* En anglais uniquement
Not only among the top gospel groups of the postwar era,
the Highway Q.C.'s were also the launching pad for such major secular pop stars as
Lou Rawls,
Johnnie Taylor, and the immortal
Sam Cooke. The group was formed in 1945 at Chicago's Highway Baptist Church by a number of teenagers that included Cooke, Creadell Copeland, and two pairs of brothers, Marvin & Charles Jones and
Curtis & Lee Richardson. Cooke exited in 1951 to join the ranks of hometown heroes
the Soul Stirrers; his replacement was
Rawls, himself an alumnus of another young Windy City group, the Holy Wonders. In time, all of the Wonders' other members --
Spencer Taylor, James Walker, and Chris Flowers among them -- would join
the Highway Q.C.'s as well.
Rawls remained for just two years, leaving at that time to join the Los Angeles-based
Chosen Gospel Singers; his substitute was
Johnnie Taylor, previously of the Kansas City group the Melody Kings. The group made their debut on the Vee-Jay label in 1955; in 1956,
Spencer Taylor joined, and a year later
Johnnie Taylor (no relation) quit to join
the Soul Stirrers, ironically enough filling the gap created by the exit of
Sam Cooke.
Spencer Taylor remained
the Highway Q.C.'s leader throughout the decades which followed, continuing to helm the group into the '90s. ~ Jason Ankeny