Biography

The Buffalo Bills were a barbershop quartet formed in Buffalo, New York, on September 20, 1947. The original members were tenor Vern Reed, an executive for the Tonawanda Boys' Club,lead Al Shea, who was a City of Buffalo policeman, baritone Herschel Smith, a corporate executive, and bass Bill Spangenberg, a truck driver for a steel company. They started out as an unnamed foursome, singing for community groups. During an appearance at the Buffalo Quarterback Club, they were introduced as the "Buffalo Bills", which was meant to be just for that day, but the name stuck from that point on. Coincidentally, a football team known formerly as the Buffalo Bisons also changed its name to the Bills at about the same time; the name proved popular enough that the current Buffalo Bills also picked up the name when they debuted thirteen years later.