West Virginia
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Claude A. Jeter (October 26, 1914 – January 6, 2009) was an African American gospel music singer. Originally a coal miner from Kentucky, Jeter formed the group that would eventually become one of the most popular gospel quartets of the post-war era – the Swan Silvertones. He was also, at one time, a member of the Dixie Hummingbirds.
Jeter was born in Montgomery, Alabama on October 26, 1914. Jeter's father died when he was eight-years old and he moved to Kentucky with his family, where he later found work in the coal mines in West Virginia as a teenager.
He formed the Four Harmony Kings in 1938 with his brother and two fellow coal miners, which was later renamed as the Silvertone Singers. After the group was hired by a radio program based in Knoxville, Tennessee that was sponsored by the local Swan Bakery, they were renamed as the Swan Silvertones.
Jeter was best known for his falsetto with the Swan Silvertones in which his graceful high melodies served in contrast to the rougher voices of the group's other members. The group recorded for the several different labels, but never achieved financial success, despite its widespread influence.
During the 1950s the group was popular and many of the elements of the group's style resembled the then-prevalent rhythm and blues vocal group style. Jeter received many offers to perform R&B or rock and roll, but rejected them all, citing a commitment he had made to his mother that he would always sing for the Lord.
Elements of his performances in songs such as "Careless Soul" and "Saviour Pass Me Not" were picked up by later singers such as Al Green and Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations. "I'll be a bridge over deep water if you trust in my name", a line from his 1961 song "Mary Don’t You Weep" served as Paul Simon's inspiration to write his 1970 song "Bridge over Troubled Water".
Paul Simon hired Jeter to sing on the 1973 studio album There Goes Rhymin' Simon and gave Jeter a check for $1,000 for inspiring Simon to write "Bridge over Troubled Water".
In 1971, Anthony Heilbut wrote the book The Gospel Sound: Good News and Hard Times, and later produced Yesterday and Today, a 1991 album that was Jeter's only solo project.
Jeter died at age 94 on January 6, 2009 at the Doors of Jacob Home in the Bronx.
