The Larks were an American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based Larks (originally The Meadowlarks) featuring Don Julian, nor the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-based group The Four Larks.

Original members

*Eugene "Gene" Mumford (June 24, 1925 - May 29, 1977) (tenor, lead) *Allen (or Alden) Bunn (known later as

Tarheel Slim Allen Rathel Bunn (September 24, 1923 – August 21, 1977), who was sometimes credited as Alden Bunn and who performed as Tarheel Slim, was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter whose work spanned gospel, blues, doowop, R&B, pop, an ...

) (September 24, 1923 – August 21, 1977) (baritone, lead, guitar) * Thermon (or Thurmon) Ruth (known later as T. Ruth) (March 6, 1914 – September 13, 2002) (baritone, lead) *Hadie Rowe Jr. (1928 - September 19, 1998) (baritone) *David McNeil (1932 - January 8, 2005) (bass) *Raymond "Pee Wee" Barnes (tenor)

History

The group was formed in the late 1920s, when singer Thermon Ruth founded the

Selah Jubilee Singers The Selah Jubilee Singers were an American gospel vocal quartet, who appeared in public as a gospel group but who also had a successful recording career as a secular group in the 1930s & 1940s. History Around 1927, Thermon Ruth (1914–2002) fou ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, later basing them in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

where they had a radio show. They recorded for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

and other smaller labels in the 1940s, and their membership overlapped with other religious vocal groups in the area, including The Southern Harmonaires. In 1945, Ruth tried to persuade Eugene Mumford of one of these groups, The Four Interns, to join the

, but before he could do so, Mumford was charged with the attempted rape of a white woman, convicted and imprisoned. He was innocent of the crime and later received a full pardon. In 1946, Allen Bunn joined The Southern Harmonaires, and soon afterwards joined Thermon Ruth in the

as the group's guitarist and second lead singer. Three years later, Ruth and Bunn decided to leave to form a new group, The Jubilators. They linked up with Mumford, now released from prison, and with three members of The Southern Harmonaires, David McNeil, Hadie Rowe Jr., and Raymond "Pee Wee" Barnes. In 1950, the six-man group drove to New York to record. On one single day, they recorded 17 songs for four different labels, under four different names. Initially, billing themselves as the

, they recorded four gospel songs for

Jubilee Records Jubilee Records was an American independent record label, specializing in rhythm and blues and novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. His partner was Jerry Blaine. Blaine bought Abramson's half of the compan ...

, before moving on to record as "The Jubilators" for Regal Records in New Jersey. Then they drove to Newark, recording four secular blues songs, including "Lemon Squeezer", as "The 4 Barons" for

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. ...

. Finally, they drove back to Apollo Records in Manhattan, where, as The Southern Harmonaires, they recorded four more gospel tracks. However, Apollo owner Bess Berman realized the subterfuge. She signed them to a contract which allowed the other companies to release the other recordings, but wanted to promote them as a secular R&B rather than a gospel group. At this point the group became The Larks, named along the lines of other "bird" groups like

The Ravens ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

and

The Orioles The Orioles were an American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal groups who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound. The Orioles are generally acknowledged as R&B's first vocal group. Balt ...

. Their earliest recordings featured Mumford on lead vocal, on "When I Leave These Prison Walls" and "My Reverie", the latter recorded after Rowe had left the group on being drafted into the Army. However, chart success did not come until later in 1951, when the blues "

Eyesight to the Blind "Eyesight to the Blind" is a 12-bar blues song written and recorded in 1951 by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Aleck "Rice" Miller). He also recorded the related songs "Born Blind", "Unseeing Eye", "Don't Lose Your Eye", and "Unseen Eye" during his car ...

", with Bunn on lead vocals and guitar, made # 5 on the R&B charts. This was followed up by another R&B top ten hit, "Little Side Car", a reworking of

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's " Too Many Drivers". This period was the height of The Larks’ popularity – they appeared on the

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

and

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TV shows, toured with

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

, and recorded with

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...

. Early in 1952, however, Bunn left for a solo career, first recording blues for Apollo, accompanied by

Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

and

Brownie McGhee Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry. Life and career McGhee was ...

, and then moving to Bobby Robinson's Red Robin label in 1953 (on some records as "Allen Baum"). Barnes also left The Larks in early 1952 to become a R&B, jazz and rock 'n’ roll session guitarist. Shortly afterwards, McNeil also left to replace Bill Brown in The Dominoes. Thermon Ruth relocated back to North Carolina, and The Larks as a group effectively then ceased to exist for a while. Gene Mumford joined gospel group

The Golden Gate Quartet The Golden Gate Quartet (a.k.a. The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet) is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active. Origins and early career The group was founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Singe ...

, but in 1953 he decided to return to secular music. He recruited the quartet's Orville Brooks and pianist

Glenn Burgess Glenn Burgess (born 17 November 1963) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s. Playing career Burgess was graded by the St George Dragons from their local juniors in the early 1980s. He went on to p ...

, and singers David "Boots" Bowers and Isaiah Bing of the King Odom Four, this group then becoming the new incarnation of The Larks. Bess Berman at Apollo wanted the group to develop as a mainstream pop music group, rather than an R&B group, and they released a number of singles in that vein. They also appeared in the movie ''Rhythm & Blues Revue''. However, commercial success eluded them, and the second Larks disbanded in 1955.

Subsequent solo careers

Mumford first joined the Serenaders, and then joined David McNeil in Billy Ward & the Dominoes, where he replaced

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

. As the Dominoes’ lead singer, he was responsible for two big hits in 1957, " Stardust" and "

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

". Later, both Mumford and McNeil performed as members of a version of

The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely a ...

. Mumford died in 1977. McNeil continued as a member of "The Fabulous Ink Spots" until 1989, dying in 2005. Thermon Ruth continued his activities as a prominent and influential deejay, MC and promoter, often billed as T. Ruth. In 1955, he succeeded for the first time in the history of American entertainment in signing a gospel group, the Selah Jubilee Singers, to play in a commercial theater. Bunn continued his musical career after his early solo recordings, initially as manager and guitarist of R&B group The Wheels and then, in 1956, as one half of The Lovers with Anna Lee Sanford, who became his wife. The pair had a minor R&B hit in 1957 with "Darling It’s Wonderful", and another in 1959 with "It’s Too Late" on Bobby Robinson’s Fire label, this time credited as "

and Little Ann". He also recorded in a

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

style, on songs such as 1959's "Number Nine Train". In the mid-1960s, Tarheel and Ann recorded soul music, and in the early 1970s Tarheel Slim made further recordings including a largely solo blues album, ''No Time At All'', on Trix Records. As a result, Bunn performed at blues and folk festivals until his death in 1977.

References

External links

Biography of The Larks by Marv GoldbergEpisode 5: CoffeeThe Larks - Little Side Car - 1951The Larks - Rockin' In The Rocket Room - 1954The Larks - Forget It - 1954
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larks, The African-American musical groups American vocal groups Jubilee Records artists Decca Records artists Fury Records artists Apollo Records artists