Harman Patil (Editor)

The Harmonizing Four

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Active from
  
1927

The Harmonizing Four THE HARMONIZING FOUR Vintage MusicVintage Music

Albums
  
All Things Are Possible / I Shall Not Be Moved (Mono Version)

Genres
  
Holiday, Christian/gospel, Blues

Similar
  
Swan Silvertones, The Highway QC's, Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, The Caravans, The Soul Stirrers

The Harmonizing Four was an American black gospel quartet organized in 1927 and reaching peak popularity during the decades immediately following World War II.

Contents

The Harmonizing Four Harmonizing Harmonizing Four Harmonizing Four 19431954 Amazon

Sources disagree as to the original membership when the group was established in 1927 to sing for school functions at Richmond, Virginia's Dunbar Elementary School. Some sources include Thomas Johnson and Levi Hansly as founding members, with others indicating they joined the group in the early 1930s after the departure of original first tenor Joe Curby and original bass Willie Peyton; likewise, eventual leader Joseph Williams is identified as a founding member in some sources, and others claiming he joined as much as six years later. In 1937 the group added Lonnie Smith, who later became father to keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith.

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The group recorded for Decca Records in 1943 and toured in the postwar years, performing at such high-profile events as the 1944 National Baptist Convention, to an audience of 40,000; the funeral ceremony for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945; and the wedding ceremony of gospel star Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Russell Morrison, an event recorded for a live album to which the group contributed four songs. During this period the group recorded for different labels, including Chicago company Religious Recording, Coleman, and MGM. As of the early 1950s, they signed with Philadelphia's Gotham Records, where they recorded some 40 songs before moving on in 1957 to Chicago's Vee-Jay Records, where they experienced their greatest popularity. Smith retired in 1962, and following a period in the late 1960s of recording for various labels in various membership configurations, the group was essentially semi-retired for the ensuing decades.

The Harmonizing Four Richmond Virginia39s Harmonizing Four Washerman39s Dog

The harmonizing four only believe 1991


Radio

The Harmonizing Four The Harmonizing FourOnly Believe YouTube

The Harmonizing Four began singing on WRNL, in Richmond, in 1943, soon after recording eight songs for Decca in New York City. Described as "the area's top quartet," the group "would have Sunday breakfast with Richmond for nearly two decades, sponsored by People's Furniture."

The Harmonizing Four The Harmonizing Four Let God Abide YouTube

Songs

I Shall Not Be MovedWhere He Leads Me · 1992
Motherless ChildGospel · 2011
God Will Take Care of YouAll Things Are Possible · 2013

References

The Harmonizing Four Wikipedia


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