The Sensational Williams Bros. feat. Douglas Williams and Henry Green on lead

 

The Sensational Williams Bros.

Lead Douglas Williams (Age 11) and the Sensational Williams Bros.
22071 - To Heaven (Charles Gayden)

Lead Henry Green and the Sensational Williams Bros.
22072 -- I Thank The Lord (Leon Williams-Thomas Bonds)

Delta 45-242/45-243
Delta Records Custom Dept.
1653 Raymond Rd., Jackson, Miss. 39204
[1968]

Williams Brothers (from the back cover
of their half-album on Song Bird, 1972)

Following info is from the Malaco website :

 A quartet noted for being among the first, if not the first, to infuse elements of contemporary gospel into the quartet tradition, the Williams Brothers was formed in Smithdale, Mississippi, in 1960 by family patriarch Leon “Pop” Williams. Pop, a quartet singer, overheard his young children singing in the backyard and thought they could make a go of it as a gospel group. Said their mother, Amanda, “[The children] would have church in the backyard and they would have broken brooms as microphones.”

Originally known as the Little Williams Brothers, the early aggregation included sons Leonard, Douglas and Melvin Williams, and non-family member Henry Green. Pop recruited Green after hearing him sing at a Liberty, Mississippi, church. Under Pop’s tutelage, the Little Williams Brothers did what most young groups do: toured on weekends and returned home in time for school Monday morning. During those weekend trips, the quartet received so many accolades that the “Little” in their title was replaced with “Sensational.”

The first recordings by the Sensational Williams Brothers were two circa 1967–68 singles for Delta, a small Jackson, Mississippi, label. In 1972, the group got its first taste of national success when it was featured alongside the Jackson Southernaires on a Song Bird Records album called He’s My Brother. Established recording artists the Jackson Southernaires, featuring other Williams brothers Huey and Frank, had one side of the album, and the Williams Brothers the other. It was around this time that non-family member Maurice Surrell, an accomplished session drummer, joined the Williams Brothers.

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