The Brothers Four in Person - The Brothers Four

One of the better live folk albums of its period, The Brothers Four In Person, cut live at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, is a good representation of their sound. The songs include a somewhat upbeat version of "The Midnight Special," and a banjo-driven, deliberately paced "Rock Island Line" (which segues into "This Train"), the humorous "Thinking Man, John Henry" (including digs at the John Birch Society, the CIA, Ford, M.I.T., and automation), and a group of beautifully harmonized folk numbers, "Darlin' Sportin' Jenny," the hit "Greenfields," George Gershwin's "Summertime" (credited as "San Miguel" on the jacket), and the rousing "I Am a Roving Gambler." The group also has fun with the "Theme from Peter Gunn," and, especially, parodying the 45-rpm market with "Variations On an Old English Theme" -- the very fact that they went over big at the Naval Academy as well as Vanderbilt University (where Flatt & Scruggs weren't necessarily considered sufficiently highbrow) also shows the chasm that was soon to open up between this generation of folkies and the more confrontational outfits that were to follow. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide