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{{Use American English|date=August 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{short description|American folk group}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name               = The Brothers Four
| image              = Brothers Four (Michiganensian).png
| caption            = The Brothers Four at University of Michigan, 1964–65
| landscape          = yes
| background         = group_or_band
| origin             = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S.
| genre              = [[Folk music|Folk]], [[Pop music|pop]]
| years_active       = 1957–present
| label              = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] (U.S.)<br />[[Philips Records|Philips]] (U.K.)<br />Various others
| website            = {{url|brothersfour.com}}
| current_members    = Bob Flick<br />Mike McCoy<br />Mark Pearson<br />Karl Olsen<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brothersfour.com/About/aboutthebrothersfour |title= About |website=Brothersfour.com | accessdate = March 27, 2019}}</ref>
| past_members       = Mike Kirkland<br />Dick Foley<br />Bob Haworth<br />Tom Coe<br />John Paine<br />Terry Lauber<br />John Hylton<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brothersfour.com/About/aboutthebrothersfour |title= About |website=Brothersfour.com | accessdate = March 27, 2019}}</ref>}}

'''The Brothers Four''' is an American [[American folk music revival|folk singing]] group formed in 1957 in [[Seattle]], Washington, and best known for their 1960 hit song "[[Greenfields (song)|Greenfields]]".

== History ==
Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland, and Dick Foley met at the [[University of Washington]],<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=336}}</ref> where they were members of the [[Phi Gamma Delta]] [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] in 1956 (hence the "Brothers" appellation).  Their first professional performances were the result of a prank played on them in 1958 by a rival fraternity, who had arranged for someone to call them, pretend to be from Seattle's Colony Club, and invite them to come down to audition for a gig. Even though they were not expected at the club, they were allowed to sing a few songs and were subsequently hired. Flick recalls them being paid "mostly in beer".

They left for [[San Francisco]] in 1959, where they met Mort Lewis, [[Dave Brubeck]]'s manager.<ref name="LarkinGE" />  Lewis became their manager and later that year secured them a contract with [[Columbia Records]].<ref name="LarkinGE" />  Their second single, "[[Greenfields (song)|Greenfields]]", released in January 1960, hit No. 2 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]],<ref name=pc19>{{cite web| url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19769/m1/ |title=Show 19 – Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 2] | publisher = UNT Digital Library |date=May 25, 1969 |work=[[Pop Chronicles]] |accessdate= October 1, 2010}}</ref> sold over one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| pages= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/121 121–122]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/121
}}</ref> Their first album, ''[[The Brothers Four (album)|The Brothers Four]]'', released toward the end of the year, made the top 20.<ref name="LarkinGE" />  Other highlights of their early career included singing their fourth single, "[[The Green Leaves of Summer]]", from the [[John Wayne]] movie ''[[The Alamo (1960 film)|The Alamo]]'', at the 1961 [[Academy Awards]], and having their third album, ''[[BMOC: Best Music On/Off Campus]]'', go top 10.  They also recorded the title song for the Hollywood film ''[[Five Weeks in a Balloon (film)|Five Weeks in a Balloon]]'' in 1962 and the theme song for the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television series ''[[Hootenanny (U.S. TV series)|Hootenanny]]'', "Hootenanny Saturday Night", in 1963.  They also gave "[[Sloop John B]]" a try, released as "The John B Sails".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8a5QftHkg8 |title=Brothers Four | publisher=[[YouTube]] |date=April 26, 2009 |accessdate=October 1, 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>

The [[British Invasion]] and the ascendance of edgier [[folk rock]] musicians such as [[Bob Dylan]] put an end to the Brothers Four's early period of success,<ref name="LarkinGE" /> but they kept performing and making records, doing particularly well in [[Japan]] and on the American hotel circuit.

The group attempted a comeback by recording a highly commercialized version of Dylan's "[[Mr. Tambourine Man]]", but were unable to release it because of licensing issues; [[The Byrds]] eventually licensed an agreement for their own version, with their ''Billboard'' No. 1 hit released in April 1965.<ref>{{cite web| first =Cecil | last = Adams |url=https://www.straightdope.com/21341473/must-you-get-permission-to-record-someone-else-s-song |title= Must you get permission to record someone else's song? |publisher= [[The Straight Dope]] |date= April 21, 1978 | accessdate = May 18, 2024}}</ref>

The group, in a business partnership with Jerry Dennon, built a radio station in [[Seaside, Oregon]] ([[KSWB (AM)|KSWB]]) in 1968.<ref>{{Citation | newspaper = Jazz Banjo Magazine |type = Interview | title = Bob Haworth |date=Fall 2007 | volume =7 |issue = 2 }}</ref> The station was subsequently sold in 1972 to a group from Montana, and later to a self-proclaimed minister, and finally merged into a larger conglomerate of radio stations.

