Originating from Louisville’s Church of God in Christ, The Washington Singers were a family group that featured parents Fletcher and Mary Washington and their adolescent children including Fletcher Washington Jr., Tawana Washington Gray, and Rubenstein Washington McClure. The Washington Singers recorded five 45s with four record labels between 1958 and 1964. They were one of Louisville's earliest groups to tour extensively on the professional circuit. Evangelist Mother Rubenstein McClure was just twelve years old when the group recorded “Meet Me in the City” in Detroit in 1958 for the J-V-B label. She would go on to become a nationally regarded representative of the Church of God in Christ in New York City and was a lead soloist for the Radio Choir of Brooklyn’s Institutional Church of God in Christ, under the direction of J.C. White. She was also a prominent member of the J.C. White Singers. Her own solo album, Rubenstein, came out on Locus Records in 1979.
Bessie Palmer recalls, "When I was growing up in Jeffersonville, Indiana, when the Washington Singers would do a program, it was like Elvis Presley coming in. They were local stars. They captivated the audience. They were religiously sincere, a church-based group."
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