The Pilgrim Travelers
Wikimp3 information about the music of The Pilgrim Travelers. On our website we have 10 albums and 66 collections of artist The Pilgrim Travelers. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that The Pilgrim Travelers represents Gospel genres.
Biography
[Edit]The Specialty label's most prolific gospel act, the Pilgrim Travelers were among the most successful and influential groups of gospel's golden era; famed for their distinctive "walking rhythm" sound, they also earned renown for their riotous live performances and breathless showmanship. The Pilgrim Travelers were formed in Houston during the early '30s by Joe Johnson and Willie Davis; the latter relocated the group to Los Angeles in 1942, taking with him cousins Kylo Turner and Keith Barber. By mid-1945, their ranks included bass Raphael Taylor as well as J.W. Alexander, a light tenor and onetime semi-pro baseball player with Negro league teams including the Ethiopian Clowns and the New Orleans Crescent Stars; he soon assumed managerial control of the group as well.
Like other groups of the period, the Pilgrim Travelers consciously modeled their sound after the Soul Stirrers and the Golden Gates; although Turner was naturally a baritone, he sang in a note-bending falsetto style not far removed from pop crooning, while his co-lead Barber possessed a pure, sweet voice and a flamboyant stage presence. To give the Travelers an edge on the competition, Alexander pushed his partners to hone a tightly choreographed live show which, over the years, became increasingly frenetic, much to the delight of the many women attending their performances. In early 1947, the group made their first recordings, issuing singles on a handful of tiny L.A. labels; by the end of the year they signed to Specialty, at which time they brought on board a new baritone, Jesse Whitaker, to replace Davis.
After a handful of a cappella songs, the Travelers began recording their material with a microphone picking up the sound of their percussive foot-tapping; Specialty's early press for the group proclaimed "Something New — Walking Rhythm Spirituals," and the unique sound quickly caught on with consumers. In 1948, the group issued six singles; after just three the following year, in 1950 Specialty released no less than ten Pilgrim Travelers sides, all of them to strong sales (particularly "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" and "Mother Bowed"). However, at the peak of their success, Barber was involved in a 1950 auto accident which left his voice ravaged; at the same time, the emergence of the Soul Stirrers' Sam Cooke made Turner's vocal style appear increasingly outdated, and seemingly overnight, the group's fortunes began to wane.
In the years to follow, lineup changes plagued the Pilgrim Travelers as well — in 1954 Taylor was replaced by bass George McCurn, and by the middle of the decade, both Turner and Barber had exited; by the time of their 1956 demise, the ensemble had recorded over 100 songs. A later incarnation of the group, dubbed simply the Travelers, included Lou Rawls, but was otherwise unremarkable. In 1959, Alexander teamed with Sam Cooke to found SAR Records; the new company attempted to relaunch Turner's career, but in the passing years, the singer had succumbed to alcoholism, and he arrived in Los Angeles too drunk to enter the studio. He eventually returned to Texas, where he died a few years after his cousin Barber; Whitaker retired to his family farm in New Jersey, while Alexander remained a sought-after producer and manager.
Title: What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Artist: The Swan Silvertones, The Pilgrim Travelers, The Mighty Clouds Of Joy
Genre: Gospel
Collections
Title: Gospel Christmas Highlights
Genre: Gospel, Traditional Pop Music
Title: Country Christmas
Genre: Country, Traditional Pop Music
Title: The History of Black Gospel, Vol. 3
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel Classics
Genre: Gospel
Title: 100 Greatest Gospel Classics
Genre: Gospel
Title: Great Black Gospel, Volume 2
Genre: Gospel
Title: The World Of... Gospel
Genre: Gospel
Title: The Gospel Tradition - Classic Field Recordings
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel Songs Of Praise
Genre: Gospel
Title: It's A Wonderful Life Christmas
Genre:
Title: Great Day Coming (50 Gospel Greats) - Disc One
Genre: Rock
Title: Thanksgiving Gospel Celebration
Genre:
Title: Great Black Gospel Hits, Vol. 3
Genre: Gospel
Title: The Barack Obama Victory (Re-Recorded Versions)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: The World Of... Gospel Vol. 3
Genre: Gospel
Title: Peace In the Valley - the Best of Gospel
Genre: Gospel
Title: Oh Happy Day - Gospel Collection
Genre: Gospel
Title: The History of Black Gospel Volume 2
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel Brunch
Genre: Gospel
Title: Rumba Doowop Vol.1 1933-54
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: Great Black Gospel Hits, Volume 5
Genre: Gospel
Title: Easter Gospel Favorites
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel Live!
Genre: Gospel
Title: The Best of Gospel Quartets, Vol. 1
Genre: Gospel
Title: Great Gospel Hits, Vol. 1
Genre: Gospel
Title: Great Black Gospel Hits, Volume 1
Genre: Gospel
Title: Great Black Gospel Hits, Volume 4
Genre: Gospel
Title: Kings of the Gospel Highway
Genre: Rock
Title: Lord It's Me Again
Genre: Gospel
Title: God's Wonderful Love
Genre: Gospel
Title: Jesus Lover Of My Soul
Genre: Gospel
Title: Nelson Mandela - Freedom's Hero
Genre: Pop
Title: Great Gospel Hits, Vol. 2
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel For All
Genre: Gospel
Title: Great Gospel Hits, Vol. 3
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel Box (Re-Recorded Versions)
Genre: Gospel
Title: Pure Gospel, Vol. 1
Genre: Gospel
Title: The Specialty Story CD 3
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Blue Yule: Christmas Blues And R & B Classics
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Blues
Title: Atomic Platters (CD3)
Genre: Disco
Title: Swinging Gospel
Genre: Gospel, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Bossanova
Title: Mega Gospel (CD3)
Genre: Gospel
Title: Mega Gospel (CD4)
Genre: Gospel
Title: The Ultimate Collection: Gospel 3
Genre: Byzantine/Relegious, Funk
Title: Gospel: The Absolutely Essential 3 CDCollection (CD1)
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel: The Absolutely Essential 3 CDCollection (CD2)
Genre: Gospel
Title: Gospel: The Absolutely Essential 3 CDCollection (CD3)
Genre: Gospel
Title: A Soul Awakening From Sacred To Secular (CD1)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: A Soul Awakening From Sacred To Secular (CD4)
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B
Title: Top 100 Christmas Songs (CD2)
Genre: Tech House, Hip Hop/R&B, Pop
Title: Death May Be Your Christmas Gift
Genre: Blues
Title: Swinging Christmas, Vol. 3
Genre: Jazz, Traditional Pop Music
Title: Christmas Jazz Party - Swing And Fun
Genre: Jazz, Traditional Pop Music
Title: The Great Shrine Concert
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Gospel
Title: Gospel Christmas - A Child Is Born
Genre: Gospel, Traditional Pop Music
Featuring albums
Title: Great Black Gospel Hits, Volume 1
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Gospel, Christian Rock, Christian Country Music
Title: The History of Black Gospel Volume 3
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Gospel, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Christian Rock, Christian Country Music
Title: The History of Black Gospel Volume 2
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Gospel, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Christian Rock, Christian Country Music
Title: The History of Black Gospel Volume 4
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Gospel, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Christian Rock, Christian Country Music
Title: Greatest Gospel Hits
Artist: Vários Artistas / Varios Artistas
Genre: Gospel, Christian Rock, Christian Country Music
Title: Kings Of The Gospel Highway
Artist: Various Artists
Title: Gospel Train: Classics From the Golden Age
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul, Gospel
Title: Jesus Rocked the Jukebox: Small Group Black Gospel (1951-1965)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Gospel