The Bright Stars were a pioneering gospel quartet, combining doo-wop harmonies with the punch of a full band.
Welcome to Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments.
If you happened to attend one of the many gospel programs in the 1960s - most of which would feature a dozen or more artists singing 2-3 songs - you're likely to have heard the Bright Stars of Augusta, Georgia.
The Stars were founded in the 1950s, but it wasn't until the legendary John R. of Nashville's might WLAC radio began playing their songs that they made the leap from regional to national.
With a revolving cast of singers revolving around Willie Davis, who was also their manager, the Stars continued recording into the 1990s, first for Nashboro, then a number of smaller labels.
That's Davis, singing the raspy high tenor lead on their biggest hit, "Standing in the Safety Zone" from around 1962. The Stars were one of the first gospel quartets to travel with a full band, and their combination of the clanka-lanka rhythms of doo-wop and hard-edged gospel is unique in the field. They're also credited with the discovery of the Mighty Clouds of Joy, who would become the last great gospel quartet, and who continued to thrill audiences until just a few years ago.
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I'm Robert Darden ... SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments is produced by KWBU, the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project at Baylor University Libraries and is funded by generous support from the Prichard Foundation.