The Paramount Singers

Although eclipsed in popularity by contemporaries including the Soul Stirrers and the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Paramount Singers were among the longest-lived gospel groups of the modern era, upholding the tradition of classic a cappella harmonizing for well over half a century. Assembled in Austin, Texas in 1936, the Paramounts initially consisted of two pairs of brothers, Geno & Kermit Terrell and Ermant & A.C. Franklin, in addition to Herbert Sneed and Ben Williams. Sneed had been replaced by James Medlock -- later of the Soul Stirrers -- by the time they recorded for the Library of Congress in 1941; months later, however, the group's original incarnation came to an end when the Terrell brothers were drafted to fight in World War II, and upon receiving their respective discharges both siblings settled in the San Francisco area. There they reunited with Williams to form a new Paramounts lineup, also enlisting two other Austin natives, Sam Reece and Victor L. Medearis. This new incarnation of the Paramount Singers' roster was in a seemingly constant state of flux, and in time Geno Terrell and Williams were the lone remaining original members; they were soon joined by new recruits Vance "Tiny" Powell, Archie Reynolds, E. Morris Kelley and, albeit briefly, Paul Foster, who also later rose to fame as a member of the Soul Stirrers. Foster's replacement was Joseph Dean, who signed on in 1948; three years later, Powell exited to join the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, but soon returned to the Paramounts' fold. Despite recording for nationally distributed companies like Coral and Duke between the late 1940s and mid-1950s, the Paramounts never earned the notoriety of many of their peers, largely because their day jobs and family ties kept their touring activity confined almost...