Breakdown #5: The Brothers Four
Every month I break down a different recording of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” for your enjoyment (and mine)
LeadBelly. Moses Asch. Josh White. The Almanac Singers. Woody Gutherie. Peter Seeger. The Weavers. Alan Lomax. These are just a few of the names that sparked the first wave of folk music revival in America. A wave that was plagued in the early 1950s by constraints imposed by the red scare, driving many musicians underground. It certainly was a part of the reason folklorist Alan Lomax shipped off to Europe for nearly a decade. While the movement certainly wavered, it never died. In fact, by the time Lomax arrived back in America in 1958, folk music was hardly a dying movement. It was experiencing a second revival that could be heard at hootenanny’s and college campuses across America. The Kingston Trio. The New Lost City Ramblers. The Clancy Brothers. These were the voices of another wave of folk. One such group that emerged from this second wave of revivalists were The Brothers Four.
A bit of background:
Bob Flick, John Paine, Mike Kirkland, and Dick Foley formed the group in 1957. If not obvious from their lack of shared surname, The Brothers Four were not blood brothers. They were brothers of a collegiate sort, members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at University of Washington in Seattle. In 1959, the group had departed from the Evergreen State for the Golden State city of San Francisco, where they secured a deal with Columbia Records. The group would find temporary popularity with their recordings of “Greenfields” (Originally written and performed by The Easy Rides) and “The Green Leaves of Summer” which was featured in the 1960 John Wayne film “The Alamo.” It is hard to say if it was the British invasion or an oversaturated folk market that contributed their fleeting fame. Despite never reaching the level of success as many of their contemporaries, The Brothers Four still perform to this day, albeit with a slightly different lineup.
So, what is so special about this version?
In October of 1963, The Brothers Four released their seventh album “The Big Folk Hits.” It is an odd title for an album that only features a handful of songs popularized by revivalists, such as “Michael Row The Boat Ashore” and “If I Had a Hammer.” The album is more of an amalgamation of covers ranging in genre from Australian pop (“Tie Me Kangaroo, Sport”) to gunfighter ballads (“El Paso”) than it is popular folk songs. “Silver Threads and Golden Needles” is the first track off the album. Don’t be fooled by the folk label, these boys are as cookie cutter as they come. Unlike many a quartet before them, The Brothers Four don’t bring anything new to the four-part harmony. The Irish expat quartet The Clancy Brothers are far more vivacious. In fact, the harmonies featured on this recording distract from the heartache that lies between the lines. Even with the double guitar break, it is a version that will surely lull you to sleep.
However, one choice that really distinguishes this version from others is that The Brothers Four repeat the first verse ending with “While you play your cheating game.” All other versions I have covered thus far have ended the song with the chorus line “Cannot mend this heart of mine.” Was it that the sheet music simply got copied wrong or arranger Milt Okun or one of the members got cheated on that led to this decision? We will never know. But those are my two theories.
Although I am not enthralled by this cover, I am left wondering what the implications are for classifying this tune as a folk song. Is it truly so laughable? Folk music, as a genre, is about more than an aesthetic sound. It is also about how a song is passed along and held within a community.
Silver Threads And Golden Needles Lyrics
(The Brothers Four version)
I don’t want your lonely mansion
With a tear in every room
All I want’s the love you promised
Beneath the haloed moon
But you think I should be happy
With your money and your name
And hide myself in sorrow
While you play your cheating game
Silver threads and golden needles
Cannot mend this heart of mine
And I dare not drown my sorrow
In the warm glow of your wine
But you think I should be happy
With your money and your name
And hide myself in sorrow
While you play your cheating game
[Guitar Break]
Silver threads and golden needles
Cannot mend this heart of mine
And I dare not drown my sorrow
In the warm glow of your wine
But you think I should be happy
With your money and your name
And hide myself in sorrow
While you play your cheating game (x2)