The Dixie Hummingbirds
Encyclopedia
The Dixie Hummingbirds are an influential American
gospel music
group, spanning more than 80 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "hard gospel" quartet style of Gospel's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclectic pop-tinged songs of today.
, by James B. Davis
and his classmates, they sang in local churches until they finished school, then started touring throughout the South.
Lead singer Ira Tucker
joined the group in 1938 at age 13, and they signed with Decca Records
. In addition to his formidable vocal skills, Tucker introduced the energetic showmanship - running through the aisles, jumping off stage, falling to his knees in prayer - copied by many quartets that followed. Tucker also took the lead in the stylistic innovations adopted by the group, combining gospel shouting and subtle melisma
s with the syncopated
delivery made popular by The Golden Gate Quartet
, as well as adventuresome harmonies, which the group called "trickeration", in which Paul Owens
or another member of the group would pick up a note just as Tucker left off. The group relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in the 1940s.
During the years, a number of talented singers starred in the group—their bass, William Bobo (known as Thunder
), baritone Beachy Thompson, James Walker (who replaced Owens), and Claude Jeter
, who went on to star for The Swan Silvertones. The Hummingbirds added a guitarist, Howard Carroll, who added even more propulsive force to their high-flying vocals.
The Hummingbirds absorbed much from other artists as well, performing with Lester Young
in the 1940s and sharing Django Reinhardt
records with B.B. King in the 1950s. Tucker and the Hummingbirds inspired a number of imitators, such as Jackie Wilson
and James Brown, who adapted the shouting style and enthusiastic showmanship of hard gospel to secular themes to help create soul music
in the 1960s.
The group recorded for a number of different labels over the years, while touring the circuit of black churches and gospel extravaganzas. They occasionally came to the attention of white listeners—at Café Society
, the integrated New York nightclub favored by jazz
cognoscenti, in 1942, at the Newport Folk Festival
in 1966, and as backup for Paul Simon
on the 1973 single "Loves Me Like a Rock
". For a long time, the group was signed to Don Robey's Peacock Records, based in Houston, Texas. In 1973, Robey sold Peacock to ABC Records, which released a cover of "Loves Me Like a Rock," produced by Walter "Kandor" Kahn
and the group's lead vocalist Ira Tucker, which reached #72 on Billboard Magazine's Top 100 R&B Singles chart. The single also won a Grammy for "Best Soul Gospel Performance". Kahn and Tucker produced an album for ABC entitled We Love You Like A Rock. The album contained Stevie Wonder
's "Jesus Children", on which Wonder played keyboards.
At that time, the group consisted of five vocalists: Ira
Tucker Sr., James Davis, Beachy Thompson, James Walker and
William Bobo. Howard Carroll was the group's guitarist. The group now consists of William Bright (vocals), Carlton Lewis, III (vocals), , Torrey Nettles (drums/vocals),) and Lyndon Baines Jones (guitar & vocals and Ira Tucker, Jr (vocals)
In 1973 The group sang the backup vocals on Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock", and "Tenderness", from his album "There Goes Rhymin' Simon".
In 2003, the Hummingbirds were the subject of an award-winning book about their 75-year career span, Great God A'Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music [Oxford University Press] by Jerry Zolten. The book was favorably reviewed in The New York Times. 2-26-2003.
In February 2008, the first feature-length documentary/concert film featuring the life and history of the Dixie Hummingbirds was released in commemoration of their extraordinary eighty years as performers. The Dixie Hummingbirds: Eighty Years Young has been shown on the Gospel Music Channel and has played at numerous film festivals. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jeff Scheftel, and executive produced by University of Hawaii
musicologist Jay Junker, the film is now available on DVD, featuring extensive interviews with Ira Tucker, Sr., archival footage, and following the current group as they perform in numerous venues and rehearse under Mr. Tucker's spirited guidance, in their hometown of Philadelphia, and across the vast landscape of America.
