Jackie Ward Singers, The

Backing vocal group that helped fill out The Partridge Family’s sound as well as playing assorted felines in the 1971 animated film, Shinbone Alley. In fact, they were very busy in the studios in the ’60s and ’70s, appearing on a wide variety of albums. (Have A Jewish Christmas…? is a case in point.)

Early credits include 1962’s Bonanza: A Ponderosa Party, Robin Ward’s Wonderful Summer, and Sam Cooke’s Ain’t That Good News. Their collective career seems to have burgeoned in the ’70s, along with the Hollywood studio scene. Albums on which they appeared include The Carpenters’ Horizon, Harry Chapin’s Portrait Gallery, Lesley Gore’s Love Me By Name, Gordon Lightfoot’s Cold on the Shoulder, and John Stewart’s Wingless Angels, and that’s just 1975.

They had previously recorded with Art Garfunkel on his 1973 solo effort, Angel Clare, and would go on to appear with Dee Dee Bridgewater and Peter Iverson their eponymous debut LPs. Yes, they even lent their voices to the chorus of the 1978 blockbuster movie musical, Grease. A year later, they showed up on Frank Sinatra’s Trilogy.

They opened the new decade by offering vocal support on Triumvirat’s A la Carte and Milt Jackson’s 1981 release, Big Mouth. Their output seems to have waned in the ’80s, but the CD era has afforded us ample opportunity to hear JWS: They appear on the anthologies Adventure in Carols, backing Jimmy Haskell on “Jewish Jingle Bells” (culled from the aforementioned Have A Jewish Christmas…?), American Jukebox Country Classics, Vol. 5: Country Heartaches, singing “Big Blue Diamonds”, Atlantic Jazz: Singers, and The Sheffield Pop Experience.

Other artists with whom they have worked include Joan Baez, Vikki Carr, Ray Conniff, Neil Diamond, Betty Everett, Clare Fischer, Ted Gardestad, Thelma Houston, Barry Manilow, Elvis Presley, Pressure Cooker, Sally Stevens, John Stewart, Barbra Streisand, and Stanley Turrentine. Jackie Ward’s Greatest Hits was released in 1988.

Sources:

Jackie Ward Singers, The

Navigation