The Four Esquires were an American vocal quartet from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, United States. The original four members were all students at the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

. Following the completion of their studies, they were signed in March 1956 by London Records. Their version of "Look Homeward Angel" was notable, but any possibility of a chart entry was snuffed out by

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...

's version of the same track. They did have two

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

singles in the US late in the 1950s, both on Paris Records. The first, " Love Me Forever", featured

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

l backing by

Sid Bass Sid Richardson Bass (born April 9, 1942) is an American billionaire investor and philanthropist. Early life Sid Richardson Bass was born on April 9, 1942. His father, Perry Richardson Bass (died 2006), built an oil fortune with uncle, Sid W. ...

with vocal enhancement from a female session vocalist, and peaked at No. 25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1957. Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 It also reached No. 23 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the US,

Eydie Gormé Eydie Gormé ( ; born Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who had hits on the pop and Latin pop charts. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on albums and telev ...

's cover charted higher, whilst in the UK it was outsold by

Marion Ryan Marion Ryan (4 February 1931 – 15 January 1999) was a British singer in the 1950s in the early years of British Independent Television. She was once called "the Marilyn Monroe of popular song". Early life Born in Middlesbrough, North Ridi ...

's version. The Four Esquires second hit, "Hideaway", had orchestral accompaniment by

Richard Hayman Richard Hayman (March 27, 1920 – February 5, 2014) was an American musician who was the chief music arranger of the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 50 years, and served as a pops conductor for orchestras including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra ...

, and peaked at No. 21 in the US in 1958. In 1963, the group performed a vocal

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the "

James Bond Theme The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since '' Dr. No'', released in 1962. Composed by Monty Norman (with arrangements for film provided by John Bar ...

". They disbanded shortly afterwards.

Members

*Bill Courtney *Frank Mahoney (Francis Mahony; died 2007; served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as interpreter; active in Alcoholics Anonymous in Boston area from early 1980s through 2007) *

Wally Gold Wally Gold (May 15, 1928 – June 7, 1998) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and music business executive from Teaneck, New Jersey. Personal life Gold was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Gold moved to T ...

(died June 7, 1998) *Bob Golden aka Robert Colligan *William Powers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Esquires, The Musical groups from Boston Apex Records artists American vocal groups Vocal quartets