Hear The Fairfield Four on the October 23, 1999 "A Prairie Home Companion." Find the archived show HERE.

The Fairfield Four began as a vocal trio that first performed in Nashville's Fairfield Baptist Church in 1921. The trio became a quartet in 1925, sang at other churches and social gatherings for nearly a decade, and then made its radio debut on WSIX in 1937. In July 1942, the group entered a contest sponsored by the Colonial Coffee Company and won an appearance on WLAC Radio in Nashville. They proved so popular that they soon had their own nationally syndicated radio show, which was heard every morning, five days a week for the next ten years. In addition to the radio show, the group toured extensively before launching their commercial recording career in 1946 with several sessions for the Bullet Record Company. Since then, the group has amassed more than 100 titles. Although they went into semi-retirement in the late '60s, they got back together in 1980 for a quartet reunion in Birmingham, Alabama. They electrified the audience with an authentic gospel sound that had all but disappeared in the intervening years. In 1989, the group was named a national treasure when the NEA honored the Fairfield Four with a National Heritage Fellowship. They continue to tour and record, as their schedules allow, and have appeared at Carnegie Hall, toured across Europe and the U.S., and opened for Lyle Lovett and others. Their most recent recording, I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray (Warner Bros. Records), includes performances by Elvis Costello and Pam Tillis, as well as a scripture recitation by Garrison Keillor. Now made up of six singers, the Fairfield Four are still dedicated to the heritage of jubilee gospel singing. Performing tonight are: James Hill, Isaac Freeman, Wilson Waters, Robert Hamlett, Joseph Rice, and Nate Best.



Doc Watson is on this show as well.

Songs Included (times approximate):

47:28 Intro Fairfield Four
48:26 I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray
52:42 Help for the Needy
54:39 GK Intro Members
56:06 Four And Twenty Elders

~Susan