Thurman Ruth (promoter)
Encyclopedia
Thurman Ruth (March 6, 1914–September 13, 2002), who got his start in vaudeville
in 1927, was a gospel singer, deejay and concert promoter, and a forefather of such rhythm and blues
(R&B) producers as Ralph Bass
. Ruth had organized the Selah Jubilee Singers
, a gospel group drawn from the membership of a church choir, leaving it in 1949 to pursue more secular interests in music.
Ruth was a deejay on WOV
, a radio station in New York
, at a time in the late 1940s when gospel
groups such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe
, the Pilgrim Travelers
and the Five Blind Boys
were touring the country playing in shabby settings with few amenities for the performers. Meanwhile, rhythm and blues
groups were becoming so popular that theaters such as the Apollo Theater
began featuring highly successful R&B revues. Gospel groups were popular on radio stations but their performances made no money.
No one had yet conceived of combining the power of gospel with the highly-charged, money-making revue format of the successful R&B acts that appealed to urban audiences. In 1955, Ruth succeeded in signing a gospel group to play in a commercial theater for the first time in the history of American entertainment. Subsequently Ruth continued to feature gospel groups as a prominent and influential deejay and promoter.
in Brooklyn. The group later based in Raleigh, North Carolina
, where they had a daily program of music on radio station WPTF
. In 1949, Ruth formed a secular vocal group, which became The Larks
, based in New York. However, they split up in 1952.
, while the secular R&B groups were appearing there and in other urban rhythm and blues theaters, performing pulsating hit gospel songs. Ruth had the idea of convincing Frank Schiffman, then owner of the Apollo (who was dubious that a gospel act would succeed in his theater) of giving the Selah Jubilee Singers a trial performance on the Apollo stage.
A more difficult task for Ruth was to convince the Selah Jubilee Singers that playing at the Apollo was not sinful. At that time, gospel music was considered sacred music and not to be performed as secular entertainment. Ruth convinced the group by arguing that, since the Apollo was a sinful den of iniquity, that was exactly where a gospel group should sing. There they could bring the sacred message to the sinners, and that the building itself should not matter if their performance of gospel was to worship God . Further, not only would they have a real stage with professional stage lighting
and great musical acoustics
, for the first time they would be guaranteed to be paid a remuneration
whether the show was a success nor not.
On December 15, 1955, the Selah Jubilee Singers debuted at the Apollo, the first gospel group to play there or at any commercial theater. Thurman ensured that a variety of gospel was featured in order to broaden the appeal: gospel, jubilee, and spirituals
but with an emphasis on rhythm
as well as the emotional components of gospel. The shows were stimulating, exciting and a great success with the Apollo regulars. Dionne Warwick
remembers that the audience became overwhelmed with emotion. "We were entertainers," remembers Ruth. Gospels acts became commercial hits. The Selah Jubilee Singers became a professional R&B group, the Larks
, in the 1950s.
Ruth also taught the gospel groups to abide by theatrical rules, such as keeping firm to time limits on stage, as they were used to singing as long as the spirit hit them in the storefronts. Having to pay stage hands overtime was a major motivation in convincing the gospel groups to confine their performances to the time allotted to them. They also learned to keep theatrical schedules, performing their act whether the spirit hit them or not.
Thurman Ruth was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame
.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
in 1927, was a gospel singer, deejay and concert promoter, and a forefather of such rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
(R&B) producers as Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass , born in The Bronx, New York of an Italian-American-Catholic father, and a German-American-Jewish mother, was an influential rhythm and blues record producer and talent scout for several independent labels and was responsible for many hit records. He was a pioneer in bringing black...
. Ruth had organized the Selah Jubilee Singers
Selah Jubilee Singers
The Selah Jubilee Singers was an American gospel vocal quartet, who appeared in public as a gospel group but who also had a successful recording career as a secular group in the 1930s & 1940s.-History:...
, a gospel group drawn from the membership of a church choir, leaving it in 1949 to pursue more secular interests in music.
Ruth was a deejay on WOV
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
, a radio station in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, at a time in the late 1940s when gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
groups such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, the Pilgrim Travelers
Pilgrim Travelers
The Pilgrim Travelers were a gospel group popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s.-Musical career:Formed in the early 1930s in Houston, Texas, they were strongly influenced by another Texas-based quartet, the Soul Stirrers...
and the Five Blind Boys
Five Blind Boys
Five Blind Boys may refer to:*Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, a gospel group from Jackson, Mississippi active since the 1930s. Archie Brownlee was their lead singer....
were touring the country playing in shabby settings with few amenities for the performers. Meanwhile, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
groups were becoming so popular that theaters such as the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
began featuring highly successful R&B revues. Gospel groups were popular on radio stations but their performances made no money.
