Spirit of Memphis Quartet

Founded in 1930, the Spirit of Memphis Quartet are more a continual concept than a set band, changing membership over the years as musicians drop in and out of the lineup. In fact, it's not exactly a quartet; in the mid-1980s there were eight members, five of whom sang. The core of the group was usually lead Jethro Bledsoe, tenor Robert Reed, and bass singer Earl Malone, all of whom joined in the 1930s; Bledsoe retired in 1977, but Reed and Malone were still active with the act into the 1980s.