? Bob, I'd say.

[@hipster_valdez]

Such a beautiful song

[@johnthrelfall5]

Great version!

[@TheMarianneBeck]

I am flying lessening Four Freshman Poinciana fro 1952 I have been in my old country so very long ego to hear this song by the four Freshmen it is a dream Marianne

[@014bhap]

This Group was one of the main influences for The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson always mentions them when asked about his musical influences.

[@OJShilinski]

I wish there were wonderful vocal groups like this still performing ... there were many in the 40's, 50's, 60s, but gradually ceased to exist....

[@thevillain5]

Before he passed me and my grandfather would spend hours listening to these cats on his old record player. Abraham I. Fowlkes a great man

[@jh8856]

My favourite vocal group - ever.

[@duanelarson2560]

Nice to hear the original group with Hal Kratch...... Best ever!

[@TWILIGHT112366]

I LOVE to fall asleep listening to this beautiful soothing song and dream beautiful dreams :) xoxoxoxo

[@elela84]

So beautiful! Unspeakable!))) Thanks for sharing!!!

[@derekdetjen1529]

This was the first song that got me hooked for a lifetime on the Frosh. Too bad that the kids of today couldn't experience of going to college in the '50s, the great dances, vocal groups and a time when romance was truly romantic, soft and easy. Heard this tune in Newberry, SC this year and the current guys are by far the best ever, as Bob Flanagan agreed.

[@TOBIAS-nn7vf]

If you haven't heard Ahmad Jamal's version of this song, I would highly recommend it.

[@henrybrowne7248]

I have. I love his improvisations.

[@Frenite]

One of the few four freshmen videos featuring Hal Kratzsch

[@judygrell]

I'm going to guess this was NOT lip synced. I've seen them twice live and they were spot on perfect! Amazing!

[@MegaBobo66]

@Bobbbiejean - Hey Bobbie--I also grew up in Indiana-saw Kenton at Shaffer Lake-been a life long fan of the freshmen. I heard them at the Fort Wayne Coliseum in the late 60's-shared a beer with them in the dressing room before one of their shows.-And-the 'new' Freshmen are also fantastic. Bob (Plymouth,In. native)

[@nancydrew5]

You lucky dog you!! living back in the day when good music was popular, and popular music was good. Alas unlike today ;-(

[@MrPatricioMelo]

Blow Tropic wind, sing a song to the trees Trees sigh to me, soon my love I will see Poinciana, your branches speak to me of love Pale moon is casting shadows from above Poinciana, somehow I feel the jungle heat Within me there grows a rhythmic savage beat Love is ev'rywhere, its magic perfume fills the air To and fro you sway, my heart's in time, I've learned to care Poinciana, though skies may turn from blue to gray My love will live forever and a day Poinciana, from now until the dawning day I'll learn to love forever, come what may

[@mariadimario3782]

Che piacere sentire questa musica

[@luckyman1071]

New to me...WONDERFUL! Thanks!!!

[@MarcusFerg21]

Podcast: Rock n Roll Librarian brought me here with their discussion of Brian Wilson’s love of The 4FM. You can certainly hear where the BBs got the influence.

[@gmonet46]

Beat me by a couple of years. We lived in a good time, and I regret what my grandchildren have to say is their generation's semblance of music.

[@iluminatiytu]

These guys were dam good. They made my life fuller during that period.

[@storiemooser6192]

Love the interior setting of 1950s girl college dormitory.

[@MaximillianNewman]

vulfpeck brought me here

[@4bigdawgs4]

I couldn't agree more! Thanks for posting the old days!

[@Saxy64]

Of the Pre- girl Modernairres, Hi-Los, Four Aces and the Freshmen, I think the Freshmen are the only ones that played instruments, and they played them well!

[@1FrankFan]

Another amazing KZbin video...love it.

[@hhubre]

soothing voices

[@iferraro]

what a wonderful song! Your can hear the Brian Wilson influence in the vocal arrangement. Any BB's fan knows what I am talking about. The soprano (lead), the crescendos, etc.

[@mauricioduron3193]

Musical influence perhaps running the other way around.

[@MarkRaymondLuce]

@@mauricioduron3193 Wrong! Brian Wilson is on record numerous times going back to the early 60s saying that The Four Freshmen were the template for The Beach Boys harmonies!

[@mauricioduron3193]

@@MarkRaymondLuce Oh, well. To spell out what was stated already. The "other way around" in the following sense: You can "hear the influence of the Four Freshmen in the vocal arrangement." Not "...hear the Brian Wilson influence..." Better, now?

[@ELENI1231000]

πολυ ομορφο τραγουδι και πολυ ομορφη εποχη!

[@TheJadariusExperience]

Damn the melodies are iconic

[@chaneyroot2]

The great Four Freshman, now that's what singing is all about...

[@miropribanic5581]

gem of a video...keep it in your safe ;-)

[@altoonabeme]

I saw the Freshman live in their heyday, at the Oriental Ballroom in Cresson, Pa. (I think, or the other big band venue - Starlight Ballroom??? - in Gallitzin). Never realized it then, of course, but I wish I could have caught time in a bottle. Hello, dear Marlene...where are you now? I still have most of their LPs.

[@marcoamedrano]

Man, these guys were awesome.

[@wolfgang4627]

vulfpeck brought me here : )

[@TommyDoesMusic]

vulfpeck (band) -wolfpeck (translation)-wolfgang (you)

[@torikenyon]

ymmot concerts Lmao

[@sandaglad]

OUTSTANDING! thanks for posting this. Hope some of the listeners here who appreciate great vocal groups will check out The Hi-Los.

[@Barnekkid]

Lovely.

[@HoosierBullhead]

@wordwise3 I am saddened to learn of his passing. This leaves Ross as the only member remaing from the original group, and last I heard, he was in poor health. I thank God for their beautiful music.

[@barrywright8130]

Simply the best.

[@hachinohehorse]

I first heard the FF at Arnold Hall, Lackland AFB, in Spring of 1966 while going through basic training. For Col Battaglis: Were you ever in USAFSS???

[@hardlyworking_]

had no idea this was a cover, thought this was a vulf song for the past 5 years. my mind is blown rn

[@marisolmaldonado6047]

La canción preferida de mi padre.

[@soulfuljakazz]

Priceless footage. Thanks, silverhammmer.

[@generationll]

Glenn Miller did a version of this great song.Have been listening to this song since 1993

[@iluminatiytu]

What happened to music like this? I stil find it as beautiful now as I did then.

[@Century25]

Great ! I have their CD with this and many more.

[@KaRidder234]

Beautiful!

[@robertwheeler4068]

WOW!!😳🎵🎶I never knew this song had lyrics!?🤔

[@Halo101st]

@hanker95 Real vocalists singing real music. I was in my teens during the era of this wonderful music and, like you, have entered the twilight years (68). The memories flow like the melody of this graceful song and I like the warm glow and smile they bring back.

[@jameslarkin6267]

Definitely a big influence on Brian Wilson!😎

[@JohnSmith-us2jx]

I remember TFF and their music from the 1950's. Sadly it never got any better over a long life.

[@dogsbod]

Brilliant

[@kapilidis41]

that was INCREDIBLE!!!phew....amazing!

[@tony64t]

Sweet!