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From the Jim Crow world of 1920s Greenville, South Carolina, to Greenwich Village's Caf? Society in the '40s, to their 1974 Grammy-winning collaboration on "Loves Me Like a Rock," the Dixie Hummingbirds have been one of gospel's most durable and inspiring groups. Now, Jerry Zolten tells the Hummingbirds' fascinating story and with it the story of a changing music industry and a changing nation. When James Davis and his high-school friends starting singing together in a rural South Carolina church they could not have foreseen the road that was about to unfold before them. They began a ten-year jaunt of "wildcatting," traveling from town to town, working local radio stations, schools, and churches, struggling to make a name for themselves. By 1939 the a cappella singers were recording their four-part harmony spirituals on the prestigious Decca label. By 1942 they had moved north to Philadelphia and then New York where, backed by Lester Young's band, they regularly brought the house down at the city's first integrated nightclub, Caf? Society. From there the group rode a wave of popularity that would propel them to nation-wide tours, major record contracts, collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon, and a career still vibrant today as they approach their seventy-fifth anniversary. Drawing generously on interviews with Hank Ballard, Otis Williams, and other artists who worked with the Hummingbirds, as well as with members James Davis, Ira Tucker, Howard Carroll, and many others, The Dixie Hummingbirds brings vividly to life the growth of a gospel group and of gospel music itself.
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Great God A’mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds This page intentionally left blank Great God A’mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music Jerry Zolten 3 2 0 0 3 1 Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi São Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright © 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zolten, Jerry. Great god a’mighty! the Dixie Hummingbirds: celebrating the rise of soul gospel music / Jerry Zolten. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–19–515272-7 1. Dixie Hummingbirds. 2. Gospel musicians—United States—Biography. I. Title. ML394 .Z65 2003 782.25'4'0922—dc21 2002005453 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To my mother, Betty, my wife, Joyce, and my son, Zach In memory of my father, Bam In memory of my mentors, Gerald M. Phillips, James S. Hill, Willie “Preacher” Richardson, and Walter Settles This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface 1 “A Wheel in a Wheel, ’Way Up in the Middle of the Air” ix 1 (1916–1928) 2 “I Just Got On My Travelin’ Shoes” (1929–1938) 17 3 “Ain’t Gonna Study War No More” (1939–1942) 49 4 “Twelve Gates to the City” (1943–1944) 79 5 “Move On Up a Little Higher” (1945–1949) 117 6 “My Record Will Be There” (1950–1951) 155 7 “Let’s Go Out to the Programs” (1952–1959) 203 8 “Loves Me Like a Rock” (1960–1976) 261 “Who Are We?” (1977 and Beyond) 301 9 Notes 32