Mike Kirkland left the group in 1969 and was replaced by Mark Pearson, another University of Washington alumnus. In 1971, Pearson left and was replaced by Bob Haworth, who stayed until 1985 and was replaced by a returning Pearson. Dick Foley left the group in 1990 and was replaced by Terry Lauber. The group is still active after {{age|1958|1|1}} years in the business.

Founding former member Kirkland died of cancer on August 20, 2020, at age 82.<ref name="seattletimes">{{cite web |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/mike-kirkland-of-the-brothers-four-dies-at-82/|date=September 22, 2020|title=Mike Kirkland of the Brothers Four dies at 82|accessdate=August 22, 2021|newspaper=The Seattle Times}}</ref>

== Selected discography ==
[[File:The Brothers Four Hootenanny 1963.JPG|upright=1.2|thumb|The group in 1963]]
=== Albums ===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;
|-
! rowspan="2"|Year
! rowspan="2"|Album
! colspan="2" | Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"|[[Record label|Record Label]]
|-
!width=40|<small>[[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]</small><br /><ref name="Whitburn">{{cite book | last = Whitburn | first = Joel | title = Top LPs, 1955–1972 | year = 1973 | publisher = Record Research | page = 22 | url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/22/mode/2up | access-date = 2025-07-10}}</ref>
!width=40|<small>[[Cash Box|''Cashbox''<br />100]]<br /><ref name="CB">{{Cite book |last=Hoffmann |first=Frank W |url=https://archive.org/details/cashboxalbumchar0000hoff/page/42/mode/2up |title=The Cash box album charts, 1955-1974 |date=1988 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-2005-6 |location=Metuchen, N.J. |pages=42}}</ref></small>
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1960
|align=left| ''[[The Brothers Four (album)|The Brothers Four]]''
| 11
| 16
|rowspan="17"| [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
|-
|align=left| ''Rally 'Round!''
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1961
|align=left| ''Roamin'''
| —
| —
|-
|align=left| ''Song Book''
| 71
| 43
|-
|align=left| ''[[BMOC: Best Music On/Off Campus]]''
| 4
| —
|-
|rowspan="1"| 1962
|align=left| ''In Person''
| 102
| —
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1963
|align=left| ''The Big Folk Hits''
| 56
| 43
|-
|align=left| ''Cross-Country Concert''
| 81
| —
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1964
|align=left| ''Sing of Our Times''
| —
| 92
|-
|align=left| ''More Big Folk Hits''
| 134
| —
|-
|align=left| ''By Special Request''
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1965
|align=left| ''Try to Remember''
| 76
| 83
|-
|align=left| ''The Honey Wind Blows''
| 118
| 78
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1966
|align=left| ''Merry Christmas''
| —
| —
|-
|align=left| ''A Beatles' Songbook''
| 97
| —
|-
|rowspan="1"| 1967
|align=left| ''A New World's Record''
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="1"| 1969
|align=left| ''Let's Get Together''
| —
| —
|-
|rowspan="1"| 1970
|align=left| ''1970''
| —
| —
|rowspan="2"| [[Fantasy Records|Fantasy]]
|-
|rowspan="1"| 1973
|align=left| ''Love''
| —
| —
|-
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
|}

