The Jordanaires were a popular white gospel group of the 1940s that pioneered what has become known as "Southern Gospel," a style defined by smooth melodies and rich harmony vocals. The group was orignally from Missouri, but became fixtures in Nashville after working with stars such as Red Foley and Eddy Arnold, and became members of the Grand Ole Opry in 1949. The Jordanaires soon found work adding group harmonies to countless country records, and began to both record secular and religious material under their own name. The group found widespread, mainstream success when they worked with pop idol Elvis Presley, who brought him in on some of his earliest RCA sessions, and worked with them through the early 1970s. The Jordanaires became a musical brand, much like the Anita Kerr Singers, and appeared on innumerable sessions. The group's lineup changed over the years, with versions of the Jordanaires working all the way up until 2013, when the group was formally disbanded after Gordon Stoker, one of the band's earliest members, passed away. Here's a quick look at their work...
The Jordanaires "The Beautiful City" (RCA, 1952)
The Jordanaires "Heavenly Spirit" (Capitol, 1958)
The Jordanaires "Peace In The Valley" (Decca, 1958)
Re-released (a couple of times) as Church In The Wildwood.
The Jordanaires "Of Rivers And Plains" (SESAC, 1959)
A secular set of old folk tunes...
The Jordanaires "Gloryland" (Capitol, 1959) (LP)
The Jordanaires & Tennessee Ernie Ford "A Friend We Have" (Capitol, 1959) (LP)
The Jordanaires "Land Of Jordan" (Capitol, 1960) (LP)
The Jordanaires Featuring Ray Walker "To God Be The Glory" (Capitol, 1961) (LP & MP3)
Their new bass vocalist, Ray Walker, gets special billing on the album cover -- he would stay with the band until the very end, from 1958-2013...
The Jordanaires "Spotlight On The Jordanaires" (Capitol, 1962) (LP)
(Produced by Ken Nelson)
A decent, if somewhat sedate set of songs by the hardest-working backup vocalists in Nashville... They cover a dozen country hits from the 'Fifties and early 'Sixties... all songs that they had sung on to begin with. "Oh, Lonesome Me," "Gone," "Young Love" and of course an Elvis tune or two. Nice to find a secular album from these fellas, for once!
The Jordanaires "This Land" (Columbia, 1964) (LP)
The Jordanaires & Tennessee Ernie Ford "Great Gospel Songs" (Capitol, 1964) (LP)
The Jordanaires "The Big Country Hits" (Columbia, 1966) '65? (LP)
The Jordanaires "Monster Makers" (Stop, 1969) (LP)
The Jordanires & Tennessee Ernie Ford "Swing Wide Your Golden Gate" (Word, 1978) (LP)
The Jordanaires "Christmas -- To Elvis, From The Jordanaires" (Classic Christmas, 1978) (LP & MP3)
The Jordanaires "...Sing Elvis' Favorite Spirituals" (Rockhouse, 1987) (LP)
The Jordanaires "Elvis Memories" (Worldwide, 1989)
The Jordanaires "40th Anniversary" (Worldwide, 1990)
The Jordanaires "...With Friends" (Worldwide, 1992)
The "friends" include Charlie McCoy and other, less well-known artists...
The Jordanaires "...Sing Gospel" (K-Tel, 1991)