Ira Tucker, Sr. died due to complications from heart disease on the morning of June 24, 2008, at the age of 83. The group will go on, thereby preserving the rich legacy left by Tucker, James Davis, William Bobo, Beachey Thompson, James Walker, Howard Carroll, et al., with possible new additions to their personnel down the road.
, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
group, spanning more than 80 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "hard gospel" quartet style of Gospel's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclectic pop-tinged songs of today.
History
Formed in 1928 in Greenville, South CarolinaGreenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
, by James B. Davis
James B. Davis (musician)
James Bodie Davis was an American gospel music singer and a founder of The Dixie Hummingbirds, one of the longest-lasting and most influential groups in gospel music....
and his classmates, they sang in local churches until they finished school, then started touring throughout the South.
Lead singer Ira Tucker
Ira Tucker
Ira Tucker Sr. was the lead singer with the American gospel group The Dixie Hummingbirds. He was with The Dixie Hummingbirds for 70 years, from 1938, when he joined at age 13, until his death from cardiovascular disease on June 24, 2008. Ira is the father of Sundray Tucker, Ira Tucker Jr., and...
joined the group in 1938 at age 13, and they signed with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. In addition to his formidable vocal skills, Tucker introduced the energetic showmanship - running through the aisles, jumping off stage, falling to his knees in prayer - copied by many quartets that followed. Tucker also took the lead in the stylistic innovations adopted by the group, combining gospel shouting and subtle melisma
Melisma
Melisma, in music, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note.-History:Music of ancient cultures used...
s with the syncopated
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
delivery made popular by The Golden Gate Quartet
The Golden Gate Quartet
The Golden Gate Quartet is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active. It is the most successful of all of the African-American gospel music groups who sang in the jubilee quartet style...
, as well as adventuresome harmonies, which the group called "trickeration", in which Paul Owens
Paul Owens (gospel singer)
Paul Owens was one of the foremost artists in African American gospel music, performing with the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Swan Silvertones and the Sensational Nightingales...
or another member of the group would pick up a note just as Tucker left off. The group relocated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in the 1940s.
During the years, a number of talented singers starred in the group—their bass, William Bobo (known as Thunder
Thunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...
), baritone Beachy Thompson, James Walker (who replaced Owens), and Claude Jeter
Claude Jeter
Claude A. Jeter was an African American gospel music singer. Originally a coal miner from Kentucky, Jeter formed the group that would eventually become one of the most popular gospel quartets of the post-war era – the Swan Silvertones...
, who went on to star for The Swan Silvertones. The Hummingbirds added a guitarist, Howard Carroll, who added even more propulsive force to their high-flying vocals.
The Hummingbirds absorbed much from other artists as well, performing with Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
in the 1940s and sharing Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
records with B.B. King in the 1950s. Tucker and the Hummingbirds inspired a number of imitators, such as Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
and James Brown, who adapted the shouting style and enthusiastic showmanship of hard gospel to secular themes to help create soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
in the 1960s.
The group recorded for a number of different labels over the years, while touring the circuit of black churches and gospel extravaganzas. They occasionally came to the attention of white listeners—at Café Society
Café Society
Café society was the collective description for the so-called "Beautiful People" and "Bright Young Things" who gathered in fashionable cafes and restaurants in New York, Paris, and London beginning in the late 19th century...
, the integrated New York nightclub favored by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
cognoscenti, in 1942, at the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
in 1966, and as backup for Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
on the 1973 single "Loves Me Like a Rock
Loves Me Like a Rock
"Loves Me Like a Rock" is a 1973 song recorded by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Simon wrote the song, which appears on his solo album There Goes Rhymin' Simon....
". For a long time, the group was signed to Don Robey's Peacock Records, based in Houston, Texas. In 1973, Robey sold Peacock to ABC Records, which released a cover of "Loves Me Like a Rock," produced by Walter "Kandor" Kahn
Walter "Kandor" Kahn
Walter "Kandor" Kahn began his music career as a Top 40 radio DJ/announcer and recording engineer. His early music productions include "Loves Me Like A Rock", written by Paul Simon, performed by The Dixie Hummingbirds, and released on ABC Records. In 1974, he was awarded a Grammy for producing...
and the group's lead vocalist Ira Tucker, which reached #72 on Billboard Magazine's Top 100 R&B Singles chart. The single also won a Grammy for "Best Soul Gospel Performance". Kahn and Tucker produced an album for ABC entitled We Love You Like A Rock. The album contained Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
's "Jesus Children", on which Wonder played keyboards.
