Still Fresh

by Alex HendersonThe Four Freshmen celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1998, but there was a catch -- all of the group's original members (Bob Flanigan, Hal Kratzsch, and brothers Don and Ross Barbour) were long gone. Flanigan, however, directed and managed the group in the '90s, although he was no longer an actual member. The Freshmen went through their share of personnel changes over the years, and when they recorded Still Fresh for Pat Boone's Gold Label Entertainment in 1999, the lineup consisted of Greg Stegeman, Bob Ferreira, Kevin Stout, and Brian Eichenberger. Not fantastic or essential, but generally decent, Still Fresh breaks no new ground for the quartet. But then, it isn't supposed to -- the idea was to be faithful to the spirit of the original group, and the Freshmen of 1999 accomplish that on likable versions of the Nat King Cole classics "Unforgettable," "Straighten Up and Fly Right," and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home" as well as famous standards like "Moonlight in Vermont" and "My Shining Hour." This isn't to say that Still Fresh is in a class with the Freshmen's influential Capitol output of the '50s -- those who don't own any Freshmen records would be much better off starting out with a collection of recordings from that period. This competent, if unremarkable, effort is strictly for the group's most die-hard fans.