国籍：美国 生日：1919 年 8 月 4 日 逝世日期：2002年2月3日 姓名：James Webre Blackwood 简介：James Webre Blackwood (4 August 1919 – 3 February 2002) was an American Gospel singer and one of the founding members of legendary Southern Gospel quartet The Blackwood Brothers. 从艺历程：Blackwood was born on August 4, 1919, in Choctaw County, Mississippi, to sharecropper William Emmett Blackwood and his wife Carrie Prewitt Blackwood. He was the youngest of four children, which included his brother Roy Blackwood (December 24, 1900 – March 21, 1971), sister Lena Blackwood Cain (December 31, 1904 – March 1, 1990) and brother Doyle Blackwood (August 21, 1911 – October 3, 1974). In 1926, he and his brother Doyle had developed an interest in gospel music, singing at church gatherings, camp meetings, schools and any place they saw the opportunity. During this period, they sang on WTJS in Jackson, Tennessee. Blackwood formed a singing group with his nephew R. W. and his brothers Roy and Doyle. The Blackwood Brothers' first broadcast was on the radio station WHEF, AM 1500, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, in 1934. The quartet soon began broadcasting on the larger WJDX in Jackson, moving to Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1939, and Shenandoah, Iowa, in 1940. In early World War II, the quartet temporarily disbanded as James joined the war effort as a factory welder in California. As the other members joined him in California, they resumed singing and the quartet was based in San Diego, California from 1944 to 1945 as they continued simultaneously working in the war-related industries. After the war, they returned to Iowa in September 1945 resuming their broadcast on KMA Radio in Shenandoah. In 1950, the quartet moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and the radio station WMPS. In 1951, they signed a recording contract with RCA Victor Records. Soon they began traveling to their concert appearances by private plane with R.W. Blackwood and the bass singer Bill Lyles as pilot and co-pilot. On June 12, 1954, the Blackwood Brothers won first place on the CBS radio and TV program Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts Show. On June 30, 1954, in Clanton, Alabama, the quartet was preparing for concert at the airport for the Chilton County Peach Festival. During a few practice touch-and-go landings the plane crashed and R. W., Bill Lyles and family friend Johnny Ogburn died in the crash. The quartet re-organized following the plane crash with R. W.'s younger brother, Cecil Blackwood as baritone and J.D. Sumner as bass. In 1956, the re-organized group appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout Show and won a second time. In the mid-1950s, the quartet started traveling in a customized bus, another first for the group. James Blackwood, Cecil Blackwood and J. D. Sumner founded the National Quartet Convention in 1957, originally a 3-day event held at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. In 1964, the Blackwood Brothers chartered the Gospel Music Association. After singing with The Blackwood Brothers Quartet for 47 years, James (together with four other veteran gospel singers, Hovie Lister, Jake Hess, J. D. Sumner and Rosie Rozell) formed the Masters V Quartet, the highlight being a joint concert with The Rivertown Boys in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In 1990, he formed the James Blackwood Quartet with Ken Turner, Brad White and Ray Shelton. Rosie Rozell sang tenor in the initial performances, but Larry Ford quickly became the permanent tenor as Shelton's health deteriorated. This group, like James' preceding groups, also received a Grammy nomination.