LAUGHTER, LOVE, and a BARBERSHOP SONG by Fred Gielow This web page revised: January 6, 2007. Hard cover -- Order a copy Soft-cover -- Order a copy Government Run Amok e-Mailbox1 e-Mailbox 2 It's Been Said Must Read Poems Picture This Quickies Say What? This & That Thoughts Xtra The way back home. Send this page from You Don't Say to a friend. For those using Microsoft Internet Explorer: Select the "Mail" icon at the top of this window, then "Send Page." For those using Netscape: Select "File" at the top of this window, then "Send Page."

Many years ago, in a "prior life," I was an active member of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA) and I participated in countless chorus and quartet activities. Singing is a glorious hobby and I have precious memories of those exciting barbershopping days. My chorus was the great Poughkeepsie NewYorkers. We won the district championship several times and ranked as high as sixth internationally. There were many inspired and energetic forces that kept our Wednesday evening rehearsals lively and gratifying. Probably the most influential individual in the success of the chorus was its director for many years, Bill James. His musical talent -- directing, arranging, performing -- was gifted. His leadership was stunning. His dedication was inspirational. Singing with the Poughkeepsie NewYorkers in contests, in the annual show we produced each year, and in numerous other venues, was thrilling and rewarding. My first quartet was the Four Gone Conclusions, which very quickly became the Unlikely Hoods (see photos below), and it was active from 1966 to 1975. My first performance in "The Music Man" precipitated a change of quartet personnel and name. The Brotherhood was then active for about ten years until 1985, when tenor, Pete Donatelli died suddenly. Upon moving to North Carolina I sang in my second (and only other) "Music Man" performance (actually several shows over several days) with a quartet named Tune Foolery. Then in 1990 I moved to Florida and sang in a quartet named Order in the Chord. For excitement, camaraderie, and satisfaction, nothing quite matches singing in a barbershop quartet. I sang on more than 100 shows from Maine to California, from as far south as Florida to as far north as Newfoundland. The memories are many and priceless. For the past decade or so I've been singing in a quartet named The Old School, recently renamed The Old Friends Quartet. We don't get together nearly enough, but when we do the harmony and fraternity are priceless. But way back in 1977, I decided that the barbershop experience was just too good to keep to myself, so I set about to write a book about it. I solicited stories from barbershoppers all around the U.S. and Canada, and combined them with some of my own tales. The hard-cover book, Laughter, Love, and a Barbershop Song, was published in 1980. Almost all copies are now gone, but I do have about a dozen that I saved, and I've decided to now make them available for sale. Order a copy. Hard cover -- Order a copy Soft-cover -- Order a copy In 2002, I received an e-mail from Jim Coates, an avid barbershopper in Springboro, Ohio, who said my book should be reprinted, so a whole new generation of barbershoppers can enjoy its behind-the-scene glimpses of the barbershopping phenomenon. I thought Jim's idea was a good one, particularly since he offered to act as publisher for the new edition, and he has been selling the paperback edition of the book since the end of 2002. The cover artwork was revised somewhat, as you can see, and a couple of pages inside were brought up to date (with a new ISBN number, for example), but all the barbershop tales are untouched, as is the foreword by Walter Latzko. The paperback version of is available from the Harmony Marketplace as Item #4252 at a price of $14.95. (I receive no commission or income from the sale of any of the books sold at the store.) If you enjoy singing, if you enjoy listing to singing, if you enjoy classic stories of singers and their rich experiences, you'll enjoy Laughter, Love, and a Barbershop Song. Every barbershopper -- Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines, Harmony, Inc. -- will be delighted with it. Every music teacher will find it a treat. Actually everyone will enjoy the antics, harmony, and fun described in its pages. Laughter, Love, and a Barbershop Song -- From the back cover: Long before television captivated us with its magic phosphorescent images, and not so long before the good old days of radio, there was a grand old time of theater entertainment, with stage plays, variety shows, song-and-dance men, vaudeville! It was the theater's heyday, bringing show-goers the delight and excitement of live performances: singers, hoofers, piano players, magicians, animal acts. The lights dimmed, the