July 13, 2017 (Thursday)
Today, July 13, is Barbershop Music Appreciation Day–a day to relax and enjoy the sweet voices of the Sweet Adelines, or a male Barbershop Quartet. Barbershop quartets date back to the early 1900’s in America.
Edna Mae Anderson of Tulsa, Oklahoma invited some women to her home to sing on July 13, 1945. Their husbands were members of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA). The ladies wanted to participate in the singing fun and enjoyment. On that evening, the “Sweet Adelines” were born. The group later became Sweet Adelines International., which now boasts hundreds of groups and thousands for members.
Barbershop Quartet Day is celebrated on April 11 each year. It recalls the founding in Tulsa, Oklahoma, of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America.
Barbershop quartets are popular musical groups. Musical selections are usually happy and light hearted, and allow full utilization of the voice ranges and skills of these great singers. Separate competitions for girls and guys are held at local and national levels, encouraging these groups to flourish.
Years ago I used to attend the annual Texas Baptist Evangelism Conference, held in Fort Worth or Dallas in January each year. Many times men from the church would accompany me to the meeting. We were inspired at those meetings to win others to Christ. After the programs in the evening, we could go to a big room in one of the hotels and listen to Christian music by evangelistic singers. When we got back to our hotel there was always a barbershop quartet in the lobby, giving free concerts. Those were the days.
If you would like to hear some of these groups, go to You Tube and you will find many excellent samples of that great harmony. Here’s an example of Sweet Adelines:
If you want to hear the men, here’s a suggestion:
Buffalo Bills Quartet in The Music Man Movie
Click On the Picture to Hear Them on You Tube