No one had yet conceived of combining the power of gospel with the highly-charged, money-making revue format of the successful R&B acts that appealed to urban audiences. In 1955, Ruth succeeded in signing a gospel group to play in a commercial theater for the first time in the history of American entertainment. Subsequently Ruth continued to feature gospel groups as a prominent and influential deejay and promoter.
Early life and career
Thermon Ruth was born in Newberry County, South Carolina, and moved as a child with his family to Brooklyn, New York in 1922. By about 1927, he had founded The Selah Jubilee Singers, while working as deejay at WORWOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
in Brooklyn. The group later based in Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, where they had a daily program of music on radio station WPTF
WPTF
WPTF, NewsRadio 680, is a talk radio station serving the Triangle area of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The station is owned by Curtis Media Group...
. In 1949, Ruth formed a secular vocal group, which became The Larks
The Larks
The Larks were an African American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the Los Angeles-based Larks featuring Don Julian.-Original members:...
, based in New York. However, they split up in 1952.
Professionalizing gospel
By 1950, Ruth was very aware that gospel groups had become popular acts although they usually appeared in dusty store fronts, not in thriving, jiving black theaters. The lifestyle of the gospel singers prevented them from appearing in such venues as the Apollo TheaterApollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
, while the secular R&B groups were appearing there and in other urban rhythm and blues theaters, performing pulsating hit gospel songs. Ruth had the idea of convincing Frank Schiffman, then owner of the Apollo (who was dubious that a gospel act would succeed in his theater) of giving the Selah Jubilee Singers a trial performance on the Apollo stage.
A more difficult task for Ruth was to convince the Selah Jubilee Singers that playing at the Apollo was not sinful. At that time, gospel music was considered sacred music and not to be performed as secular entertainment. Ruth convinced the group by arguing that, since the Apollo was a sinful den of iniquity, that was exactly where a gospel group should sing. There they could bring the sacred message to the sinners, and that the building itself should not matter if their performance of gospel was to worship God . Further, not only would they have a real stage with professional stage lighting
Stage lighting
Modern stage lighting is a flexible tool in the production of theatre, dance, opera and other performance arts. Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in the pursuit of the various principles or goals of lighting. Stage lighting has grown considerably in recent years...
and great musical acoustics
Musical acoustics
Musical acoustics or music acoustics is the branch of acoustics concerned with researching and describing the physics of music – how sounds employed as music work...
, for the first time they would be guaranteed to be paid a remuneration
Remuneration
Remuneration is the total compensation that an employee receives in exchange for the service they perform for their employer. Typically, this consists of monetary rewards, also referred to as wage or salary...
whether the show was a success nor not.
On December 15, 1955, the Selah Jubilee Singers debuted at the Apollo, the first gospel group to play there or at any commercial theater. Thurman ensured that a variety of gospel was featured in order to broaden the appeal: gospel, jubilee, and spirituals
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
but with an emphasis on rhythm
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
as well as the emotional components of gospel. The shows were stimulating, exciting and a great success with the Apollo regulars. Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
remembers that the audience became overwhelmed with emotion. "We were entertainers," remembers Ruth. Gospels acts became commercial hits. The Selah Jubilee Singers became a professional R&B group, the Larks
The Larks
The Larks were an African American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the Los Angeles-based Larks featuring Don Julian.-Original members:...
, in the 1950s.
Ruth also taught the gospel groups to abide by theatrical rules, such as keeping firm to time limits on stage, as they were used to singing as long as the spirit hit them in the storefronts. Having to pay stage hands overtime was a major motivation in convincing the gospel groups to confine their performances to the time allotted to them. They also learned to keep theatrical schedules, performing their act whether the spirit hit them or not.
Popular gospel
Ruth organized the first of many Gospel Caravans, a professional package tour of gospel acts modeled after the popular R&B revues that traveled the country's entertainment circuit. This was the beginning of the popularity of the touring gospel groups have become part of the American music scene.Thurman Ruth was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame
Gospel Music Hall of Fame
The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1971 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music.-Inductees:...
.