The Pilgrim Jubilees, also known as The Pilgrim Jubilee Singers, are an American

traditional black gospel Traditional Black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding African American Christian life, as well as (in terms of the varying music styles) to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular mu ...

music group originally from the cities of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

, Mississippi and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, where they were established by Elgie Graham and Willie Johnson, in 1934. The group have released 25 albums with six record labels

Nashboro Records Nashboro Records was an American gospel label principally active in the 1950s and 1960s. History Nashboro was founded in Nashville, Tennessee by Ernie Lafayette Young (1892-1977), who was the owner of a record store, Ernie's Record Mart, and spons ...

Peacock Records Peacock Records was an American record label, started in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United Stat ...

Savoy Records Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music. ...

Malaco Records Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Mel Waiters, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, La ...

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

, and

Benson Records Benson Records was founded by Bob Benson and John T. Benson, who formed the John T. Benson Music Publishing Company in 1902. The record label started out as Heart Warming Records, creating house labels such as Impact Records, Greentree Records, R ...

. Five of those albums charted on the ''Billboard'' magazine charts.

Background

The Mississippi and Illinois-based

group, The Pilgrim Jubilees, were established in 1934 by Elgie Graham and Willie Johnson, as a duo at that time in

Houston, Mississippi Houston is a city in and one of two county seats of Chickasaw County, in northern Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,623 at the 2010 census. History Native American groups had long used the future Chickasaw County for millennia b ...

. They added three more members to the duo in 1946: Elgie's brother Theophilles Graham, Monroe Hatchett, and Leonard Brownlee. The Graham family settled in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, in 1950, where they added Major Roberson, Kenneth Madden and two more of Elgie's brothers, Cleve and Clay Graham, alongside Richard "Rufus" Crume, Percy Clark, and Roosevelt English. Elgie left the group in 1955, so he could retire and do other ministry. Madden and Crume also left the group during the 1960s, while they added Bobby McDougal in the late 1960s, and Ben Chandler and Michael Atkins in the early 1970s. They gained two more members during the 1990s: Eddie Graham, a cousin, and Fred Price. The group is currently Cleve and Clay Graham, Bobby McDougal, Ben Chandler, Michael Atkins, Eddie Graham and Fred Price.

History

The group has released 25 albums with six labels from 1952 to the present day. Those labels were

, and

. Their first recording contract was with Nashboro Records, where they made singles, and this gained them enough revenue to be an operable band, while they were originating out of two barbershops owned by Cleve and Clay. Dave Clark heard the group in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia during the late 1950s, while he was a disc jockey for Peacock Records, the first label to release an album by the group, after they signed them in 1961. Their first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Walk Out'', released in 1961, sold more than 100,000 copies. Soon thereafter, Rufus Crume left the group, becoming a member in

The Soul Stirrers The Soul Stirrers were an American gospel music group, whose career spans over eighty years. The group was a pioneer in the development of the quartet style of gospel, and a major influence on soul, doo wop, and Motown, some of the secular musi ...

. They released 24 more albums, with five of those charting on the ''Billboard'' magazine Gospel Albums chart: ''Gospel Roots'' at No. 19, ''Back to Basics'' at No. 28, ''Family Affair'' at No. 18, ''I'm Getting Better All the Time'' at No. 37, and ''In Revival'' at No. 31.

Members

;Current * Cleve Graham * Clay Graham * Bobby McDougal * Ben Chandler * Michael Atkins * Eddie Graham * Fred Price ;Former * Elgie Graham (co-founder) * Willie Johnson (co-founder) * Theophilles Graham * Monroe Hatchett * Leonard Brownlee * Major Roberson * Kenneth Madden * Richard "Rufus" Crume * Percy Clark * Roosevelt English *

Castro Coleman Castro Coleman aka Mr. Sipp (born August 25, 1976) is an American blues and gospel singer, musician, songwriter and guitarist. Mr. Sipp is the 2014 International Blues Challenge winner by way of The Vicksburg Blues Society as well as the 2014 Gibs ...

Discography

References

External links

''Cross Rhythms'' profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilgrim Jubilees Musical groups established in 1934 1934 establishments in the United States