Earth, Wind & Fire is the debut studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in March 1971 by Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Since 2024, the group consists of Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Richard Sterban, and Ben James. The group was founded in 1943 as The Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel group until the mid-1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated on country music.
The origins of rock and roll are complex. Rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the United States in the early to mid-1950s. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which itself developed from earlier blues, the beat-heavy jump blues, boogie woogie, up-tempo jazz, and swing music. It was also influenced by gospel, country and western, and traditional folk music. Rock and roll in turn provided the main basis for the music that, since the mid-1960s, has been generally known simply as rock music.
The New Power Generation, also known as the NPG, was the backing band of musician Prince from 1990 to 2013. They were replaced by 3rdeyegirl as his backing band in 2013. In 2015, the New Power Generation reunited as Prince's backing band for his final studio album before his death, Hit n Run Phase Two. They reunited once again in 2017 for a US and European tour.
The Golden Gate Quartet is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active.
The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s. They had a top 30 US hit in 1959 with the Leiber and Stoller song "Love Potion No. 9".
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocalion Records, Stop Records, and many other smaller independent labels.
"Tennessee Waltz" is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as "The Tennessee Waltz" – by Patti Page.
The Forester Sisters were an American country music vocal group consisting of sisters Christy, June, Kathy, and Kim Forester. Having performed together locally in their native Lookout Mountain, Georgia, since the 1970s, the four sisters began singing full-time in the 1980s and signed to Warner Records Nashville in 1984. Their greatest commercial success came between then and 1991, when they charted fifteen top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, five of which went to number one: "I Fell in Love Again Last Night", "Just in Case", "Mama's Never Seen Those Eyes", "Too Much Is Not Enough", and "You Again". They won the Academy of Country Music Group of the Year award in 1986 and were nominated three times for a Grammy Award. In addition to their country music albums, they released multiple albums of gospel music and one of Christmas music.
Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs were an American doo-wop/R&B vocal group in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Originally the (Royal) Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.
Michael English is an American Christian singer and record producer. Initially, he was a member of his family's singing group, and later a member of The Gaither Vocal Band. During his solo career, he recorded eight studio albums. English's highest-charting solo single was "Your Love Amazes Me", which reached No. 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1996.
Wet Willie is an American southern rock band from Mobile, Alabama. Their best-known song, "Keep On Smilin'", reached No. 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1974. Several other of the group's songs also appeared on the singles charts in the 1970s, which utilized their soulful brand of Southern rock.
Anita Jean Kerr was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe.
The Fairfield Four is an American gospel group that has existed for over 100 years, starting as a trio in the Fairfield Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1921. They were designated as National Heritage Fellows in 1989 by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. The group won the 1998 Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. As a quintet, they featured briefly in the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
"Mona Lisa" is a popular song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1949), in which it was performed by Sergio de Karlo and a recurrent accordion motif. The title and lyrics refer to the renaissance portrait Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo da Vinci. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1950.
Keith Lamar Johnson, who went by the stage name Wonderboy, was an American gospel singer-songwriter.
The Four Fellows were an American doo-wop group formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953. The combo possessed a more polished and professional style than much of their regional contemporaries, reflecting upon influences from gospel and barbershop music. In the Four Fellows' recording career, they underwent multiple line-up changes with lead singer Jimmy McGowan remaining the sole consistent member of the group until it disbanded in 1956. The group released several singles, but their one and only national hit came in 1955, with the distribution of "Soldier Boy", a Top 10 song on the Billboard R&B charts.
The Trumpeteers were an American gospel group formed in Baltimore, Maryland. They evolved from another gospel group known as the Willing Four. Joseph E. Johnson, an alumnus of the Willing Four and the Golden Gate Quartet, put them together with James Keels (bass), Raleigh Turnage (tenor) and Willie MacNair (baritone) in 1946. Like similar gospel groups, the quartet adopted the Golden Gate Quartet's jubilee style, and began broadcasting jingles and promotions on WCAO radio in Baltimore for a sponsoring shoe company. Not long after, they were offered a regular broadcast spot by CBS Radio to replace the recently departed Jubalaires.
Willie Kizart was an American electric blues guitarist best known for being a member of Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in the 1950s. Kizart played guitar on "Rocket 88" in 1951, which is considered by some accounts to be the first rock and roll record. The record is noted for featuring one of the first examples of distortion ever recorded; played by Kizart.
"I Know" is a song written by Ted Brooks and John Jennings, two members of the vocal group The Jubalaires. It was performed by Andy Kirk and His Orchestra and The Jubalaires. It was recorded in New York City on November 27, 1945, and released on the Decca label. It was the "B" side to "Get Together with the Lord".
