The Delta Rhythm Boys

The Delta Rhythm Boys employed their lively Jubilee-style harmonies to link the R&B vocal ensembles active during the 1930s and 1940s with the doo wop acts that rose in the 1950s. Sophisticated versions of traditional material such as "Dry Bones" and Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train" brought early acclaim in 1941, yet the group remained active performers well into the mid-'50s when rock dominated. Radio work included spots on Amos and Andy and the Joan Davis Show, while Broadway credits encompassed Sing Out the News and Hot Mikado. Their screen appearances ranged from the 1941 film You'll Never Get Rich, the first movie for both Bing Crosby and Rita Hayworth, to Rock and Roll Revue and Rhythm and Blues Revue in 1955, along with numerous shorts that included Big Band Parade, Banquet of Melody, Choo Choo Swing, Crazy House, Easy to Look At, Follow the Boys, and Harlem Rock and Roll.

Adaptability marked the quintet at every stage. In addition to independent recordings made with piano alone, the members supplied background vocals for Charlie Barnet, Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Ruth Brown.

The group's roots reach back to 1934, when vocalists Carl Jones, Traverse Crawford, Kelsey Pharr, and Otha Lee Gaines joined pianist and arranger Rene DeKnight as students at Langston University in Langston, OK. After transferring to Dillard University in New Orleans in 1936, they performed under Dr. Frederick Hall as the New Orleans Quintet and the Frederick Hall Quintet. Strong popularity throughout Europe and Scandinavia in the early '50s led the Delta Rhythm Boys to settle there permanently in 1956, and they continued performing together until the death of Gaines on July 15, 1987.