At that time, the group consisted of five vocalists: Ira
Tucker Sr., James Davis, Beachy Thompson, James Walker and
William Bobo. Howard Carroll was the group's guitarist. The group now consists of William Bright (vocals), Carlton Lewis, III (vocals), , Torrey Nettles (drums/vocals),) and Lyndon Baines Jones (guitar & vocals and Ira Tucker, Jr (vocals)
In 1973 The group sang the backup vocals on Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock", and "Tenderness", from his album "There Goes Rhymin' Simon".
In 2003, the Hummingbirds were the subject of an award-winning book about their 75-year career span, Great God A'Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music [Oxford University Press] by Jerry Zolten. The book was favorably reviewed in The New York Times. 2-26-2003.
In February 2008, the first feature-length documentary/concert film featuring the life and history of the Dixie Hummingbirds was released in commemoration of their extraordinary eighty years as performers. The Dixie Hummingbirds: Eighty Years Young has been shown on the Gospel Music Channel and has played at numerous film festivals. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Jeff Scheftel, and executive produced by University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
musicologist Jay Junker, the film is now available on DVD, featuring extensive interviews with Ira Tucker, Sr., archival footage, and following the current group as they perform in numerous venues and rehearse under Mr. Tucker's spirited guidance, in their hometown of Philadelphia, and across the vast landscape of America.
Ira Tucker, Sr. died due to complications from heart disease on the morning of June 24, 2008, at the age of 83. The group will go on, thereby preserving the rich legacy left by Tucker, James Davis, William Bobo, Beachey Thompson, James Walker, Howard Carroll, et al., with possible new additions to their personnel down the road.
Grammy history
| The Dixie Hummingbirds Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... History |
|||||
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Label | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Best Traditional Gospel Album | Still Keeping It Real | Gospel | MCG | Nominee |
| 1973 | Best Soul Gospel Performance Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance The Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance was awarded from 1969 to 1977. In 1978 the award was divided into two new awards, the Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional and Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Contemporary.Years reflect the year... |
"Loves Me Like a Rock Loves Me Like a Rock "Loves Me Like a Rock" is a 1973 song recorded by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Simon wrote the song, which appears on his solo album There Goes Rhymin' Simon.... " |
Gospel | MCG | Winner |
Grammy Hall of Fame
Recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of FameGrammy Hall of Fame Award
The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"...
, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
| Grammy Hall of Fame | |||||
| Year Recorded | Title | Artist | Genre | Label | Year Inducted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | "Amazing Grace Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,... " |
The Dixie Hummingbirds | Gospel (Single) | Apollo | 2000 |
Inductions
| Year Inducted | Title |
|---|---|
| 2007 | Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum |
| 2000 | Vocal Group Hall of Fame Vocal Group Hall of Fame The Vocal Group Hall of Fame was organized to honor outstanding vocal groups throughout the world. It is headquartered in Sharon, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes a theater and a museum.... |
Further reading
- Boyer, Horace Clarence, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel Elliott and Clark, 1995, ISBN 0-252-06877-7.
- Heilbut, TonyAnthony HeilbutAnthony Heilbut , is an American writer, and record producer of gospel music. He is noted for his biography of Thomas Mann, and has also won a Grammy Award.-Life:He has a doctorate in English from Harvard University....
, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times Limelight Editions, 1997, ISBN 0-87910-034-6. - Zolten, Jerry, Great God A' Mighty! : The Dixie Hummingbirds - Celebrating The Rise Of Soul Gospel Music Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-19-515272-7.
External links
- 'The Dixie Hummingbirds' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page.
- Recording of Dixie Hummingbirds performing "Jesus is Coming Soon" in Orlando in 1985, made available free for public use by the State Archives of Florida