The Highway Q.C.'s is an American gospel group that has been active for over 70 years. Its members sing in the tradition of jubilee quartets, though they have also added instrumental accompaniment. The group helped launch the careers of several secular stars, including Lou Rawls, Johnnie Taylor and Sam Cooke.
The Highway Q.C.'s were founded in 1945 in Chicago by a group of male teenagers who attended Highway Baptist Church, including Sam Cooke, Creadell Copeland, Marvin Jones, Charles Jones, Jake Richard, and Lee Richard. Cooke sang with the group through 1951, when he joined The Soul Stirrers; and Lou Rawls participated through 1953. Prior to joining the HQCs, Rawls sang with the Holy Wonders, and eventually, all of the other Wonders (Spencer Taylor, James Walker, and Chris Flowers) also joined the HQCs.
After Rawls's departure in 1953, Johnnie Taylor joined the group, and in 1955 they made their first recordings for Vee-Jay Records. In 1957 Taylor left the group, replacing Cooke in the Soul Stirrers when Cooke pursued a solo career. Spencer Taylor, who joined the group in 1956, became the HQC's leader and has remained so for over 60 years. They have recorded for Savoy Records, A&M Records, and other labels.
Samuel Cook, known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distinctive vocals, pioneering contributions to the genre and significance in popular music.
The Soul Stirrers were an American gospel music group, whose career spans over eighty years. The group was a pioneer in the development of the quartet style of gospel, and a major influence on soul, doo wop, and Motown, some of the secular music that owed much to gospel.
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco.
Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Price. Rupe established the company under the name Juke Box Records but changed it to Specialty in 1946 when he parted company with a couple of his original partners. Rupe's daughter, Beverly, restarted the label in the 1980s.
Robert Dwayne Womack was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career spanned more than 60 years and multiple styles, including R&B, jazz, soul, rock and roll, doo-wop, and gospel.
Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, is the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, guitar, bass, and a driving beat on the drums.
Louis Allen Rawls was an American singer, record producer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his song "You'll Never Find Another Love like Mine". He worked as a film, television, and voice actor. He was also a three-time Grammy-winner, all for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
SAR Records was a record company founded by soul music legend Sam Cooke in 1961. The meaning of "SAR" has been disputed; it has been listed as "Sam & Alex Records" and also as "Sam, Alex, & Roy Records".
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues, country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern black churches. Bass guitar, drums, horn section, and gospel roots vocal are important to soul groove. This rhythmic force made it a strong influence in the rise of funk music. The terms "deep soul", "country soul", "downhome soul" and "hard soul" have been used synonymously with "Southern soul".p. 18
The Pilgrim Travelers were an American gospel group, popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
The discography of Sam Cooke, an American singer and songwriter, consists of fourteen studio albums, two live albums, 49 singles, 13 compilations and 2 box sets. Over the course of his eight-year career, Cooke placed 29 singles in the Top 40 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. He also placed 20 singles in the Top Ten of Billboard's R&B chart, Black Singles chart. Between 1957 and 1960, Sam Cooke's records were produced on the Keen label. From 1960 through 1966, they were produced on the RCA label.
Ace Records Ltd. is a British record label founded in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the similarly named label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick Records' pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing and reissuing work. In the 1980s it also gained the licensing for Modern Records, and its follow-up company Kent Records, whilst in the 1990s, the company bought the labels including all original master tapes.
"Bring It On Home to Me" is a song by American soul singer Sam Cooke, released on May 8, 1962, by RCA Victor. Produced by Hugo & Luigi, and arranged and conducted by René Hall, the song was the B-side to "Having a Party". The song peaked at number two on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides chart, and also charted at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has become a pop standard, covered by numerous artists of different genres. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, United States, was established in full in 1980, and was one of the largest blues festivals and was the second oldest on the West Coast. It was held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. For many years it was held on the athletic field on the California State University, Long Beach campus. The 2009 festival, the 30th annual, was held at Rainbow Lagoon in downtown Long Beach. The Festival went on hiatus in 2010, and has not been held since.
Paul Foster was born in Grand Cane, Louisiana. He sung with the legendary gospel group, the Soul Stirrers, from 1950 to 1963. Foster sang second lead alongside two other gospel greats, Rebert Harris and Sam Cooke. Foster possessed a powerful, mournful tenor voice, a perfect foil to both Harris' and Cooke's sweeter more-flowery tenor styles. During his long career in gospel music, Foster also sang for other quartets such as the Rising Stars and the Golden Echoes. While nearly all of Foster's recordings take place in the recording studio, his powerful voice can be heard on the Soul Stirrers' dynamic performance on the album "The Great Shrine Concert of 1955", especially on the song "Be With Me Jesus", where Foster leads the group with his strong testimonial style.
Rebert H. Harris was an American gospel artist and lead singer of the Soul Stirrers. He had a pure tenor three-octave voice that he utilized for moans and slurs and leaps into falsetto. He was instrumental in transforming the ensemble jubilee quartet style of the 30s into the lead-focused hard gospel style of the 40s and 50s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 as a member of the Soul Stirrers; the group was also inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000. He was the fountainhead of numerous gospel and soul singers, and direct model to Sam Cooke, who replaced him as lead singer of the Soul Stirrers.
The Stovall Sisters were a gospel trio of recording artists consisting of Lillian, Netta, and Joyce Stovall. Definitive works include the album The Stovall Sisters which included the funk/soul track “Hang on in There.” They are also the featured background vocalists on the 1969 iconic rock/gospel song “Spirit In The Sky”.
James Phelps was an American R&B and gospel singer.
James Woodie Alexander II, was an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur who was a key figure in the development of gospel and soul music, most notably through his close association with Sam Cooke.
I Thank God is a 1960 compilation album of gospel songs by Sam Cooke along with The Gospel Harmonettes and The Original Blind Boys, released on Keen Records.
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