The group was founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Singers in 1934, by four students at
Booker T. Washington High School in
Norfolk, Virginia. According to the group's website, the original members were Willie Johnson (baritone; d. 1980), William Langford (tenor; d. 1970), Henry Owens (second tenor; d. 1970) and
Orlandus Wilson (bass; 1917–1998); other sources state that Langford and Wilson replaced earlier members Robert "Peg" Ford and A.C. "Eddie" Griffin in 1935. From 1935, the group sang in churches and on local
radio, gaining a regular spot on radio station
WIS in
Columbia, South Carolina in 1936. They began as a traditional
jubilee quartet, combining the clever arrangements associated with
barbershop quartets with rhythms borrowed from the
blues and
jazz like
scat singing. They developed a broad repertoire of styles – from Owens' mournful, understated approach in songs such as "Anyhow" or "
Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name", to the group's highly
syncopated arrangements in "
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego". Like
The Mills Brothers in popular music, they would often include vocal special effects in their songs, imitating train sounds in songs such as "Golden Gate Gospel Train". Langford often sang lead, using his ability to range from
baritone to
falsetto, while Johnson narrated in a hip syncopated style that became the hallmark for the group. Wilson's bass served as the anchor for the group and Owens harmonized with Langford and Johnson. In 1937, they moved to station
WBT in
Charlotte, North Carolina, and soon afterwards won a contract with
Bluebird Records. After their first recording session on August 14, 1937, in which they recorded 14 songs in two hours, they were contracted to record 12 tracks per year. In 1938, they were recruited by
John Hammond to appear at the first
From Spirituals To Swing concert held at
Carnegie Hall in
New York City, after which their popularity grew. An example of their output during this popular period includes a 1938 recording of '
John the Revelator' being inducted into the
National Recording Registry in 2005. They stayed in New York and were signed up for a residency at the
Cafe Society nightclub. As well as performing and recording gospel songs they also recorded some secular songs for
RCA Records, who were intending to bill them as "The Four Chocolate Bars", but the recordings were not released. In 1939, William Langford left the group to form a new group, the Southern Sons; he was replaced by Clyde Riddick (1913–1999). ==The 1940s and 1950s==