Performers of Gospel Music and Their Techniques: Quartets (Continued)

The interplay between the leader and the group was typical for quartets, with repeated phrases sung against each other in the form of a musical dialogue echoing earlier generations of African American musicians' call-and-response practices. In this context, the lead singers became known individually - performers such as Rebert H. Harris with the Soul Stirrers, Ira Tucker with the Dixie Hummingbirds, and Claude Jeter with the Swan Silvertones. Some tenor leads also introduced falsetto singing to heighten emotional affect. In their case, secular vocal groups of the time, such as the Ravens, regularly used the same approach with a lead role given to the bass Jimmy Ricks.

This practice found its way into secular ensembles in the 1950s, as gospel groups such as the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, led by Archie Brownlee, became more and more passionate in their performances. Several groups brought their gospel-derived intensity to bear on the secular counterpart and helped adopt the technique of interplay between the leader and the group. Two of the best-known groups who transitioned from Gospel to rhythm and blues were the Dominoes (formerly Billy Ward and the Dominoes) and the Five Royales (formerly the Royal Sons Quintet). Subsequently, Clyde McPhatter, The Dominoes' tenor lead, set up another successful rhythm and blues vocal group, The Drifters. On their first record for the Atlantic label, Money Honey (1953), McPhatter uses his gospel-impregnated sound to tell an ironic, un-gospel-like story. Though such movement usually met with disapproval on the part of the church community, it revolutionized secular close harmony singing, not just among African American performers.