The Mistakes of Yesterday, the Hopes of Tomorrow

Early on June 1, 1953, five African American men boarded a van to travel 200 miles from Nashville to Memphis for a daylong recording session at the legendary Sun Studios. The resulting "Just Walkin' in the Rain" became Sun Records' biggest pre-Elvis song-and the group's only hit. The men were the Prisonaires, a vocal quintet who honed their skills while inmates at the Tennessee State Penitentiary. This book looks at the story of these imprisoned men using music as a means of cultural and personal survival in context of the pre-Civil Rights South at a time when Nashville was beginning to gain national recognition.

• Author: John M. Dougan
• Publisher: Unknown Publisher
• Published: 2012