curtain parted, and another performance began! But before you lament the passing of that fine old show-business tradition, look again. Those good old days live on! Throughout the United States and Canada, in cities, towns, and hamlets, you can find a barbershop show. With chorus and quartet performances, the charm of turn-of-the-century stage productions is preserved, but packaged and presented in a completely contemporary way. The barbershop show is one of the last remaining forms of family entertainment. A local production with local talent but often with imported barbershop favorites, it is song and banter, harmony and laughter, an amateur show presented in a professional way. It's this unique barbershop show business you'll read about herein, with stories about choruses, quartets, and individual barbershoppers and their experiences. You'll read about the Bluegrass Student Union, Boston Common, Buffalo Bills, Four Renegades, Midstates Four, Oriole Four, Roaring 20s, Salt Flats, Suntones, and dozens more. You'll read tales told by Terry Clarke, Buzz Haeger, Carl Hancuff, Forry Haynes, Val Hicks, Jack Hines, Freddie King, Frank Lanza, Jim Massey, Doran McTaggart, Lou Perry, Hal Purdy, Vern Reed, Joe Schmitt, Lou Sisk, Lloyd Steinkamp, Tim Stivers, Jiggs Ward, Harlan Wilson, and Reedie Wright, just to name a few. In all, this book contains more than 200 anecdotes contributed by more than five dozen barbershoppers. More than 250 Society members are mentioned by name, more than 45 chapters, more than 100 quartets! You'll read about wild shenanigans and shows and the marvelous merriment practiced by barbershop singers. You'll read about touching and tender moments. You'll read about side-splitting, laugh-until-you-cry barbershop happenings. You'll read about the wealth of laughter and love that seems uniquely instilled in that curious creature called a barbershopper, and you'll discover there's boundless joy in his efforts to learn, perfect, and perform a barbershop song! The Unlikely Hoods During a performance in Poughkeepsie, New York, 1966 George Nagy (bass), Mike Patti (baritone), Fred Gielow (lead), Pete Donatelli (tenor). The Unlikely Hoods In a publicity photo, 1967 George Nagy (bass), Bill James (baritone), Fred Gielow (lead), Pete Donatelli (tenor). The Brotherhood In a publicity photo, probably 1975 Fred Gielow (baritone), Anton Grosz (bass), Mike Myers (lead), Pete Donatelli (tenor). The Brotherhood At the SPEBSQSA International Contest in San Francisco, 1976 Mike Myers (lead), Tony Grosz (bass), Fred Gielow (baritone), Pete Donatelli (tenor). The Brotherhood At the SPEBSQSA International Contest in Philadelphia, 1977 Fred Gielow (baritone), Anton Grosz (bass), Mike Myers (lead), Pete Donatelli (tenor). The Brotherhood Performing at the White House, July 4, 1981 Fred Gielow (baritone), Fritz Jones (bass), Mike Myers (lead), Pete Donatelli (tenor). A 'Hoods' Reunion At the Altamonte Restaurant, Mid-Hudson Valley, New York, February 1981. Standing: Anton Grosz, Bill James, George Nagy, Pete Donatelli, Fritz Jones, Mike Myers, Fred Gielow, Don Barnes. Seated: Mike Patti. As a fifth-grader at Edison Elementary School in Detroit. Michigan, I performed in my first quartet at a monthly meeting of the PTA, and that performance was the start of a love affair with singing that has lasted ever since. I participated in glee club and chorus groups in high school and college and accumulated a good many years of singing experience before ever hearing about the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of BarberShop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA -- now known as the Barbershop Harmony Society). After joining the Poughkeepsie, New York Chapter in 1966, I sampled and savored many sides of barbershopping life. I sang in International chorus and quartet competitions, worked in chapter administration, served on the Society's Chapter Officer Training School (COTS) faculty, and, as a member of the Unlikely Hoods and Brotherhood quartets, performed in shows from St. John's, Newfoundland to Pasadena, California. Outside of the barbershopping realm, my interests focus on travel, photography and writing. I've written articles that have appeared in local magazines and national publications. I've published a book dealing with conservative politics (You Don't Say and I now maintain a conservative politics website. In 1977 I decided to combine my writing and singing interests, and set out to produce a book about my favorite hobby. It took more than three years to complete, but I enjoyed every minute of it! I found a special fulfillment in my barbershopping pursuits, a special laughter and love. Through the stories and anecdotes assembled in my book, perhaps you, too, can find a special laughter and love in a barbershop song. The way back home.