Biography
Often hailed as the "Singing Rage of the Gospel Age" and "Gospel's Little Richard," Professor Alex Bradford ranks as perhaps the single most pivotal male performer in gospel's post-World War II Golden Age. He distinguished himself equally as a composer of such pieces as "I'm Too Close to Heaven" and "I Can't Turn Around," as a vocalist who shifted between a gritty, powerful chest register and a soaring falsetto that gave him the range of a male soprano, as a dynamic presence on both concert stages and church altars, as a record producer, and as a director of both ensembles and choirs. Bradford also broke new ground by carrying gospel into non-church settings, most notably through the 1960 world tour of Black Nativity with Marion Williams, a production drawn from Langston Hughes texts. Unlike nearly every other leading gospel figure of his era, he performed as both instrumentalist and singer. While serving as choir director at Newark's Abyssinian Baptist Church he demonstrated a keen eye for talent, launching the careers of Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations, Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, C and the Shells, and Judy Clay; each of these artists later achieved prominence in soul and pop yet retained the gospel foundation of their vocal approach. Bradford cut his own notable sides and supplied hit songs for Roberta Martin, Sallie Martin, and Mahalia Jackson, for whom he also worked as accompanist. His mid-1950s recordings with the Bradford Specials marked the first time a male group incorporated the stylistic advances that female quartets led by Roberta Martin and Clara Ward had introduced to the genre.
Beyond his direct impact on the Newark-based soul singers, Bradford helped shape the approaches of Little Richard, Ray Charles, and even Sam Cooke, each of whom studied his technique and stage manner closely. Raised in Bessemer, the coal-mining community just beyond Birmingham, Alabama, Bradford absorbed early influences from the town's prominent Black gospel quartets, among them the Famous Blue Jays and the Swan Silvertones; although those ensembles left a deep mark, he later transformed male gospel presentation by turning conventional "quartets" into modern "groups." He began performing at age four, singing and dancing on the Black vaudeville circuit, and under the tutelage of local jazz pianist Mildred Belle Hall he advanced so rapidly that a career in secular music seemed assured.
At six he entered the Holiness Church despite his father's Southern Baptist objections, and during his teenage years he became a disciple of Prophet Jones, the flamboyant Church of God in Christ pianist who would later establish Detroit's Christ Universal Dominion Kingdom of God and Temple of Christ, International Fellowship. After a confrontation with a racist police officer, Bradford's parents sent him to New York, where he organized the Bronx Gospelaires. Returning to Alabama, he attended a private school and continued his education independently, thereby acquiring the title "Professor." His vocation, however, remained preaching and singing; he ultimately received ordination in three denominations and served as a lay minister in two additional congregations. While still a teenager he enlisted in the Army and performed at military camp shows. Back in the Birmingham area he preached at the Mother Hargrove Bishop Universal Spiritual Church before relocating to Chicago, where Roberta Martin and Mahalia Jackson, both of whom had known him as a child in Birmingham, took him under their wing. Their support proved simultaneously helpful and restrictive, prompting him to strike out on his own. When he assembled his first major ensemble, the Bradfordettes, he fused gospel fervor with theatrical choreography.
Bradford kept writing prolifically for other artists, producing two notable successes for the Roberta Martin Singers—"Since I Met Jesus" and "Let God Abide"—while beginning his own recording career in 1951 with sessions for New York's Apollo label. Like most gospel professionals of the Golden Age he spent far more time traveling the church and revival circuit than he did in recording studios, yet his meticulously staged yet ultimately spontaneous performances routinely "wrecked houses" wherever he appeared. His breakthrough arrived after he began recording in Los Angeles for Art Rupe's Specialty label; the 1954 release "I'm Too Close to Heaven" surpassed a million copies sold. He remained with Specialty for six years, eventually directing its gospel division and producing such respected peers as Bessie Griffin, Princess Stewart, and the Argo Singers.
Departing Specialty in 1959, he joined the English tour of Black Nativity, whose Vee-Jay recording captures only a fraction of the stage production's power. Between 1959 and 1960 he cut sides in New York for Savoy and Gospel, yet his most significant work from that period appeared on Vee-Jay, where he recorded from 1962 to 1964. During these years he became an international figure, performing across Europe—chiefly England—and as far afield as Australia with an ensemble that featured future Rolling Stones backing vocalist Madeline Bell, who appears on "Gimme Shelter." In 1966 he taped material, largely unreleased, for Chess's Checker subsidiary, and he concluded his studio career with 1967 and 1968 sessions for Nashboro that, while solid, lack the vitality of his earlier work.
