Kirby Stone Four - Guys & Dolls (Like Today)

The Kirby Stone Four had an exuberant, "feel-free" vocal style, that became known as the "Go" sound, a sophisticated combination of imaginative jazz vocalizing and humorous impressions that as the 1950s gave way to the '60s, can be seen as a significant development in the evolution of the American vocal group. They appeared regularly on the Ed Sullivan Show. This association secured them a contract with Columbia and released their 1958 hit single ‘Baubles, Bangles and Beads’ (from the musical Kismet). The accompanying album reached the US Top 20. Guys And Dolls (Like Today) was a highly original view of the Abe Burrows/Jo Swerling/Frank Loesser masterpiece, an adaptation presented as the first in a series called Broadway for Listening, a show for the ear alone, a show that would carry enough of a story line in the music and lyrics as to make visual aids unnecessary. Kirby Stone, and his frequent collaborator, Dick Hyman, achieved their aim by using new arrangements and writing additional lyrics to almost every song to help the ear to "see," and employing group vocals instead of solos by principal singers. Our edition combines Guys & Dolls (Like Today) with the group's Playboy Club album of the previous year and Raven, their 'real gone' interpretation of the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name which features group member Larry Foster and Peggy Powers who supplies the voice of The Raven, returning all of these recordings to the catalog for the first time since their original releases.