The Jordanaires
American vocal group; back-up singers for Elvis Presley
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocalion Records, Stop Records, and many other smaller independent labels.
In the mid-1950s, with a lineup of Gordon Stoker (first tenor), Neal Matthews (second tenor and lead vocals), Hoyt Hawkins (baritone and lead vocals), and Hugh Jarrett (bass vocals), they also began lending their vocal talents to other artists as singers in recording sessions. They are widely known for having provided vocals for Elvis Presley in live appearances, recordings, and feature films from 1956 to 1970. Jarrett was replaced by then-teacher Ray Walker in 1958. The group worked in the recording studio, on stage, and on television with many country, gospel, and rock and roll artists.
They also provided background vocals using the names the Gordonaires (a play on the name of the group's first tenor Gordon Stoker), the Merry Melody Singers, and the Almanac Singers, sometimes using different personnel.
Group history
Early years
The group was formed by brothers Monty and Bill Matthews, both of whom were evangelists, in the late 1940s. The original lineup included Bill Matthews, Monty Matthews, Bob Hubbard (baritone), and Culley Holt (bass vocals), who were soon joined by pianist Bob Money. By 1949, the group members had moved from Springfield, Missouri to Nashville, Tennessee.
“The Jordanaires” enters the record as american vocal group; back-up singers for Elvis Presley. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Jordanaires, American and vocal can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1197180. VIAF identifies the subject as 126812783. The Library of Congress control number is n88613897. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1956, 1970 and 1958.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Jordanaires” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.