The Fairfield Four were among the top gospel quartets who began their origins from Fairfield Baptist Church in Nashville. They started as a duet taught by the assistant pastor of Fairfield Baptist Church, Reverend J.R. Carrethers. The group would eventuall evolve into a quartet, with the members Harold Carrethers as baritone, Rufus Carrethers as bass, John Battle as tenor lead, and Lattimer Green as the second lead, later to be replaced by Samuel McCrary. They would go on to achieve many things that no other musicians can parallel. They’ve had their Golden Years, as well as their tougher years which lead to the fall-out of the group until 1980. Since 1980, they reached across international audience, arguably gaining them more fan base than they had during their Golden Years. Throughout their career, the Fairfield Four have had significant influence to gospel music, other musicians, and had many key achievements.
One way in which the Fairfield Four were pioneers in Gospel music to reach a broad audience through radio broadcast. They broadcasted a daily morning show through WLAC Nashville through the sponsorship of Sunway Vitamin Company. They won a contest sponsored by Colonial Coffee Company in 1942, which allowed them their daily morning show at 6:45 AM for twelve years.
The singers of Fairfield Four were able to reinterpret and transform traditional hymns. They utilized close baritone and tenor harmonies, while fully utilizing the extent of their voices. From the bass rolling lines to upper tenor ranges, they were able to move easily from one range to the other with intricacy and precision. They were invited by Elvis Costello at the Meltdown Festival in London. No matter how out of place this group seemed to be, they were able to sway and captivate the audience with their soulful and rhythmic singing.
Their music influence much musical greats of the past 60 years, including gospel and non-gospel artists such as Elvis Costello, John Fogerty,...