* Rebert Harris; Pioneering Gospel Singer

Rebert Harris, 84, a gospel pioneer and the last surviving member of the original Soul Stirrers. Harris, a major influence on the legendary gospel and soul singer Sam Cooke, was born in Trinity, Texas, and joined the Soul Stirrers in the mid-1930s after Alan Lomax recorded the group for the Library of Congress. With a three-octave range, Harris became the high second lead singer. The group toured churches and gospel venues from 1938 to 1943 and performed at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Harris left the group in 1950, three years after he met Cooke on Chicago’s South Side. “I taught him diction, which is what you said, and pronunciation, which is how you say it,” Harris said of Cooke some years ago. “I also taught him stage [deportment] and expression of his personality. There is as much in your personality as in what you sing.” Cooke joined the group when Harris left. He in turn was replaced by Johnnie Taylor, another gospel legend, several years later. Harris found limited success leading his own groups after leaving the Soul Stirrers. But his career had something of a revival in the 1970s, when he performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York and recorded some albums. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 along with the other members of the Soul Stirrers. On Sept. 3 in Chicago.