Down By The Riverside Lyrics

Pop legends still deliver magic 'Moments' on PBS special

The ranks of the singers who created the fine pop music of the early 1950s have thinned, sadly and inevitably.

The consolation is that their music never stops sounding good and it sounds good once more in this PBS pledge-drive special.

Since it's almost impossible to find this music in a broadcast medium anymore, it's a pleasure to hear the current incarnations of the Four Lads, the Four Aces, Herb Reed's Platters and others reprise those lovely melodic tunes from decades past.

That said, "Moments to Remember" feels cobbled together, doubtless from necessity. Even though this was filmed about five years ago, relatively few of the original artists were still performing.

For instance: Bob Flanagan, the last surviving original member of the Four Freshmen, comes onstage only to introduce a much younger quartet performing the group's signature songs, pretty much in the group's signature style.

To fill out the representation of the era, the special includes two black-and-white clips from 1950s television shows. Unfortunately, both are novelty songs that aren't the best representation of that singer's appeal: Rosemary Clooney singing "Come On-a My House," which she hated and Perry Como doing an out-of-sync lip-sync of "Hot Diggity."

Most of the show is live performance, though and it's done nicely, with an orchestra, backup singers and a generally classy production.

Patti Page doesn't sing "Allegheny Moon" exactly as she did 55 years ago, but that's okay and there isn't a soul in the audience who isn't singing along when the Four Lads perform "Moments to Remember."

Perhaps the most touching moment comes when Frankie Laine, age 92, sings a remarkably strong rendition of "That's My Desire." Laine died in 2007, not long after this was filmed.

A few artists wax nostalgic, including Roger Williams as he explains he's going to play an updated version of his 1955 hit "Autumn Leaves" before he plays the version that everyone knows.

No one will begrudge him that indulgence, nor will they mind when the multiple hosts, who include Wink Martindale, Peter Marshall and Nick Clooney, all crack jokes about first hearing so-and-so perform in some small club in 1952.

A few singers play with the lyrics of their songs. Julius LaRosa adds verses about how many times he's had to sing his hits and the Four Lads' version of "Down by the Riverside" omits the punch line, about "ain't gonna study war no more.

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