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Morris Brothers

About The Group

The current generation of the Morris Brothers are Herb, on guitar and lead vocals and Homer, playing mandolin and doing harmony vocals. They come from a musical family with a rich and interesting history.

Herb and Homer Morris are the sons of the late Revernd Frank Morris, who for many years was the Pastor of Wahoo Baptist Church, one of Georgia's oldest churches. It was formed in 1918 in Lumpkin County, near Dahlonega, Georgia.

The original group was formed in 1927 and called the Morris Family. Back then, Frank played the mandolin, his sister, Fanny Lou played guitar and daughter Girlie Jean Morris played the Banjo. Fanny Lou recalled they were heavily influenced by the Carter Family.

The Morris Family performed at churches, political rallies, community events. The group was heard on early country radio stations such as WTFL out of Toccoa, Georgia as well as the power house WSB in Atlanta, where they performed over the air on March 19, 1930.

The Morris Family recorded a sessiuon in Atlanta, Georgia for the Brunswick-Balke-Collendar Company. According to British Country music historian Tony Russell, there were six titles recorded. They included:

  • Will It Be you
  • A Dream of Home
  • Dark Eyes
  • Mary Don't you Weep
  • He Rose Unknown
  • Blue Eyed Boy

Those recordings were released around mid-1930 on the Vocalion label. Five of the six titles were listed in the "Country Music Source", a bibliography of commercially recorded traditional music by Guthrie T. Meade with Dick Spottswood and Douglas S. Meade.

In 1944, after a long illness, Frank Morris passed away. In March 1945, Herb, Homer, Vaughan and a friend by the name of Henry Moss fored the Morris Brothers band. The brothers began working on radio stations such as WGGA in Gainesville, Georgia. Later, the band moved to WGST in Atlanta. From there the band moved to WLAQ in Rome, Georgia. But after they left Rome, the group only appeared on stage.

The Morris Brothers have recorded 16 albums and dozens of singles. They are known for their close harmony singing and are referred to as "Masters of Harmony" by many DJ's all over the globe.

Herb and Homer continue to record, and work up to fifty dates per year. Vaughn Morris passed away in 1975. Henry Moss retired because of health problems. The brothers plan to continue with their music as long as they are able to put out top quality vocals with traditional Morris Brothers harmony that is their trademark.

It should be noted that there was another group of singers that may have been known as the Morris Brothers as well - that included Wiley, Zeke and George Morris that were popular in the 1940s.

Credits & Sources

  • Hillbilly-Music.com wishes to thank Howard Vokes for passing along the information about the Morris Brothers.

Related Web Links

The Morris Family - Americas First Family of Gospel Music Dating Back to 1927

Read More About The Group

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