However odd spending the last remaining hours of this year in Taiwan listening to North American folk music may appear, scores of people will be doing just that, as the US' longest surviving group, the Brothers Four have returned to Taiwan and will once again be performing two special year-end concerts at Taipei's Novel Hall, tonight and tomorrow.
The folk ensemble's year-end bashes are so popular with Taiwan audiences that when the group last performed here it did so to packed houses on both nights. And while there are still a few tickets available for both shows, organizers expect them to sell out quickly.
While many outside the US may be unfamiliar with the ensemble most North Americans will have heard at least one or two of the Brothers' many tunes from its huge repertoire, that spans 47 years and three dozen albums.
Formed by University of Washington students Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland and Dick Foley in 1956, the ensemble began its days performing campus gigs. Deciding to forgo their chosen careers on graduation, the combo's members moved to New York in the late 1950s to record.
The group's 1959 debut single, Chicka Mucha Hi Di bombed, but within two years the group had scored a top 10 hit with its second single, Greenfields and had its third single, The Green Leaves of Summer featured in the John Wayne movie, The Alamo. It was nominated for an Oscar at the 1960 Academy Awards.
The group's rise to superstardom was short lived, however. By 1964 the popularity of folk music was on the decline. Four long-haired lads from Liverpool, England, known as The Beatles had grabbed the limelight.
The group kept at it, however. And though by the mid-1970s its record sales had dropped to all-time lows and the group was relegated to performing at hotels and other second-rate venues, fans of easy listening folk continued to turn out for its shows.
While changing musical tastes prevented the group from becoming a household name worldwide, 50 years since the original Brothers Four line-up stepped out to entertain university students the group still enjoys a loyal following.
Its fan base now ranges from those who remember the group in its heyday in the US, plus newcomers to the US folk scene in Japan, where one of the group's most popular albums of recent years was recorded.
The group's weekend concerts in Taipei center around the New Year celebrations, but it will also be plugging the recent re-release of its 1966 Merry Christmas album and an upcoming "Best Of" collection.
Performance notes:
What: Brothers Four: Re-visited
Where: Novel Hall (
When: Tonight at 7:30pm and tomorrow at 9:45pm
Tickets: Tickets cost from NT$800 to NT$3,500 and are available direct from the Novel Hall's box office.
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