The Highway Q.C.'s is an American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

group that has been active for over 70 years. Its members sing in the tradition of jubilee quartets, though they have also added instrumental accompaniment. The group helped launch the careers of several secular stars, including

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer. He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song " You'll Never Find Another Love like Min ...

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. He was initially suc ...

and

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

. The Highway Q.C.'s were founded in 1945 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

by a group of male teenagers who attended Highway Baptist Church, including

, Creadell Copeland, Marvin Jones, Charles Jones, Jake Richard, and Lee Richard. Cooke sang with the group through 1951, when he joined

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, R&B, Doo-wop, and Southern soul, some of th ...

; and

participated through 1953. Prior to joining the HQCs, Rawls sang with the Holy Wonders, and eventually, all of the other Wonders ( Spencer Taylor, James Walker, and Chris Flowers) also joined the HQCs. After Rawls's departure in 1953,

joined the group, and in 1955 they made their first recordings for

Vee-Jay Records Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

. In 1957 Taylor left the group, replacing Cooke in the Soul Stirrers when Cooke pursued a solo career. Spencer Taylor, who joined the group in 1956, became the HQC's leader and has remained so for over 60 years. They have recorded 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. ...

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

, and other labels.

General references

*Jason Ankeny, The Highway Q.C.'sat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

External links

Spencer Taylor
at Richmond Folk Festival website {{DEFAULTSORT:Highway Q.C.'s American gospel musical groups Musical groups from Chicago Musical groups established in 1945