[2] The Pilgrim Travelers traded the lead between their two singers, Kylo Turner, the same facility as a note-bending falsetto as R.H. Harris of the Soul Stirrers, and Keith Barber who changed from being a sweet-voiced tenor to a hard gospel shouter.
They added Jesse Whitaker — whom Ray Charles credited as one of his models when he adapted hard gospel style to secular themes to create soul music in the 1950s — as a baritone in 1947.
The singers would punctuate their singing by jumping off stage and running up the aisles in order, in Alexander's words, "to pull the sisters out of their seats".
In 1950, Specialty released ten Pilgrim Travelers sides, all of them to strong sales (particularly "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well" and "Mother Bowed").
[1] The Plgrim Travelers gradually fell apart in the 1950s, however, as accidents and drinking caused both Barber and Turner to leave the group.