=== Singles ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Song titles (A-side, B-side)<br /><small>Both sides from same album except where indicated</small>
!colspan="3"| Peak chart positions
!rowspan="2"| Album
|-
![[Billboard Hot 100|US]]
![[UK Singles Chart|UK]]
!NOR
|-
| rowspan="3"|1960
| align="left"|"[[Greenfields (song)|Greenfields]]"<br /><small>b/w "Angelique-O"</small>
| align="center"|2 <ref name=pc19 />
| align="center"|40 <ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{Citation
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 80}}</ref>
| align="center"|1
| align="left"|''[[The Brothers Four (album)|The Brothers Four]]''
|-
|align="left"|"My Tani"<br /><small>b/w "Ellie Lou (You Left Me There in Charleston)"</small>
| align="center"|50
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Rally 'Round!''
|-
|align="left"|"[[The Green Leaves of Summer]]"<br /><small>b/w "[[Beautiful Brown Eyes]]"</small>
| align="center"|65
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|10
| align="left"|''[[BMOC: Best Music On/Off Campus]]''
|-
| rowspan="3"|1961
|align="left"|"Frogg"<br /><small>b/w "Sweet Rosyanne" (from ''B.M.O.C.'')</small>
| align="center"|32
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Roamin{{'}}''
|-
|align="left"|"Nobody Knows"<br /><small>b/w "My Woman Left Me" (Non-album track)</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Song Book''
|-
|align="left"|"Christmas Bells"<br /><small>b/w "[[What Child Is This?|What Child Is This (Greensleeves)]]"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|Non-album tracks
|-
| rowspan="5"|1962
|align="left"|"[[Blue Water (train)|Blue Water Line]]"<br /><small>b/w "Summer Days Alone" (from ''Song Book'')</small>
| align="center"|68
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Rally 'Round!''
|-
|align="left"|"Theme from 'La Fayette' (Slowly Slowly)"<br /><small>b/w "Darlin' Sportin' Jenny" (Non-album track)</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Greatest Hits''
|-
|align="left"|"[[This Train]]"<br /><small>b/w "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)|Summertime]]"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left" rowspan="2"|Non-album tracks
|-
|align="left"|"Land of the Midnight Sun"<br /><small>b/w "Five Weeks in a Balloon"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
|-
|align="left"|"[[25 Minutes to Go]]"<br /><small>b/w "The Tavern Song" (from ''By Special Request'')</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Cross-Country Concert''
|-
| rowspan="4"|1963
|align="left"|"Ringing Bells"<br /><small>b/w "Welcome Home Sally"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left" rowspan="2"|Non-album tracks
|-
|align="left"|"All for the Love of a Girl"<br /><small>b/w "55 Days at Peking"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
|-
|align="left"|"[[Sloop John B|The John B. Sails]]"<br /><small>b/w "[[Four Strong Winds]]" (from ''The Brothers Four Sing of Our Times'')</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''The Big Folk Hits''
|-
|align="left"|"Hootenanny Saturday Night"<br /><small>b/w "Across the Sea" (from ''By Special Request'')</small>
| align="center"|89
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|Non-album track
|-
| rowspan="3"|1965
|align="left"|"[[Somewhere (song)|Somewhere]]"<br /><small>b/w "[[Turn Around (Dick and Dee Dee song)|Turn Around]]"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left" rowspan="2"|''The Honey Wind Blows''
|-
|align="left"|"Lazy Harry's"<br /><small>b/w "Come Kiss Me Love" (from ''Try to Remember'')</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
|-
|align="left"|"[[Try to Remember]]"<br /><small>b/w "Sakura"</small>
| align="center"|91
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Try to Remember''
|-
| rowspan="5"|1966
|align="left"|"Ratman and Bobbin in the Clipper Caper"<br /><small>b/w "Muleskinner" (from ''More Big Folk Hits'')</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|Non-album track
|-
|align="left"|"[[If I Fell]]"<br /><small>b/w "[[Nowhere Man (song)|Nowhere Man]]"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| ''A Beatles Songbook''
|-
|align="left"|"The Ballad of Alvarez Kelly"<br /><small>b/w "[[We Can Work It Out]]" (from ''A Beatles Songbook'')</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|Non-album track
|-
|align="left"|"Changes"<br /><small>b/w "[[For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her]]" (Non-album track)</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''A New World's Record''
|-
|align="left"|"[[I'll Be Home for Christmas]]"<br /><small>b/w "[[A Visit from St. Nicholas|'Twas the Night Before Christmas]]"</small>
| align="center"|26
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''Merry Christmas''
|-
| rowspan="3"|1967
|align="left"|"And Then the Sun Goes Down"<br /><small>b/w "All I Need Is You" (from ''A New World's Record'')</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|Non-album track
|-
|align="left"|"Walking Backwards Down the Road"<br /><small>b/w "The First Time Ever"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left" rowspan="2"|''A New World's Record''
|-
|align="left"|"Here Today and Gone Tomorrow"<br /><small>b/w "No Sad Songs for Me"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
|-
| 1968
|align="left"|"I'm Falling Down"<br /><small>b/w "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Runaway Child"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|Non-album track
|-
| 1970
|align="left"|"Going Back to Big Sur"<br /><small>b/w "Here I Go Again"</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|—
| align="left"|''1970''
|-
|}

== See also ==
*[[List of University of Washington people]]
*[[List of people from Seattle]]
*[[List of folk musicians]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{cc}}
* [https://brothersfour.com/ Official website]
*{{allmusic}}

{{The Brothers Four}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brothers Four, The}}
[[Category:American folk music groups]]
[[Category:Columbia Records artists]]
[[Category:Fantasy Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1957]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Seattle]]
[[Category:Musical quartets from Washington (state)]]
[[Category:1957 establishments in Washington (state)]]