ArtistRack brings to you ‘The Butchershop Quartet’ by Joshua Francis
At long last, after 74 years of waiting, the very first appearance by Eddie Calver in any format, period. The stories he told of his start with the fabled Butchershop Quartet were not fables at all but totally true, and are here for you in all their glory. Let us allow Eddie to explain with an excerpt from a letter to his mother that was tucked within the sleeve of this battered old 78.
“Well, Momma, I done made a colossal blunder! I was in Fort Worth and whilst drinking with some fearful draftees, I offered to protect them. I joined the army again by mistake! I’ll make Captain this time, but oh boy, what an idiot. I felt sorry for them I guess. They just seem to get younger each time. No wonder they call it the infantry. Three of my new friends and I formed a Barbershop Quartet during basic training, and this is the result. Recorded in a booth, on furlough, before I got shipped to officer training school. Johnny (the Kid) seemed to know exactly what he was doing. We trawled by eight booths and each time we went inside, he’d flip a coin, let it drop to the floor, and come out shaking his head. Woofer made a one booth, one beer policy, so this took a while. When the Kid found “the right one” he went in and drew chalk crosses on the floor and initialled them. They were our marks. For the next 23 minutes the Kid was the Captain on the bridge. He rode us hard. Kept cranking them out, one after the other, directing proceedings mostly with his eyes. He will be a commanding presence one day. I’ve been writing a little poetry lately so the Kid wrote songs around them, telling the story of our adventures thus far. Hope you, Pops and little brother are well. Please feel free to have a huge guffaw at my expense. With love from Hoss, the Kid, Lil’ Ian and Woofer. The Butchershop Quartet. xxxx”
Johnny Wilkes, guitar and vocals
Eddie Calver, Hoss – banjo and vocals
Lil’ Ian -falsetto vocals
Woofer – bass vocals
Produced by Johnny Wilkes, September 21st 1950
78 rpm shellac digital transfer
By Joshua Francis, October 12th 2024
With thanks to the Calver Estate
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![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://artistrack.com/joshua-francis-the-butchershop-quartet/&media=https://d1vvuf3f66vs33.cloudfront.net/2024/10/maxresdefault-32-e1728870310269.jpg&description=ArtistRack brings to you ‘The Butchershop Quartet’ by Joshua FrancisAt long last, after 74 years of waiting, the very first appearance by Eddie Calver in any format, period. The stories he told of his start with the fabled Butchershop Quartet were not fables at all but totally true, and are here for you in all their glory. Let us allow Eddie to explain with an excerpt from a letter to his mother that was tucked within the sleeve of this battered old 78."Well, Momma, I done made a colossal blunder! I was in Fort Worth and whilst drinking with some fearful draftees, I offered to protect them. I joined the army again by mistake! I'll make Captain this time, but oh boy, what an idiot. I felt sorry for them I guess. They just seem to get younger each time. No wonder they call it the infantry. Three of my new friends and I formed a Barbershop Quartet during basic training, and this is the result. Recorded in a booth, on furlough, before I got shipped to officer training school. Johnny (the Kid) seemed to know exactly what he was doing. We trawled by eight booths and each time we went inside, he'd flip a coin, let it drop to the floor, and come out shaking his head. Woofer made a one booth, one beer policy, so this took a while. When the Kid found "the right one" he went in and drew chalk crosses on the floor and initialled them. They were our marks. For the next 23 minutes the Kid was the Captain on the bridge. He rode us hard. Kept cranking them out, one after the other, directing proceedings mostly with his eyes. He will be a commanding presence one day. I've been writing a little poetry lately so the Kid wrote songs around them, telling the story of our adventures thus far. Hope you, Pops and little brother are well. Please feel free to have a huge guffaw at my expense. With love from Hoss, the Kid, Lil' Ian and Woofer. The Butchershop Quartet. xxxx"Johnny Wilkes, guitar and vocalsEddie Calver, Hoss - banjo and vocalsLil' Ian -falsetto vocalsWoofer - bass vocalsProduced by Johnny Wilkes, September 21st 195078 rpm shellac digital transferBy Joshua Francis, October 12th 2024With thanks to the Calver Estate){kind=link}