The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi was an American post-war gospel quartet. They started with lead singer Archie Brownlee , their single "Our Father" reached number ten on the Billboard R&B charts in early 1951.
17-457: Five Blind Boys may refer to: Five Blind Boys of Mississippi (1936–1994), a gospel group from Jackson, Mississippi Five Blind Boys of Alabama (1939–present), a gospel group from Talladega, Alabama Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Five Blind Boys . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
34-408: A bright multi-colored peacock tail on an otherwise blue label background, and it is these later records which are often sought by Northern soul collectors. The Duke-Peacock family of labels (which also included Back Beat and Sure Shot) was sold to ABC Dunhill Records of Los Angeles on May 23, 1973, with label founder Don Robey staying with ABC as a consultant until his death in 1975. The label name
51-406: A high voice which was comparable, in some respects, to Brownlee's. Other singers who worked with the group for a time included Rev. Sammy Lewis , Rev. George Warren , James Watts , and Vance Powell . By the end of the 1960s, the group had released 27 singles and 2 albums for Peacock. In the 1970s and early 1980s, they recorded some material for Jewel, and they continued to tour into the 1990s. Of
68-649: A quintet. In the mid-1940s, Brownlee and the others relocated to Chicago, and changed their name to the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. Under the influence of R.H. Harris of the Soul Stirrers , Brownlee moved away from the jubilee style of singing and towards a more popular hard gospel style. Even though Harris' influence was persuasive—the Blind Boys at first covered Soul Stirrers songs almost exclusively—Brownlee's high voice, which could move from
85-478: A sweet croon to a devastating scream, was one of the most recognizable in gospel. Though blind from birth, he would also sometimes leap from a stage into the audience below . With the addition of hard gospel shouter Rev. Percell Perkins (1917-2003) (who replaced Henderson), the Blind Boys moved into their period of greatest fame. Perkins, who was not blind, became the group's manager, and they began to record, first for Excelsior in 1946, then for Coleman in 1948. Ford
102-870: The Duke Records label of Memphis, Tennessee , and formed Duke-Peacock Records. Peacock also had a very successful gospel music division, which released music from such notable gospel artists as the Dixie Hummingbirds , the Mighty Clouds of Joy , the Sensational Nightingales , the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi , Reverend Cleophus Robinson , , the Gospelaires, the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers ,
119-559: The Bronze Peacock, the record label's roster expanded to include such notable rhythm and blues artists as Marie Adams , James Booker , Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown , Little Richard , Memphis Slim , and former gospel singer Jackie Verdell . In 1953, Big Mama Thornton 's " Hound Dog " (later covered by Elvis Presley ) was a hit for Peacock. The label also dabbled in jazz , releasing albums by vocalist Betty Carter and saxophonist Sonny Criss . In 1952, Robey gained control of
136-565: The Loving Sisters, and gospel/jazz group Together (1975), which included saxophonist Felix "Top Cat" Dixon. At the end of 1963, the label launched the gospel subsidiary label Song Bird Records which featured Inez Andrews . In the later 1960s, Peacock again began to issue secular soul singles by artists such as Jackie Verdell, the Inspirations, Little Frankie Lee , Al 'TNT' Bragg and Bud Harper. This later Peacock label featured
153-419: The age of 34, and not long after Perkins left as well to go into the ministry. Brownlee was, at first, replaced by Roscoe Robinson and, after Robinson left the group to go out on his own, by the very able lead Henry Johnson , who, like Brownlee, made devastating screams. Quartet veteran Willmer Broadnax took the position of second lead. He was later replaced by Willie Mincey . Broadnax, in particular, had
170-641: The early forties, they began performing professionally singing pop music as the Cotton Blossom Singers and religious material under the name The Jackson Harmoneers . They were often backed by a female jazz band which originated from the same country school known as " The International Sweethearts of Rhythm ." In the early 1940s, Melvin Henderson , also known as Melvin Hendrix , joined the group making them—like many so-called quartets—actually
187-611: The line, "Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river," in the song " Proud Mary " was to evoke male gospel harmonies, as exemplified by groups such as the Swan Silvertones , the Sensational Nightingales , and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. The group originated in 1936 as a quartet of students from the Piney Woods School near Jackson, Mississippi . The students — Brownlee, Joseph Ford , Lawrence Abrams , and Lloyd Woodard — originally sang under
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#1732772392293204-413: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Five_Blind_Boys&oldid=1165240005 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Five Blind Boys of Mississippi John Fogerty 's goal for
221-638: The mid-1940s. According to Fountain, however, the two groups were actually christened simultaneously during a Newark, New Jersey quartet contest in 1948. Peacock Records Peacock Records was an American record label , founded in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston , Texas , United States. Robey established the record label in 1949 after two years of being blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown 's manager, and Brown not finding commercial success with Aladdin Records . Named after Robey's Houston nightclub,
238-608: The name "the Cotton Blossom Singers", performing jubilee quartet and secular material, to raise money for the school. Their teacher, Martha Louise Morrow Foxx , helped organize the blind singers at the behest of the school founder Laurence C. Jones . On March 9, 1937, Brownlee and the others recorded sacred tunes (as the Blind Boys) and three secular numbers (as Abraham, Woodard, and Patterson) for Library of Congress researcher Alan Lomax . After graduation in
255-570: The three remaining members of the original group, Lloyd Woodard died in June 1973, Lawrence Abrams passed on in August, 1982, and Henry Johnson passed on December 10, 1999. The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi should not be confused with The Blind Boys of Alabama , a group led by Clarence Fountain . There is some dispute as to which of the two groups was named first. Some sources say that the Five Blind Boys took their name when Percell Perkins joined them in
272-481: Was changed to ABC/Peacock in 1974. After ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979, MCA briefly operated an MCA/Songbird label with new signings including Little Anthony (of Little Anthony and the Imperials ) and Dan Peek (formerly of the group America ). The previous rosters of both ABC-Peacock and ABC-Songbird were dropped (MCA later reissued several Peacock and Song Bird albums at budget price). MCA briefly revived
289-705: Was replaced by another blind bass singer who later regained his sight and had to leave the group. He was replaced by J.T. Clinkscales , in that year, and in 1950 the group moved to Peacock Records where they recorded the hit "Our Father" at their first session. And over the course of 10 years the Blind Boys recorded such hits as "Old Ship Of Zion", "Coming Home", "Will Jesus Be Waiting?", "Song Of Praise", "I Wonder, Do You?", "In The Wilderness", "I Never Heard A Man", "Let's Have Church", "Leave You In The Hands Of The Lord", and "Someone Watches". Brownlee died of pneumonia while touring in New Orleans on February 8, 1960, at
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