Son Helps Carry Out Father’s Wish to Bring Classic Quartet Back

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

“We couldn’t touch the guys who did those songs originally, and we didn’t try. We just wanted to bring back their sound for those who knew it once, and to offer it to young people who might like it.”

This is how Ira Tucker, Jr. described the Dixie Hummingbirds’ recent release, Gospel Praise Songs…Powered By Quartets.

Tucker, whose father, Ira, Sr., was the Birds’ mainstay and iconic lead singer, now manages the Dixie Hummingbirds. He talked with TBGB about the new project.

“My father was concerned that traditional quartet music was fading away.  He had been in quartet music seventy years of his life. He knew people loved this music but they couldn’t hear it anymore on radio.”

The elder Tucker decided he wanted to help classic quartet music get its props by producing an album of classic songs he liked, but that were performed and recorded by top gospel quartets other than the Dixie Hummingbirds.

“His idea was to bring the original songs back, and maybe that would help,” Ira, Jr. explained. “He came up with a list with like 30 songs on it. When he passed away, that put a hold on the project. Then when Mom passed away, we got together and said, ‘Look, this is what Pop wanted to do, let’s try to do it.’ And it was on me to pick ten songs from his list.”

Ira, Jr. selected the songs, and in May 2010, the current iteration of the Dixie Hummingbirds – William Bright, Lyndon Baines Jones, Torrey Nettles, Carlton Lewis, and Adebo Wali – agreed to take a year off from touring and get to work.

For musicians, the group turned to an unlikely but ultimately fortuitous source: the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts.

LaDeva Davis, the high school’s dance teacher, had invited the Birds to perform for the students. The quartet enjoyed the experience so much that they decided to give the young people an opportunity to play along with them on six of the CD’s ten selections. Austin Lightfoot, a senior who is now studying at Berklee College of Music, wrote the string arrangement for “The Love of God.” A student even filmed the companion DVD.

“They all did a marvelous job,” Ira, Jr. said. “They didn’t know about this music at first, but they got it. It’s amazing to see high school kids, regardless of race and demographics, playing traditional gospel quartet music.”

Proceeds from Gospel Praise Songs will benefit the Ira and Louise Tucker Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Ira, Jr. “I wanted to do something to honor both my mother and father,” he said. “The foundation will help senior quartet members who are down on their luck to get medical assistance. It will also promote quartet singing among youth in the hopes that more of them will aspire to sing quartet.”

He added, “At some point in the future, our plan is to subsidize promoters to bring gospel quartets into various cities.”

Meanwhile, the Birds are working on another CD, Benevolence, which will introduce new songs in the Dixie Hummingbirds style. A third CD is in the works, this one scheduled for a 2015 release, when the legendary quartet’s memorabilia, artifacts and photos are placed in the Smithsonian Institution as part of a permanent exhibit on American culture.

Ira, Jr. hopes Gospel Praise Songs not only results in new fans for the Dixie Hummingbirds, but also for groups like the Pilgrim Travelers and Harmonizing Four whose music is featured on the CD.

“We want you to love us and what we’ve done, but check them out, too, because that gets you into the whole history of quartet. These songs are just as relevant today as they were then.”

The DVD is not for sale yet.  The CD, currently being shopped to major labels, is available as a pre-release limited edition through LaDeva Davis (267-918-2814).

Ira Tucker, Jr. summed it up.  “If nothing else, we should keep traditional gospel alive for the sake of those to come. This music spawned everything else.”