Golden Gate Quartet

Origins and early career

Their sound was rooted in the jubilee quartet tradition, blending barbershop-style harmonies with blues and jazz rhythms, including scat singing. Their range was wide: Owens delivered mournful, restrained vocals on songs like “Anyhow” and “Hush, Somebody’s Calling My Name,” while the group unleashed tight, syncopated arrangements on “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.” Like the Mills Brothers, they used vocal effects to mimic train sounds, as heard in “Golden Gate Gospel Train.”

Langford usually sang lead, shifting from baritone to falsetto, while Johnson provided a hip, syncopated narration that became the group’s signature. Wilson’s deep bass anchored the sound, and Owens harmonized with Langford and Johnson. After the concert, they stayed in New York and secured a residency at the Cafe Society nightclub. Alongside gospel music, they recorded secular songs for RCA Records, which planned to market them as “The Four Chocolate Bars,” but those tracks were never released.

The 1940s and 1950s

They later appeared multiple times at the White House. Their popularity held strong through World War II, with roles in Hollywood films and performances of secular music, including quirky popular front numbers like “Stalin Wasn’t Stallin’,” which blended humor with political bite. Their temporary replacements were Cliff Givens—who later moved to The Ink Spots and then Billy Ward and His Dominoes—and Alton Bradley. After the war, the quartet lost its top spot in gospel music as newer hard gospel groups rose. They stuck with their old style, sharpening political commentary in songs like “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” but audiences drifted toward quartets such as the Dixie Hummingbirds and the Soul Stirrers.

Later activities

During the early 1960s, they slowly added guitar, piano, bass, and drums to their backing band. Throughout the rest of the decade, they toured Europe extensively with a stable lineup: Orlandus Wilson, Clyde Riddick, Caleb Ginyard, and Clyde Wright. Around the late 1970s, Bill “Willie” Johnson led his own version of the quartet in the Los Angeles area with Eugene Mumford and Cliff Givens. Riddick was succeeded by Frank Davis. Wright was replaced by Charles West, Wilson’s nephew from Portsmouth, Virginia.