Biography
During the 1950s the Kirby Stone Four stood among the many Caucasian vocal groups that appeared frequently across the era, fusing elements from multiple styles into engaging popular music. Their performances carried greater force, intricacy, and periodic daring than those of most peers, qualities that, together with their material choices, set them apart from similar acts. Although they never matched the visibility of ensembles such as the Four Freshmen, the Kirby Stone Four produced singles and a modest catalog of albums whose buoyant, rhythmic character captured the period as effectively as releases by the Four Freshmen or the Lettermen. Their energetic swing lay close to the contemporary output of Frank Sinatra, yet the quartet occasionally included novelty numbers that the singer would likely have declined.
Kirby Stone, born April 27, 1918, in New York, NY, and deceased July 13, 1981, founded and led the group. The lineup, completed by Eddie Hall, Mike Gardner, and Larry Foster, began in the mid-1950s as an instrumental unit. Singing remained secondary at first while they performed mainly in small clubs, but vocals gradually moved to the forefront, enhanced by lively humor and theatrical presentation that broadened their appeal. Engagements in superior New York venues and on local television followed, leading to a booking on The Ed Sullivan Show and a Columbia Records contract. Their first album, Man, I Flipped When I Heard the Kirby Stone Four, mixed interpretations of standards associated with George Gershwin and other writers alongside original pieces by Stone and Gardner, the quartet’s chief songwriters. Later in 1958 the single “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” drawn from Kismet, reached number 25 and earned a Grammy nomination, while the related album climbed to number 15. That momentum and the group’s adaptability prompted Columbia to issue two full albums by the quartet in 1959, an uncommon accomplishment at the time.
Their treatment of “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” animated the piece with brisk energy far removed from its gentler source. The music often leaned humorous, approaching yet never fully entering Spike Jones territory, and rested on sturdy instrumental support. Tempos were consistently quickened, generating some of the more vibrant vocal-pop recordings of the period. The quartet also capitalized on the emerging stereo format that coincided with their Columbia deal. Backing at different moments came from Jimmy Carroll & His Orchestra, the Kai Winding Quartette, Alvino Rey, Shelly Manne, and Al Klink. By the close of the 1950s they had refined a sophisticated “Go” sound that combined swing, jazz vocals, and the “big beat” then used as a euphemism for rock & roll; this uptempo style became their clearest signature and sustained them into the next decade. Arrangements sometimes ventured into risqué territory, as when the female chorus in “Let’s Do It” softly repeated the phrase “do it.” The Kirby Stone Four differed from typical 1950s vocal quartets and bore little resemblance to the later comedy act “Four Neat Guys.” They appeared regularly on network variety programs in the first half of the decade, including The Judy Garland Show. Their consistently cheerful and outgoing style continued to attract adult listeners into the mid-1960s, even as that strain of vocal pop began to fade.
They persisted nonetheless. Steady live work remained available even when chart and radio exposure diminished, and they attempted to adjust. In 1966 the Kirby Stone Four joined the Tokens, known for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” to create an eight-voice ensemble called the United States Double Quartet on the Tokens’ B.T. Puppy label. The uniting single, “Life Is Groovy,” was co-written by Ralph Affoumado, then a young New York conductor, music teacher, and budding composer. The record achieved modest chart placement, received substantial New York airplay, and generated an album of the same title that served as the Kirby Stone Four’s final recording. By its release Larry Foster had departed and Jimmy Hassell had joined. Kirby Stone later worked as music director for several 1960s television variety series. In subsequent years his daughter Gradie Stone has drawn attention as a jazz vocalist. Reissues of the Kirby Stone Four’s catalog, including the albums The Go Sound and The Kirby Stone Touch, have appeared from Collectables Records in the United States and Sony Music in Europe; “Life Is Groovy” also surfaced on compact disc within a Tokens anthology in the early twenty-first century. Their work forms part of a late-1950s American vocal-pop tradition still valued abroad and gradually regaining recognition domestically.
Kirby Stone, born April 27, 1918, in New York, NY, and deceased July 13, 1981, founded and led the group. The lineup, completed by Eddie Hall, Mike Gardner, and Larry Foster, began in the mid-1950s as an instrumental unit. Singing remained secondary at first while they performed mainly in small clubs, but vocals gradually moved to the forefront, enhanced by lively humor and theatrical presentation that broadened their appeal. Engagements in superior New York venues and on local television followed, leading to a booking on The Ed Sullivan Show and a Columbia Records contract. Their first album, Man, I Flipped When I Heard the Kirby Stone Four, mixed interpretations of standards associated with George Gershwin and other writers alongside original pieces by Stone and Gardner, the quartet’s chief songwriters. Later in 1958 the single “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” drawn from Kismet, reached number 25 and earned a Grammy nomination, while the related album climbed to number 15. That momentum and the group’s adaptability prompted Columbia to issue two full albums by the quartet in 1959, an uncommon accomplishment at the time.
Their treatment of “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” animated the piece with brisk energy far removed from its gentler source. The music often leaned humorous, approaching yet never fully entering Spike Jones territory, and rested on sturdy instrumental support. Tempos were consistently quickened, generating some of the more vibrant vocal-pop recordings of the period. The quartet also capitalized on the emerging stereo format that coincided with their Columbia deal. Backing at different moments came from Jimmy Carroll & His Orchestra, the Kai Winding Quartette, Alvino Rey, Shelly Manne, and Al Klink. By the close of the 1950s they had refined a sophisticated “Go” sound that combined swing, jazz vocals, and the “big beat” then used as a euphemism for rock & roll; this uptempo style became their clearest signature and sustained them into the next decade. Arrangements sometimes ventured into risqué territory, as when the female chorus in “Let’s Do It” softly repeated the phrase “do it.” The Kirby Stone Four differed from typical 1950s vocal quartets and bore little resemblance to the later comedy act “Four Neat Guys.” They appeared regularly on network variety programs in the first half of the decade, including The Judy Garland Show. Their consistently cheerful and outgoing style continued to attract adult listeners into the mid-1960s, even as that strain of vocal pop began to fade.
They persisted nonetheless. Steady live work remained available even when chart and radio exposure diminished, and they attempted to adjust. In 1966 the Kirby Stone Four joined the Tokens, known for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” to create an eight-voice ensemble called the United States Double Quartet on the Tokens’ B.T. Puppy label. The uniting single, “Life Is Groovy,” was co-written by Ralph Affoumado, then a young New York conductor, music teacher, and budding composer. The record achieved modest chart placement, received substantial New York airplay, and generated an album of the same title that served as the Kirby Stone Four’s final recording. By its release Larry Foster had departed and Jimmy Hassell had joined. Kirby Stone later worked as music director for several 1960s television variety series. In subsequent years his daughter Gradie Stone has drawn attention as a jazz vocalist. Reissues of the Kirby Stone Four’s catalog, including the albums The Go Sound and The Kirby Stone Touch, have appeared from Collectables Records in the United States and Sony Music in Europe; “Life Is Groovy” also surfaced on compact disc within a Tokens anthology in the early twenty-first century. Their work forms part of a late-1950s American vocal-pop tradition still valued abroad and gradually regaining recognition domestically.
Albums
Live
