The Fairfield Four is an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

that has existed for over 100 years, starting as a trio in the Fairfield Baptist Church,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, in 1921. They were designated as National Heritage Fellows in 1989 by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. The group won the 1998

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for

Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album was awarded from 1991 to 2011. A similar award, the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional was awarded from 1978 to 1983. It was previously known as the award Best Traditional S ...

. As a quintet, they featured briefly in the 2000 movie ''

O Brother, Where Art Thou? ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 comedy drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and ...

''.

History

The initial iteration of the group was under the direction of the church's assistant pastor, J. R. Carrethers, and consisted of his sons Rufus and Harold plus their neighbor John Battle. In 1925, the group became a quartet when Lattimer Green joined. During the 1930s, Green left the group and William Malone and Samuel McCrary joined, but they retained the name of Fairfield Four, although it had expanded its membership beyond a quartet. Following their initial radio broadcast on WSIX, the group gained recognition outside of Nashville. In 1942, the group won a contest that resulted in an appearance on 50,000-watt radio station

WLAC WLAC (1510 AM) – branded ''Talkradio 98.3 & 1510'' – is a commercial talk radio radio station licensed to serve Nashville, Tennessee. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station covers the Nashville metropolitan area. The WLAC studios are located ...

, with a hook-up to the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

network. This performance was so successful that the group continued to perform on WLAC for the next decade, and group members became celebrities within the gospel music genre. During the 1940s, the membership of the group continued to evolve. Their first recording session was held in 1946 at Nashville's

Bullet Records At least five record labels with the name Bullet Records have existed. Bullet Records, Nashville, 1946-1952 The earliest Bullet Records was a record label based in Nashville, United States, which was started in 1946 by Jim Bulleit and C.V. Hit ...

and over the next 15 years, the group released over 100 recordings on the Bullet, Delta, Dot,

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

, and

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

record labels. By 1949, Sam McCrary assumed leadership of the group and they continued to record and tour with various membership changes. "The group split up in 1950, and Hill, Freeman, and Lewis moved to Greenville, Alabama, where they founded a new quartet, the Skylarks. McCrary, however, kept the Fairfield Four name and added tenors Willie Love and Willie "Little Axe" Broadnax to the group." In 1954, McCrary left the group to become a minister. More personnel changes ensued, but by the late 1950s the group's popularity had waned, along with the decline of interest in a cappella gospel singing. The group disbanded in 1960. In 1980, the group re-formed to participate in a special "Quartet Reunion" program in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

, and they performed again in 1981 at a

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

program on "Black American Quartet Traditions". The revitalized group has continued to perform from the 1980s to the present. In 1993, the group participated in the

Gaither Homecoming ''Gaither Homecoming'' is the name applied to a series of videos, music recordings and concerts, which are organized, promoted and usually presented by Christian music songwriter and impresario Bill Gaither. To date, the ''Gaither Homecoming'' t ...

video and music recording series. They are featured in ''Turn Your Radio On'' and ''Old Friends''. The group gained more popular recognition after appearing on

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was the lead s ...

's 1997 album ''

Blue Moon Swamp ''Blue Moon Swamp'' is the fifth solo studio album by American singer/songwriter John Fogerty, released on May 20, 1997. Guest musicians, the Lonesome River Band, were invited to join in on backing vocals on " Southern Streamline" and "Rambunc ...

'', singing on the track "A Hundred and Ten in the Shade". They also undertook live appearances with Fogerty. In 2003, they performed with

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

on the song " There Will Be Peace in the Valley for Me" from her album '' For God and Country''. They were later featured on the song "

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

" by

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

on Grant's 2005 studio album '' Rock of Ages... Hymns and Faith''. The Fairfield Four's most recent album ''Still Rockin' My Soul!'' was released on March 10, 2015, and won the Best Roots Gospel Album at the

58th Grammy awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 201 ...

Awards

National Heritage Fellowship The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's ...

, 1989 * Tennessee Lifetime Achievement Award, 1994 * Nashville Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award, 1995 * James Cleveland Stellar Award, 1996 *

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album was awarded from 1991 to 2011. A similar award, the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional The Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional was awarded from 1978 t ...

, for ''I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray'', 1997 *

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

, inducted in 1999 *

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording ...

, for contribution in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' soundtrack, 2002 *

Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album has been an award category at the annual Grammy Awards since 2015. The award was first approved by the board of trustees of the Grammy Awards in June 2014. According to NARAS, the award was introdu ...

, for ''Still Rockin' My Soul!'', 2015 *

Barbershop Harmony Society The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop ...

