The Brothers Four - Greatest Hits (1962) 24-Bit/96-kHz Vinyl Rip

Most accounts of the post-WWII folk music boom focus on the political and issue-oriented branch of the music, embodied by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, at the expense of the softer, more entertainment-oriented branch, embodied by the likes of the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and the Brothers Four. Those acts and the music they made – though it sold well and, indeed, for many years defined what most Americans visualized when the phrase "folk music" was mentioned – are scarcely mentioned in most histories; the Brothers Four aren't even listed in the Guinness Who's Who of Folk Music.
One major misconception about the Brothers Four is that they were an attempt to emulate the Kingston Trio. Actually, Bob Flick (upright bass, baritone, bass), John Paine (guitar, baritone), Mike Kirkland (guitar, banjo, tenor), and Dick Foley (guitar, baritone) had met as undergraduates at the University of Washington in 1956 and began singing together in 1957, more than a year before the Kingston Trio made their first record. Folk music was booming at most liberal arts colleges in those days, and every campus seemed to have its share of trios and quartets, mostly drawn from the ranks of their fraternities. Flick, Paine, Kirkland, and Foley were all members of Phi Gamma Delta and aspired to careers in medicine, engineering, and diplomacy – as amateur performers, however, they were good on their instruments and delighted campus audiences with their ability to harmonize on traditional tunes, novelty songs, and romantic ballads.
In July of 1958, the single "Tom Dooley" by the Kingston Trio began its climb to three million sales, and the folk revival boom snowballed from there. During Easter week of 1959, the Brothers Four made their move to San Francisco for some better gigs and earned a spot at the Hungry I club. It was there that they were seen by Mort Lewis, who was the manager of jazz pianist Dave Brubeck – Lewis persuaded the group to cut a demo tape, which he brought to Columbia Records. The label liked what it heard and suddenly the quartet had a recording contract and a full-time manager.
Their second single, "Greenfields," a somber, moody piece that had been written four years earlier by Terry Gilkyson, Richard Dehr, and Frank Miller of the Easy Riders. The Brothers Four version, highlighted by their elegant harmonies, was issued early in 1960, charted in February of that year, and eventually ascended to the number two spot in the course of a 20-week run in the Top 40. Suddenly, the Brothers Four were second in prominence on the burgeoning folk revival scene only to the Kingston Trio and their near-contemporaries, the Limeliters, and had concert engagements across America. A debut album, The Brothers Four, was released late that winter and reached the Top 20 nationally as well.
The Brothers Four reached their peak of recognition in 1963 when they recorded "Hootenanny Saturday Night," the title theme from the ABC network series Hootenanny. The song itself was no major achievement, but it gave the quartet weekly exposure on the major television venue for folk music – the series drew a loyal audience from its debut in April of 1963

Turntable: Roksan Radius III
Tonearm: Audioquest PT-9
Cartridge: Ortofon X5-MC (Moving Coil)
Cable: Van den Hul phono cable
Pre-amplifier: Counterpoint SA 5.1 (vacuum tube Sovtek 6922)
Interconnect: balanced, Belden 1813A cable with Neutrik XLR connectors
Analog to Digital Converter: EMU 1212M (configured for balanced input +4dBu, 0 dB Gain)
Capture software: Goldwave 5.22
Post processing: none. ( No click/pop filter ever applied. No digital volume adjustment)
Ripping policy: I always rip good condition vinyl so that the amount of click/pop will be at minimum without distracting listening enjoyment