Dealer's Choice were SPEBSQSA Champions in 1973, and maintained their following and reputation through a long and prodigious career. This four-CD 'Anthology' traces their evolution as barbershoppers supreme. The first CD's focus is on the traditional, with 'At The Jazz Band Ball,' 'Who'll Take My Place When I'm Gone' and 'Old Fashioned Mother of Mine' some examples. Subsequent recordings featured more vocal jazz and pop, such as 'What'll I Do' and 'Didn't We,' along with the Beach Boys and Simon and Garfunkel medleys. The Dealer's Choice arrangement of the 'Lord's Prayer,' from the second CD, is especially grand. This group combined exceptional tone, state-of-the-art arrangements and performance flair Ð legendary!

Listen to If You Could Read My Mind in RealAudio.

1973 International Quartet Champions Dealer's Choice recorded this CD just prior to their appearance at the British Association of Barbershoppers Convention in 1978. Featuring a nice mix of traditional barbershop and pop tunes, such as a Simon & Garfunkel medley and the quintessential hankie-wringing movie theme, 'The Way We Were,' the group also includes the tongue-in-cheek 'Ain't She Sweet,' and 'Chloe,' which begins subtly and then gradually swells into a broad chorus, followed by its apogee, the tag-the defining moment for any manly barbershop contingent!

A different line-up than that of the previous recording-Brian Beck and Greg Clancy assuming the positions of Al Kvanli and Greg Lyne-Volume Four nonetheless reflects the same fine close harmony that made Dealer's Choice consistently popular, even today. Leading off with a crowd-pleasing Beach Boys medley, the Dealers segue into 'If You Could Read My Mind,' the 'seventies pop hit, the arrangement of which is entirely original and a barbershop how-to manual of stylistic conversion. A recommended selection for any fan of the genre, but Dealer's Choice enthusiasts will want all four volumes.

Early on in the flourishing of doo-wop music there was the beginning of an evolutionary division into the tributaries which led to popular music and that which led to R&B. Choice is a group of five students and practitioners of this second tributary which has so enriched American culture. They pick tunes which might not be as well known as the often covered standards, but after all they are keeping a heritage alive. You'll hear 'If I May' as they learned it from Nat King Cole & The Four Knights' 1955 recording for Capitol. Or how about listening closely to 'Chicken Blues' which they heard the Domino's sing on the 1950 recording; catch that vocal horn break! As for the group itself, there are three tenors, a baritone and a bass. This is one fabulous recording! Jersey City, one of the centers of vocal harmony in the U.S. has another set of favorite sons to proclaim to the world!