The Striders

The Striders, an R&B vocal quartet consisting of tenor Eugene, baritone Charles, and bass James Strider together with family friend Ernest Griffin on second tenor, launched their career on the family’s front porch in Columbus, Ohio. They spent several years perfecting their close-harmony blend on local sidewalks and stoops before graduating to neighborhood nightclubs. A December 2003 Discoveries profile by Marv Goldberg notes that, following one such engagement, they were introduced to Columbus promoter Bob Rock, who took over management duties and booked them throughout Ohio. When World War II dispersed the members, Eugene and Charles enlisted in the Wings Over Jordan Choir; after the conflict the four singers regrouped with Rock and settled in New York City in 1946. Two years later they signed with Capitol and cut their first sides during the summer, though the label set the masters aside. A later session produced the single “Pleasin’ You (As Long As I Live),” issued near the end of 1948. By the fall of 1949 the group had moved to the independent Mystery imprint and released “So Long,” while also supplying backing vocals for Dolores Martin’s “I’m the Lonesomest Gal in Town.”

A subsequent contract with Apollo Records led to the May 1950 release of “Cool Saturday Night,” timed to coincide with the quartet’s debut at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Additional club residencies in Newark and Washington, D.C., followed, yet the record failed to attract attention. Late that year the Striders appeared on Manor’s Arco subsidiary, supporting Savannah Churchill on “Changeable You.” The partnership continued into 1951 with the Regal single “Once There Lived a Fool” and the follow-up “And So I Cry.” Although Eugene enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in mid-1951, he rejoined the group during furloughs; over the ensuing twelve months they accompanied Churchill on four RCA sides—“In Spite of Everything You Do,” “My Affair,” “Waiting for a Guy Named Joe,” and “If I Didn’t Love You So”—without receiving label credit. In mid-1952 the Striders joined the Derby roster, providing vocal support for Bette McLaurin’s “I Won’t Tell a Soul I Love You” and Maureen Cannon’s “Did I Speak Out of Turn?” Their only Derby headliner, “Rollin’,” surfaced in mid-1954, though the track had been recorded earlier. Eugene returned from military service in 1955, the same year Apollo unexpectedly issued the six-year-old master “I Wonder.” The quartet maintained a steady touring schedule through the remainder of the decade before disbanding around 1961. The following year Eugene, now billed as Gene Stridel, issued the Verve single “Let Her Go,” followed in 1964 by the Columbia album This Is Gene Stridel and a final Atlantic release, “The Zebra,” in 1968. Eugene died in 1973, Griffin in 1982, and James in 1993.