The Detroiters
The Detroiters was an American gospel vocal ensemble that had its greatest successes in the late 1940s.
Band history
The Detroiters were led by Denison, Texas-born singer Oliver Green, who began his career as a member of the Southern Wonders vocal ensemble during the Depression . After moving to Detroit in 1938, he founded the Evangelist Singers of Detroit . The quartet ran their own local radio station and gained nationwide attention through touring with Sister Rosetta Tharpe . They hit the charts with the song "Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt", written by their manager Otis Jackson . After signing a contract with the Detroit radio station WGC, at the instigation of Horace Heidt, the band name was changed to The Detroiters in order to be even more successful with a more secular orientation and recording of pop and folk material. During this time, the ensemble included the singers Leroy Barnes (lead vocals), Dempsey Harrison ( tenor ), Bill Johnson ( baritone ) and Robert Thomas ( bass ), plus the pianist Nathaniel Howard. In 1949 recordings were made for the local label Staff ("Seek and You Shall Find"); In 1951 the Detroiters recorded the first of three singles for the Specialty Records label , "Let Jesus Lead You" (# 809); During the same session the songs "I Trust in Jesus" and "Ride On King Jesus" were created as medley. at the second specialty session in 1952, “Old Time Religion” was recorded, but no further recordings followed. Other material that initially remained unpublished included a. the songs "Mother, Don't Cry About Your Son", "Seek and Ye Shall Find" and "Mother On the Train". After Barnes' departure, the Detroiters toured the region until the early 1960s.
Oliver Green's Detroiters are considered to be the first gospel ensemble to introduce instrumental accompaniment instead of traditionally unaccompanied singing.
The gospel ensemble should not be confused with the jazz and dance orchestra of the same name from the 1920s. a. acted as a backing band for the singer Scrappy Lambert .
literature
- Horace Clarence Boyer The Golden Age of Gospel . University of Illinois Press, 1995
Web links
- The Detroiters at Allmusic (English)
- Brief portrait at Singers.com
- The Detroiters at Discogs (English)