Edwin Hawkins, born in August 1943 in Oakland, California, joined forces with Betty Watson as music directors for Berkeley’s Ephesian Church of God in Christ. From that base they began drawing top soloists out of rival San Francisco choirs in 1967, thereby assembling the fifty-voice North California State Youth Choir. Two years later the group cut an album simply to raise money; when local disc jockey Tom Donahue started airing the track “Oh Happy Day,” the recording secured both a Buddah Records deal and unexpected worldwide success. Although the ensemble was subsequently billed as the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the lead vocal belonged to Dorothy Combs Morrison, born in Longview, Texas, whose commanding performance largely accounted for the single’s impact. Morrison soon launched a solo career that never recaptured that early momentum, and Hawkins, now missing his standout singer, found it difficult to escape the shadow of what many regarded as a one-off novelty. Session work nevertheless kept the group in steady demand, and one such collaboration returned them to the U.S. charts in 1970 when they appeared on Melanie’s Top 10 single “Lay Down (Candles In The Rain).” That proved their final chart entry, after which interest declined. Reduced in size, the Singers still tour and make occasional recordings.
