gospel group, Nashville
National Heritage Fellowship (1989)
Governor’s Award in the Arts (1994)
Beginning as an a capella youth group in the 1930s, the Fairfield Four rose to prominence during the heyday of African American quartet singing in the 1940s through nationwide touring and a syndicated radio show. There were many changes in the group’s personnel over the years, but its success came under the long leadership of tenor singer Rev. Sam McCrary. As the quartet era waned, the group disbanded in 1960, but they reorganized as the result of reunion performances in 1980 to introduce their gospel harmonies to a new generation of listeners. They performed in the Tennessee program at the 1986 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife. The group’s members during the period of their heritage recognitions were McCrary, James Hill, Isaac Freeman, Willie Richardson, Wilson Waters, and Robert Hamlett.
