The Persuasions - Biography
By J Poet
“The Persuasions! Aren’t you that old do-wop group?” Jimmy Hayes, the group’s bass singer, chuckles. “I can’t count the times people have called us an old do wop group. It’s kind of insulting. We may be old, but we’re an a cappella harmony group, not a do wop group. We look for songs that suit our kind of harmonizing and do all kinds of music, not just do wop.”
The original Persuasions - Jerry Lawson, Jimmy Hayes, Joe Russell, Jayotis Washington, and Toubo Rhodes – came to New York City in the early 60s, with dreams of a musical career. They’d play basketball after work at Washington Park in Brooklyn and after the game, somebody would strike up a song and 15 or 20 guys would try harmonizing. Bass singer Jimmy Hayes finally suggested a formal rehearsal, but only four guys showed up to sing. They became the Persuasions and modeled themselves on the popular African American vocal groups of the day like The Drifters. At first they had a guitar player, but when he showed up late, they’d sing a cappella for the audience, and discovered they went over better without their guitar man.
After the five friends started singing together, they landed jobs at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, a project to advance the neighborhood’s social, physical and economic development: Bobby Kennedy headed the project. The Persuasions became the “house band” for the group’s fundraisers, including a gala at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts where they wore their first tuxedos and had Bill Lee, Spike Lee’s dad, backing them on bass.
They met their first manager one night when they were singing in a subway station to get that echo effect. David Dashev and his wife got off a train and, although he’d never managed a group, he took them on. He hooked them up with the William Morris Agency and had them audition for Frank Zappa by singing a tune over the telephone. A week later Zappa sent them a contract and six round trip airplane tickets to come out to California and make their first album, Acappella (1970, BizzareStraight). At the time they went to record, the group still didn’t have a name, but Hayes had been reading The Bible when the word ‘persuader’ jumped out at him. He knew they’d have to persuade people to listen to a group with no band, so they became The Persuasions.
Acappella led to a deal with Capital where they cut two of their most powerful albums Street Corner Symphony (1972) and Spread the Word (1972) an inspirational album that mixed gospel tunes like “When Jesus Comes” and “The Lord’s Prayer” with secular spirituals by Bill Withers and Bob Dylan. Chirpin’ (1977, Elektra) may be the high point of their recording career, cut with just a trace of echo on the voices, it captures the street corner soul that gave birth to the genre. “Lookin’ for an Echo” the story of a group of older singers looking back on their lives is one of the greatest do wop songs ever written, and the Persuasions make it a transcendent statement of the deep meaning music has in so many lives.
The Persuasions went on to cut more than 20 albums and headline major venues all over the world, with minimal personnel changes. The Persuasions are also in demand session singers with a resume of A List artists including Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder. “People say we have haunting harmonies,” Hayes said. “That’s because we don’t use the high harmonies, we have low harmonies. That’s why The Ramones hired me to put a low bass line on one of their songs. You look on the back of any album, you’re likely to see The Persuasions.”
Their albums have never sold well, despite their high quality, but their live shows always blow people away. In a career that spans 44 years, The Persuasions still live up to their tag line - “We still ain’t got no band” - with a powerful vocal sound that can raise the roof, as well as the spirits of the audience. They’ve put their mark on soul, R&B, rock’n’roll, folk songs, blues, pop standards and Gospel and produced their share of concept albums. They’ve done a Beatles album, The Persuasions sing The Beatles (2002, Chesky), a Grateful Dead album, Might as Well...The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead (2000, Arista), a Christmas album, All I Want for Christmas (1997, Bullseye Blues), a children’s record, On the Good Ship Lollipop (1999, Rhino), and covered tunes by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Frank Zappa, Frankly a Cappella: The Persuasions Sing Zappa (2000, Rhino) and U2, The Persuasions Sing U2 (2005, Chesky).