Honorary Lifetime Membership, 2016

Discography

Albums

* ''Angels Watching Over Me'' 1960 reissued on AVI, 1981 - The Dot recordings * ''One World, One People, One God, One Religion'',

Nashboro Records Nashboro Records was an American gospel label principally active in the 1950s and 1960s. History Nashboro was founded in Nashville, Tennessee by Ernie Lafayette Young (1892-1977), who was the owner of a record store, Ernie's Record Mart, and sponso ...

, 1980 * ''Angels Watching Over'',

AVI Records AVI Records was an independent record label established in 1968, as a unit of ''American Variety International''. It released music from numerous genres, and was sufficiently successful with its disco recordings that it began doing its own distri ...

, 1981 * ''Revival'', Nixon Studio, Nashville TN, 1989 * ''Standing in the Safety Zone'',

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, 1992 * ''Standing on the Rock'', Nashboro Records, 1995 * ''I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray'', Warner Bros., 1997 * ''Wreckin' the House'',

Dead Reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...

, 1998 * ''Fairfield Four and Friends Live from Mountain Stage'', Blueplate, 2000 * ''The Bells Are Tolling'', Ace, 2001 * ''Road to Glory'', Fuel, 2001 * ''Beautiful Stars'', Isaac Freeman and the Bluebloods, Lost Highway, 2002 * '' Still Rockin' My Soul'', Fairfield Four Records (dist. by

Thirty Tigers Thirty Tigers is an American entertainment company which offers music marketing, distribution, and management services to independent artists. It is based in Nashville. History The company was founded in 2002 by David Macias and Deb Markland ...

, Sony Red and Provident), 2015

Singles

* "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around/Standing in the Safety Zone", Bullet 284, 1947 * "When I Get Up in Heaven/Amazing Grace", Bullet 292, 1947 * "Tree of Level/

Jesus Met the Woman at the Well "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" is a traditional gospel song. It relates the story of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, found in the Gospel of John at 4:4-26. One of the earliest recordings, by The Pilgrim Travelers (1950), cre ...

", Dot, 1949 * "Dear Lord, Look Down Upon Me/Savior Don't Pass Me By", Dot, 1949 * "In the Wilderness/Let Me Tell You About Jesus", Dot, 1949 * "In the Upper Room/I'll Tell the World", Dot, 1950 * "I Don't Know Why I Have to Cry/When I Move in the Room", Dot, 1950 * "Don't Drive Your Children Away/Does Jesus Care", Dot, 1950 * "Nobody to Depend On/Old Time Religion", Dot, 1950 * "No Room at the Inn/Talking About Jesus", Dot, 1950 * "I Love the Name Jesus/Leave Them There", Dot, 1950 * "On My Journey Now/Love Like a River", Dot, 1950 * "Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow/Don't Drive Her Away", Dot, 1950 * "Packing Every Burden/Don't Leave Me", Dot, 1951] * "My Prayer/Come on to This Altar", Dot, 1951 * "Waiting for Me/Angels Watching", Dot, 1951 * "I'm in Your Care/I Can Tell You the Time", Dot, 1951 * "When We Bow/Let's Go", Dot, 1951 * "Hope to Shout in Glory/All the Way", Dot, 1951 * "I'll Be Satisfied/I've Got Good Religion", Dot, 1951 * "Come Over Here/Who Is That Knocking", Dot, 1953 * "His Eye Is on the Sparrow/Every Day", Dot, 1953 * "How I Got Over/This Evening Our Father", Dot, 1953 * "Stand by Me/Hear Me When I Pray", Dot, 1953 * "When the Battle Is Over/Standing on the Rock", Dot, 1953 * "Somebody Touched Me/Mother Don't Worry", Dot, 1953 * "We Never Grow Old/Jesus in Heaven", Dot, 1954 * "God Knows I'm a Pilgrim/Heaven in My View", Dot, 1954

Compilation appearances

* " The Reverend Mr. Black, Lonesome Valley" - ''

'' (2000) * "

Roll, Jordan, Roll "Roll, Jordan, Roll" ( Roud 6697), also "Roll, Jordan", is a spiritual created by enslaved African Americans, developed from a song written by Isaac Watts in the 18th century which became well known among slaves in the United States during the ...

" - ''Lifted: Songs of the Spirit'' (2002),

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Hear Music Hear Music was a record label that was founded in 2007 in a partnership between Concord Music Group and Starbucks. Hear Music began as a catalog company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1990 before being purchased by Starbucks in 1999. Concep ...

References

External links

* * *

* Zolten, Jerry, at ttp://singers.com/group/Fairfield-Four/ Singers.com, ''Fairfield Four,''short history of the group.
Management website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfield Four, The American gospel musical groups Grammy Award winners Southern gospel performers Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Musical groups established in 1921 1921 establishments in Tennessee National Heritage Fellowship winners Dot Records artists Warner Records artists Ace Records (United States) artists Lost Highway Records artists