The Persuasions

The Persuasions emerged from New York as an esteemed a cappella vocal group that has long preserved the doo wop tradition. Their formation occurred in the early 1960s within Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy section, after which they cut several tracks for Minit Records in 1965. Career momentum arrived with the 1970 release A Cappella, a hybrid live-and-studio set issued on Frank Zappa’s Straight label. Further well-regarded albums followed, among them Street Corner Symphony in 1971 and Chirpin’ in 1977. The ensemble has also joined forces with numerous other artists and furnished backing vocals for Liza Minnelli, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, and Joni Mitchell.

Although commercial chart achievements remained modest, the group has sustained the doo wop lineage without conveying rigidity. Their recordings have supplied an enduring source of pleasure, free of overt revivalist overtones and instead marked by ongoing freshness across projects such as Toubo’s Song in 1993, Right Around the Corner the next year, and Sincerely in 1996. Children’s music entered their catalog with 1999’s On the Good Ship Lollipop, while the subsequent year brought Frankly A Cappella: The Persuasions Sing Zappa and Might as Well...The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead. More tribute albums appeared afterward, including Persuasions Sing the Beatles in 2002, Persuasions Sing U2 in 2005, and the Bob Dylan-themed Knockin' on Bob's Door in 2010. Touring and live appearances continued throughout this span.

In 2016 the Canadian pop outfit Barenaked Ladies briefly shared a stage with them. The evident rapport led Barenaked Ladies to suggest a collaborative studio album. The Gavin Brown-produced result, 2017’s Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies & the Persuasions, presented reworked selections from the Barenaked Ladies catalog together with a cover of the Persuasions’ 1972 hit “Good Times.”