Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 1,719
By This is the grave of James Walker.
Born in 1928 in Mileston, Mississippi, I don’t know much about Walker except for one thing–he was a long time member of the Dixie Hummingbirds, one of the great gospel quartets of all time. The Hummingbirds are one of the most fascinating groups of all time and that’s because the group started in 1928 and continues all the way to the present. This is actually not as uncommon as you’d think in the gospel world and I suspect this is why the doo wop groups of the 50s and early 60s sometimes still exist today without any of the original members. And to be honest, there’s nothing wrong with that. The point of these bands, in either genre, is the vocals and the harmonies. It’s not like they are supposed to be guitar or songwriting virtuosoes who are bigger than the music in some classic rock and roll way. No, not at all.
James Davis founded the Hummingbirds in 1928 and it was he who hired Walker, who had fought in Korea before joining the Hummingbirds in 1954. He also sometimes sang with other groups, the most prominent of which is probably the Highway QCs. He also sang with the Golden Gate Quartet, the Harmonizing Four, and the Southern Sons. Walker was a good songwriter and composed some of the biggest songs the Hummingbirds ever had, including “Take Care of Me” and “New Jerusalem.” They also backed Paul Simon on “Love Me Like a Rock,” which he had a big hit with in 1973. Hopefully they got paid well for that. Among the bands that openly talked of the Hummingbirds’ influences was the Temptations. Walker usually was second lead vocalist. They performed at Newport Folk Festival in 1966.
This is about all I have here. There was a very short Washington Post obit that I borrowed from, but otherwise, that’s it.
Walker stayed with the Hummingbirds until his death in 1992, at the age of 64.
Well, that was short but we can at least listen to some Dixie Hummingbirds and isn’t that how we get at the real greatness of Walker anyway.
James Walker is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia.
If you would like this series to visit other gospel singers, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. Mahalia Jackson is in Metairie, Louisiana and Andrae Crouch is in Newhall, California. Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.