Volume 1 Number 3 – Fall 2021

Jack Baird joined the Barbershop Harmony Society and the Omaha, Nebraska chapter in the fall of 1948. He sang baritone with his first quartet, The Melody Mugs, in four contests before moving to Chicago in 1951. Once in the Illinois District, he quickly joined the Q-Suburban Chapter and sang with several pick-up quartets. In 1953, Jack transferred to the Southtown Chapter. In 1956, as District Vice-President, Jack helped the Palos Chapter survive by re-organizing it into the Southwest Suburban Chapter and moving it to Oak Lawn.

Jack sang baritone in the Barbersharps quartet for sixteen years through sixteen changes in personnel. The quartet took top honors, winning the district championship in 1966. The quartet competed in three International contests, and made the top twenty in 1968. The Barbersharps also participated in USO shows, appearing in the Philippines during the late 1960s. After that quartet disbanded, Jack stayed active in quartet singing, and formed the Close Harmony Committee, which won the district championship in 1972. Jack sang in every contest throughout the 1970s, and most during the decades that followed, having competed nearly 50 times! In fact, Jack holds the record for the most consecutive quartet appearances in contest. He was never that concerned with where he finished, just as long as he could be there.

Jack was basically a quartet man but realized the necessity of having a chorus to develop the singers for his quartets. He developed the Four Star Barbershopper Program long before the Society promoted the Barber Polecat Program. It was designed to start out simple and progress to the more challenging songs. He held every office in chapter leadership except treasurer and won numerous awards, including Chapter Barbershopper of the Year, Award for Barbershop Excellence (ABE) in 1966 and the QCA’s Music Man Award in 1995.

Jack wrote a regular column for the Attacks and Releases entitled, “Preserving and Encouraging” for 12 years. He was a frequent educator at district IDAH schools as well as Harmony College. He also served as the district historian in the 1980s and was instrumental in compiling information regarding the early years of the Illinois District during the Society’s fiftieth anniversary. In addition, Jack had a collection of nearly 1,000 old recordings, many from the 1920s and earlier. He spent years gathering them and transferring them to MP3s. He took all of the Society’s 78rpm quartet record collection and digitized them as well.

Perhaps Jack’s biggest contribution to the barbershop world was his arrangements. Since the 1950s, he took credit for many published and unpublished arrangements, including “South Rampart Street Parade” for The Confederates (1956 Int’l Champs), and “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone” for The Four Renegades (1965 Int’l Champs). His favorite arrangements were of the Dixieland Jazz genre. Several of his arrangements have been recorded by International Medalists and also were included in the Society’s seven folios, including “The Heritage of Harmony Songbook.” Jack also shared his talents by serving as an Arrangement judge for the entire 22-year run of that particular judging category, served as Category Specialist, and judged contests in all the districts.

Jack Baird passed away in 2010. He was the consummate quartet singer who gave tirelessly to his chapter, district, and the Society. In May of 1993, Jack was interviewed by Society historian Grady Kerr. During that interview, Jack stated, “In my opinion, there is no higher aim than singing in a quartet…I don’t think guys really understand and realize how much fun they can have singing in a quartet until they have experienced it.”

Spoken like a true quartet man.