Three Men and a Tenor Entertain Crowd at Saline Fair

Photo: Three Men and a Tenor performing at the Saline Community Fair on August 30, 2025. Photo by Steven Sheldon.

Legendary UCLA basketball John Wooden once said “the truest test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.”  It suggests that private behavior, not just public performance, demonstrates a person’s genuine integrity and moral principles.

But for Paul Felch (singing bass), Chuck Colby (singing baritone), Mark Stiles (singing baritone) – (the three men) and Glenn Williams, (the tenor), their integrity and moral principles were on full display at their concert Saturday evening, on the stage in Barn B at the Saline Fair. Whether singing classic songs everyone knew or tributes to the men and women in the military, the guys sang from their hearts.

Three Men and a Tenor have been singing together for thirty-three years. They met while singing in the Glee Club while students at Michigan State, and have been singing together ever since.

Their concert featured a mixed bag of musical styles and genres. They sang classic country songs from Alabama, Jimmy Dean and Johnny Cash to the pop hits of Neil Diamond, Grand Funk Railroad and John Denver. As they say, a little something for everyone.

Three Men and a Tenor opened with “Some Kind of Wonderful,” then “Young Blood” and “It’s Alright.” In the best choreographed song of the night, the men sang a rousing rendition of “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” giving their best impression of the moves of the Temptations. To introduce the song, the group gave credit to Jay Leno, whom they opened for on a West Coast tour. When Leno was asked why he selected the group to open for his show, Leno said simply, “Being from Michigan, I knew I would be hearing some Motown.”

The guys gave a nice version of The Drifters’ song “Save The Last Dance For Me.” Tenor Glenn Williams led the crowd in a sing-along with John Denver’s iconic “Take Me Home Country Roads.” Felch sang a medley of classic country songs, “Just To Be Your Man,’ “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash and ending with Alabama’s “Elvira.”

In what turned out to be the highlight of the night, the guys ended Act I with the emotional song “A Hero’s Prayer,” written by Greg Cudney, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran, who wrote the song in honor of the people he served with. From the expressions on the men’s faces to their emotion-packed voices, “A Hero’s Prayer” was the stunning, emotional highlight of the night.

Act II opened with a salute to the four military branches, asking veterans of each group to stand and be recognized. They sang, “Army Goes Rolling Along,” “The Marines’ Hymn,” “Anchors Away,” “Wild Blue Yonder,” and finally “Semper Paratus” for the US Coast Guard.

The group sang Johnny Johson’s song “In Color,” followed by “America The Beautiful.” Colby took a different approach to Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John,” with Flech’s deep voice singing “Big Bad John.”

There were clearly songs that took audience members back to a simpler time and place. Tenor Glenn Williams took this reviewer back forty years, when my boys were little, I rocked them to sleep singing Kermit the Frog’s favorite song – “The Rainbow Connection.”

The group concluded their one-hour and forty-five-minute concert with Neil Diamond’s classic sing-along song, “Sweet Caroline.” Consistent with the patriotic flair of their night, with Colby singing lead and Felch, Stiles and Williams singing harmony, the show ended with the crowd pleaser “God Bless The U.S.A.”

Four gentlemen, friends for over thirty years, delighted their audience with a nice blend of music. Not exactly like the old-time barbershop quartets, Three Men and a Tenor sing their own brand of music. It is emotional. It is entertaining. And, most of all, it is top-tapping fun.