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Black Vocal Harmony Groups of the 1930s & 40s

Series: Night Lights Classic Jazz
From: WFIU
Length: 00:59:01

A hour-long program of jazz music, exploring the music of African-American singing ensembles in the decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Read the full description.

Black-vocal-harmony-image_small The highly successful Mills Brothers inspired a large number of African-American singing ensembles in the decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Using only their voices and sometimes sparse instrumentation (guitars or tipples, which were a 10-stringed kind of ukulele), these groups combined jazz, pop, and gospel to produce recordings and styles that anticipated the rise of R & B, rock ‘n roll, and doo-wop in the 1950s.

We’ll hear the Spirits of Rhythm (featuring legendary hipster and scatter Leo Watson), the Golden Gate Quartet (who helped pioneer the “jubilee” gospel sound), the Four Vagabonds (an important transitional group between the jazz-jive vocal groups of the late 1930s and the black R & B groups of the 1950s), Cats and the Fiddle, the Ravens (their 1947 recording of “Ol’ Man River,” which included a bass vocal lead by Jimmy Ricks that served as a harbinger of the doo-wop movement to come), and more.

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Piece Description

The highly successful Mills Brothers inspired a large number of African-American singing ensembles in the decades of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Using only their voices and sometimes sparse instrumentation (guitars or tipples, which were a 10-stringed kind of ukulele), these groups combined jazz, pop, and gospel to produce recordings and styles that anticipated the rise of R & B, rock ‘n roll, and doo-wop in the 1950s.

We’ll hear the Spirits of Rhythm (featuring legendary hipster and scatter Leo Watson), the Golden Gate Quartet (who helped pioneer the “jubilee” gospel sound), the Four Vagabonds (an important transitional group between the jazz-jive vocal groups of the late 1930s and the black R & B groups of the 1950s), Cats and the Fiddle, the Ravens (their 1947 recording of “Ol’ Man River,” which included a bass vocal lead by Jimmy Ricks that served as a harbinger of the doo-wop movement to come), and more.

Timing and Cues

Total Program Length: 59:00

00:00 Segment 1: Program Intro
Incue: Theme Music

01:00 Segment 2: Optional Cutaway for News

06:00 Segment 3: Program Part 1
Outcue: “…you’re listening to “Black Vocal Harmony Groups” on Night Lights.”

32:31 Segment 4: MIDPOINT BREAK (1:00 music bed)

33:31 Segment 5: Program Part 2

59:00 End Program

Related Website

http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/black-vocal-harmony-groups-of-the-1930s-and-1940s/