Fairfield Four

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The Fairfield Four is an American gospel group that has existed for over 100 years, starting as a trio in the Fairfield Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1921. They were designated as National Heritage Fellows in 1989 by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. The group won the 1998 Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. As a quintet, they featured briefly in the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Members (2023):

Reverend Sam McCrary

James Hill (baritone)

Isaac Freeman (bass)

Willie Richardson

Robert Hamlett

Ed Hall

Joe Thompson

Edward Thomas (tenor)

Willie Frank Lewis (utility)

Past members :

Harold Carrethers (baritone)

Rufus Carrethers (bass)

John Battle (lead)

Lattimer Green (second lead)

Willie Love (second lead)

Willie "Little Axe" Broadnax (Tenor)

Wilson Waters

Joseph Rice

Walter Settles Sr.

Roscoe Shelton

Bobby Hebb

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Southern Folklife Collection Artist Name File, 1940-2005 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
referencedIn Ambassador Auditorium Collection, 1974-1995 Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries
referencedIn Tennessee Arts Commission Folk Arts Program Records, 1889-2017 Tennessee State Library & Archives, TSLA
contributorOf Doug Seroff Tennessee African American Gospel Quartet collection Center for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee State University
referencedIn Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project Collection, 1965-1989 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Smithsonian Institution corporateBody
associatedWith Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project, Inc. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Nashville TN US
Subject
a capella singing
African American gospel singers
Gospel music
Gospel singers
Occupation
Gospel Singer
Activity
Singers

Corporate Body

Establishment 1921

Americans

Information

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SNAC ID: 87980191