The Persuasions bring a capella sound to Wolf Trap

Jim Hayes has sent chills up many a spine ever since a few measures of his basso profundo became the calling card for the Persuasions. This week, the Barns at Wolf Trap welcomes the a cappella group Hayes founded in 1962 and has thrived throughout nearly 50 years singing pop, gospel and everything in between. “We all met playing basketball in a Brooklyn park after work,” Hayes said. “There were 20 of us who came from small towns and grew up singing in church, so after playing we’d hang around and sing a cappella. I didn’t know their names, but I could hear that some of them had good voices, so I invited all who’d like to sing to come around to my place and rehearse. It was like divine intervention when all the good singers showed up in my tiny studio apartment. There wasn’t room for any more.”

From that group, five began singing on local street corners and were soon invited into in Stan Krause’s record store in Jersey City. As they sang, their voices were piped onto the street.

David Dashev was among the passers-by drawn into the shop. He knew Frank Zappa would be impressed by them, so he called Zappa on the phone, and held the phone in front of the singers while Zappa listened. Soon afterward, Zappa invited them to California.

“I came from Hopewell, Va., so I never heard of Frank Zappa,” Hayes said. “Like the others, I was afraid to go to California. We were all young men in our late teens with jobs we couldn’t afford to lose, and some of us already had families. So we sat in Jay’s car wondering what would happen to us and our families. We were crying and praying and someone said we needed a sign. Just then, we felt the car being lifted up and fall with a loud bang. We thought something had run into us, but when we looked outside, nothing was there. That was the sign.”

Zappa flew them out to California, recorded their first album, “Acappella,” on his label and the Persuasions were on their way. Some time later, they opened for Zappa at Carnegie Hall and Virginia Beach. Even though he had grown up in Virginia, Hayes had never been to Virginia Beach because blacks weren’t allowed to go there at that time.

“I told Frank there could be a problem, but he wasn’t the least bit concerned,” Hayes said. “When we arrived, there was a lot of staring at first. Then we were called out to sing, and afterward the audience gave us a standing ovation.”

Their impeccable arrangements come naturally. Either Hayes or lead singer Joe Russell will begin singing. With only those few starting notes as key, the other singers will fill in all the harmony. Twenty-seven albums and many popular singles later, the Persuasions have promoted the pleasure of singing and listening to a cappella voices. Their influence is reflected today in the enthusiastic public response to the recent TV series featuring a variety of a cappella groups.

Along with film tracks for such feature films as “ET” and “Joe Versus the Volcano,” they recorded songs from Kurt Weill’s dramatic “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany” for PBS. Hayes recalls the trip to a studio in Toronto where they prepared by donning clothes like those worn in concentration camps and recorded near a fire burning like bombs exploding. Response was enthusiastic

“I love singing more now than when I was younger,” he said. “Then it was all about having fun, attending parties and doing all the things entertainers were supposed to do. Today I love singing for itself and sharing our songs with audiences most of all.”