It started for me in 1949. A young man, who had come to Washington to become the choral director at the high school, took a room in the house across the street (and 12th Street was not paved then).

He let me listen to his 78 records of college men’s glee clubs and barbershop quartets. I was hooked. The chords. The close harmony. A capella. It reached out to me in a way hard to describe. And I was just 10 years old.

Only a couple of years later I knew what I really, really wanted to do. I mean, what my future ambitions were. I wanted to sing in the high school barbershop quartet. And play football for the Pam Pack. Such were the hopes and aspirations of my youth.

By my sophomore year in school I was doing both. What more could one ask for? What, indeed.

Across all those years — I’m talking 60-plus years — I’ve maintained my love for that genre of music. There have been five different choruses in five different cities, and a bunch of quartets. A bunch.

Our last foursome — “Men ‘n a Chord” — had a long life, as quartets go. Our repertoire was bulging, and diverse. We became more than “Men ‘n a Chord.” We were “Friends ‘n a Chord.”

Alas. It has come to an end. One member chose to “retire.” Our last time singing together was July 5.

No more chords. No more close harmony. No more a capella. (Well, I still have the Greenville “Carolina Chord Connection,” a chorus that is part of the Barbershop Harmony Society.)

But oh, how I miss my quartet. There is a powerfully poignant song, arranged in such an emotion-grabbing fashion (chord structure) that will move one to tears: “That Old Quartet of Mine.” It is a wistful, heart-tugging yearning to “sing one more song, just one more song — with that old quartet of mine.” And those chords at the end? Indescribably beautiful.

Now, I know that I probably won’t play any more football for the Pam Pack.

But sing in another quartet?

One can hope.

APROPOS — “ One more song. Let’s sing one more song. Let the memories linger on and on. ‘Til we meet. ‘Til we meet and sing — one more song — one more song.”

– Joe Liles

Barbershop Harmony Society (song)