- The LeFevres
The LeFevres, or The Singing LeFevres, were an American
Southern gospel singing group, active for nearly 50 years in the middle of the twentieth century.The Lefevres were a family from
Smithville, Tennessee , and their singing group centered around brothers Urias (1910-1979) and Alphus (1912-1988). As children, they sang with their sister Maude; their career as an ensemble began in 1921. Both sang in quartets at the Bible Training School inCleveland, Tennessee . Urias and Eva Mae Whittington married in 1934; she became the pianist and alto in their newly formed trio.They moved to
Charleston, South Carolina in 1937 and thenAtlanta in 1939, where they would remain for the rest of their professional career, aside from a short stint inPhiladelphia in the middle of the 1950s. They won slots performing onWGST radio as The LeFevre Trio, but as they added other family members and accompanists, they decided to refer to themselves simply as The Lefevres.Though they had previously recorded
transcription disc s, their first commercial recordings were made in the 1940s and released onBibletone Records . Later releases were issued onWord Records and their own label, Sing Music Company. As the new medium of television became more popular, the group started appearing on local stations such asWAGA and traveled to other regional stations to appear on their programs as well. In the 1960s, the group's "Gospel Singing Caravan", a syndicated program, was aired nationwide. In addition to this, the group toured relentlessly in the U.S. and Canada, notching as many as 250 shows a year.The LeFevres became instrumental in the gospel music industry in Atlanta; they owned and operated their own
recording studio and also publishedsheet music for the gospel market. Additionally, they produced syndicated television shows for gospel andcountry music singers, and owned a booking agency that operated regionally.The LeFevres retired in the 1970s, and sold off their interests to group member
Rex Nelon . Eva Mae and Urias LeFevre were inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1997; Alphus was inducted in 2002. Urias's youngest son,Mylon LeFevre , went on to have a highly successful solo career.References
* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-885 The LeFevres] , Georgia Encyclopedia.
* [http://www.sgma.org/gogr_history/lefevres.htm The LeFevres] , Southern Gospel Music Association.
* [http://www.sgma.org/inductee_bios/urias_lefevre.htm Unias LeFevre] , SGMA
* [http://www.sgma.org/inductee_bios/alphus_lefevre.htm Alphus LeFever] , SGMA
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