As gospel tastes shifted, Bradford's popularity declined, perhaps explaining his decision to accept the choir-director post at Abyssinian Baptist Church. He had already recorded once with the church's 120-voice choir for Columbia in 1960, delivering a definitive version of his composition "I Want to Ride That Glory Train," and he made a further album for Jubilee in 1969. In the late 1960s and 1970s his energies increasingly turned toward a series of gospel-inflected off-Broadway productions staged by Vinnette Carroll, the director of Black Nativity; among them was the national tour of the comedic Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope. In 1978, while preparing yet another hit show, Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, Bradford suffered a stroke and died at the age of fifty-one.
Beyond his direct impact on the Newark-based soul singers, Bradford helped shape the approaches of Little Richard, Ray Charles, and even Sam Cooke, each of whom studied his technique and stage manner closely. Raised in Bessemer, the coal-mining community just beyond Birmingham, Alabama, Bradford absorbed early influences from the town's prominent Black gospel quartets, among them the Famous Blue Jays and the Swan Silvertones; although those ensembles left a deep mark, he later transformed male gospel presentation by turning conventional "quartets" into modern "groups." He began performing at age four, singing and dancing on the Black vaudeville circuit, and under the tutelage of local jazz pianist Mildred Belle Hall he advanced so rapidly that a career in secular music seemed assured.
At six he entered the Holiness Church despite his father's Southern Baptist objections, and during his teenage years he became a disciple of Prophet Jones, the flamboyant Church of God in Christ pianist who would later establish Detroit's Christ Universal Dominion Kingdom of God and Temple of Christ, International Fellowship. After a confrontation with a racist police officer, Bradford's parents sent him to New York, where he organized the Bronx Gospelaires. Returning to Alabama, he attended a private school and continued his education independently, thereby acquiring the title "Professor." His vocation, however, remained preaching and singing; he ultimately received ordination in three denominations and served as a lay minister in two additional congregations. While still a teenager he enlisted in the Army and performed at military camp shows. Back in the Birmingham area he preached at the Mother Hargrove Bishop Universal Spiritual Church before relocating to Chicago, where Roberta Martin and Mahalia Jackson, both of whom had known him as a child in Birmingham, took him under their wing. Their support proved simultaneously helpful and restrictive, prompting him to strike out on his own. When he assembled his first major ensemble, the Bradfordettes, he fused gospel fervor with theatrical choreography.
Bradford kept writing prolifically for other artists, producing two notable successes for the Roberta Martin Singers—"Since I Met Jesus" and "Let God Abide"—while beginning his own recording career in 1951 with sessions for New York's Apollo label. Like most gospel professionals of the Golden Age he spent far more time traveling the church and revival circuit than he did in recording studios, yet his meticulously staged yet ultimately spontaneous performances routinely "wrecked houses" wherever he appeared. His breakthrough arrived after he began recording in Los Angeles for Art Rupe's Specialty label; the 1954 release "I'm Too Close to Heaven" surpassed a million copies sold. He remained with Specialty for six years, eventually directing its gospel division and producing such respected peers as Bessie Griffin, Princess Stewart, and the Argo Singers.
Departing Specialty in 1959, he joined the English tour of Black Nativity, whose Vee-Jay recording captures only a fraction of the stage production's power. Between 1959 and 1960 he cut sides in New York for Savoy and Gospel, yet his most significant work from that period appeared on Vee-Jay, where he recorded from 1962 to 1964. During these years he became an international figure, performing across Europe—chiefly England—and as far afield as Australia with an ensemble that featured future Rolling Stones backing vocalist Madeline Bell, who appears on "Gimme Shelter." In 1966 he taped material, largely unreleased, for Chess's Checker subsidiary, and he concluded his studio career with 1967 and 1968 sessions for Nashboro that, while solid, lack the vitality of his earlier work.
As gospel tastes shifted, Bradford's popularity declined, perhaps explaining his decision to accept the choir-director post at Abyssinian Baptist Church. He had already recorded once with the church's 120-voice choir for Columbia in 1960, delivering a definitive version of his composition "I Want to Ride That Glory Train," and he made a further album for Jubilee in 1969. In the late 1960s and 1970s his energies increasingly turned toward a series of gospel-inflected off-Broadway productions staged by Vinnette Carroll, the director of Black Nativity; among them was the national tour of the comedic Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope. In 1978, while preparing yet another hit show, Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, Bradford suffered a stroke and died at the age of fifty-one.
Albums
