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Artist
The Larks
12+ albums
doo woprhythm and bluesrnbsoulmale vocalists
about
There are at least three groups called The Larks. 1. The Larks were an African American vocal group, active in the early 1950s, not to be confused with the Los Angeles-based Larks (originally The Meadowlarks) featuring Don Julian. Personnel: Eugene 'Gene' Mumford (1925-1977, tenor, lead), Alden 'Allen' Bunn (known later as Tarheel Slim, 1924-1977, baritone, lead, guitar), Thermon (or Thurmon) Ruth (known later as T. Ruth, 1914–2002, baritone, lead), Hadie Rowe Jr. (1928-1998, baritone), David McNeil (1932-2005, bass) and Raymond 'Pee Wee' Barnes (tenor). The story of the Larks begins in the late 1920s, when singer Thermon Ruth founded the Selah Jubilee Singers in New York, later basing them in Raleigh, North Carolina where they had a radio show. They recorded for Decca Records and other smaller labels in the 1940s, and their membership overlapped with other religious vocal groups in the area, including The Southern Harmonaires. In 1945, Ruth tried to persuade Eugene Mumford of one of these groups, The Four Interns, to join the Selah Jubilee Singers, but before he could do so, Mumford was charged with the attempted rape of a white woman, convicted and imprisoned. He was innocent of the crime and later received a full pardon. In 1946, Allen Bunn joined The Southern Harmonaires, and soon afterwards joined Thermon Ruth in the Selah Jubilee Singers as the group's guitarist and second lead singer. Three years later, Ruth and Bunn decided to leave to form a new group, The Jubilat
