Editing The Soul Stirrers (section)

==Biography==
===Formation===
The group was formed by '''(Silas) Roy Crain''', launching his first quartet who sang in a [[Jubilee quartets|jubilee]] style, in 1926 in [[Trinity, Texas]], United States.<ref name="Larkin50"/> In the early 1930s, after Crain moved to [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], he joined an existing group on the condition that it change its name to ''The Soul Stirrers'': this name yields from the description of one of Roy Crain's earlier quartets as "soul-stirring". Among the members of that group there was [[R.H. Harris|R.H. (Rebert) Harris]], who soon became its musical leader.<ref name="Larkin50"/> The Soul Stirrers, formed as a jubilee quartet, transformed their sound, influenced by hard gospel singers such as [[Mahalia Jackson]] and [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]].

===Style===
Rebert Harris, also from Trinity, Texas, brought several changes to The Soul Stirrers that affected [[gospel quartet]] singing generally. He used a [[falsetto]] style that had its antecedents in African music, but which was new to the popular jubilee singing style of the time. He pioneered the "swing lead", in which two singers would share the job of leading the song, allowing virtuoso singers to increase the emotional intensity of the song as the lead passed between them without disturbing the four part harmony.<ref name="Larkin50"/> That innovation led The Soul Stirrers, while still called a quartet, to acquire five members.

The Soul Stirrers made other important changes in those years: ad-libbing lyrics, singing in delayed time, and repeating words in the background as both a rhythmic and emotional support for the lead singers. The Soul Stirrers along with other quartet performers, dropped the "flatfooted" style of jubilee quartets before them and expanded their repertoire from [[spirituals]] and traditional hymns to the newer gospel compositions. The group also loosened the rigid arrangements that jubilee quartets had favored to permit individual singers within the group more space for individual development.

===Recordings and performances===
In 1936, [[Alan Lomax]] recorded The Soul Stirrers for the [[Library of Congress]]'s American music project, and those four unissued recordings are in the [[American Folklife Center]] collection today. They later moved to [[Chicago]], where they broadcast a weekly radio show (WIND) with other famous groups including [[The Golden Gate Quartet]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJQtrJNvo7gC&pg=PA211 |title=Close Harmony: A History of Southern Gospel |author=James R. Goff |page=211 |access-date=September 4, 2016|isbn=9780807853467 |year=2002 |publisher=UNC Press Books }}</ref> and ''The Famous Blue Jay Singers''.<ref>[https://blackmusicscholar.com/the-famous-blue-jay-singers/ The Famous Blue Jay Singers] blackmusicscholar.com Retrieved 14 November 2024</ref> As the gospel quartet style of singing became more popular, groups would perform in competitions called "song battles" to further increase the genre's popularity.

As World War II began, it became more difficult for many gospel quartet groups to make a living. It resulted in some quartets supplementing their income by doing live performances at churches, schools, and neighborhood centers. Despite the economic situation, throughout the 1940s and leading into the 1950s, many gospel quartet groups were able to pursue their careers successfully. The Soul Stirrers' nationwide touring gained them an even larger audience.

The Soul Stirrers signed with [[Specialty Records]], where they recorded a number of tracks, including "By and By" and "In That Awful Hour".<ref name="Larkin50"/> Harris quit in late 1950 to form a new group, citing dissatisfaction with what he viewed as the crookedness of the business and immoral behavior by musicians he saw on the "Gospel Highway" touring circuit.<ref name="Larkin50"/> He was briefly replaced on lead by Paul Foster, then by [[Sam Cooke]].<ref name="Larkin50"/> Cooke joined the group at 19 and served as lead vocalist from 1950 to 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/sam-cooke|title=Sam Cooke|website=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame|language=en|access-date=2017-10-10}}</ref>

One of the early singles with Cooke was "Jesus Gave Me Water", a major hit that brought The Soul Stirrers acclaim. Thomas L. Breuster was replaced by Bob King and, briefly, [[Julius Cheeks]].<ref name="Larkin50"/> When Cooke left in 1957 to pursue a solo career in pop music, The Soul Stirrers' preeminence in gospel was essentially over, though a brief period of success with [[Johnnie Taylor]] sustained the group for a time.<ref name="Larkin50"/> The group made several appearances performing on ''[[TV Gospel Time]]'' in early 1960s. Various line-ups continued touring and recording throughout the last half of the century to a small and devoted following.

===Awards===
The group – and all of its members – was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1989 as one of rock's 'Early Influences', and into the [[Vocal Group Hall of Fame]] in 2000. In 2022 their 1950 recording "Jesus Gave Me Water" was selected by the US [[Library of Congress]] for preservation in the [[National Recording Registry]].<ref name="npr">{{cite news |last1=Ulaby |first1=Neda |title=The Library of Congress adds 25 titles, including Alicia Keys and Ricky Martin |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/13/1091585574/the-library-of-congress-adds-25-titles-including-alicia-keys-and-ricky-martin |access-date=13 April 2022 |publisher=NPR |date=13 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Recording Registry Inducts Music from Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey and More in 2022 |url=https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/national-recording-registry-inducts-music-from-alicia-keys--ricky-martin--journey-and-more-in-2022/s/fee30140-0454-401c-a2a2-205298e32fb1 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=13 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>