The Brothers Four performing at Music Fair in 1991

For a number of years beginning in the mid-70’s the piano played an important part in a Brothers Four performance. Dick Foley, a founding member and the group’s most recognizable voice, played the piano beautifully. The original thinking was that by adding the piano the group would be more contemporary and not seen simply as a nostalgic folk band. It was that same mindset that had Bob Shane add a drummer to the lineup of The New Kingston Trio. After a while the piano just became a natural part of The Brothers Four sound. However when Dick left the group in 1991 the decision was to return to the traditional folk sound.

This performance was recorded in 1990 and aired on the Japanese TV show Music Fair in the fall of 1991. Singing this medley of folk songs was a way to introduce some great songs while at the same time featuring each guy on a song. We enjoyed it. The audience agreed.

The group continues to do a number of medleys in the show. We do a medley of calypso songs, of railroad songs, songs in the ragtime style, in a bluegrass style. We also do a medley of songs from the musical Man of La Mancha.