Alex Bradford (January 23, 1927 – February 15, 1978) (professionally known as Professor Alex Bradford) was a multi-talented

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 ...

composer, singer, arranger and choir director, who was an influence on artists such as

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, and who helped bring about the modern mass choir movement in gospel.

Biography

Born in

Bessemer, Alabama Bessemer is a southwestern suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is within the Birmingham-Ho ...

, United States, he first appeared on stage at the age of four, then joined a children's gospel group at the age of 13, soon obtaining his own radio show. He organized another group after his mother sent him to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

following a racial incident; he continued singing after returning to attend the Snow Hill Institute in

Snow Hill, Alabama Snow Hill is an unincorporated community in Wilcox County, Alabama, United States. Snow Hill has one site included on the National Register of Historic Places, the Snow Hill Normal and Industrial Institute. Snow Hill is referenced in the film ...

, where he acquired the title "Professor" while teaching as a student. He moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in 1947, where he worked briefly with

Roberta Martin Roberta Evelyn Martin (February 12, 1907 – January 18, 1969) was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers. ...

and toured with

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...

, then struck out on his own with his own group, the Bradford Singers, followed by another group, the Bradford Specials. He recorded his first

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, "Too Close To Heaven" (1954), billed as Professor Alex Bradford and his singers, sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

, then followed it with a number of other successes in the rest of the decade. Artists such as

imitated Bradford's energetic style, ranging from a gravelly bass to a whooping falsetto, and his flamboyant stage presence.

, for his part, not only borrowed some of Bradford's vocal mannerisms but based his Raelets on the Bradford Specials. His 1962 gospel song composition "Let the Lord Be Seen in Me", recorded for his ''One Step & Angel on Vacation'' album, was also recorded in 1964 by an emerging force in Jamaican music,

& the Spiritual Sisters. Marley later adopted the Rastafarian faith, but along with his mother, at first he sang gospel in the local Shilo Apostolic Church. In 1961, when his recording career was in decline, Bradford joined the cast of the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

show ''

Black Nativity ''Black Nativity '' is an adaptation of the Nativity story by Langston Hughes, performed by an entirely black cast. Hughes was the author of the book, with the lyrics and music being derived from traditional Christmas carols, sung in gospel sty ...

'', based on the writings of

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...

, which toured Europe in 1962. A member of the Alex Bradford Singers at that time was

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show '' Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the ...

, who settled in England after the show ended. Bradford appeared in ''

Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope ''Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope'' is a musical revue first staged in 1971 with music, lyrics and book by Micki Grant. It was originally produced by Edward Padula. Background and productions The all-singing, all-dancing show focuses on the Afri ...

'', for which he won the Obie award in 1972.

Death

Alex Bradford died in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, at age 51 years old, in 1978 after a stroke. At the time of his death he was preparing the musical ''

Your Arms Too Short to Box with God ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God: A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance'' is a Broadway musical based on the Biblical Book of Matthew, with music and lyrics by Alex Bradford and a book by Vinnette Carroll, who also directed. Micki Grant was ...

''.

References

External links

* * *

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

br>Alabama Hall Of FameAlex Bradford & The Bradford Singers, yahoo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Alex 1927 births 1978 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers American gospel singers Savoy Records artists People from Bessemer, Alabama Apollo Records artists

Biography

Death

References

Further reading

External links