Dixie Hummingbirds’ Howard Carroll dies

The original guitarist for famed gospel group the Dixie Hummingbirds has died, aged 92.
Howard Carroll passed away in his sleep at a care home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday (17Oct17).
He was a high school student in Greenville, South Carolina, when he joined the band formed by James B. Davis, which would eventually become the Dixie Hummingbirds.
The gospel musicians signed to the iconic Decca Records in the late 1930s, and relocated to Philadelphia in the 1940s, going on to enjoy a career together spanning more than 60 years.
Carroll was instrumental in introducing the electric guitar to gospel music, and earned himself the nickname “Grease Lightning,” according to family friend Ira Tucker Jr., the son of the Dixie Hummingbirds’ late frontman Ira Tucker.
He adds to Philly.com, “He was a great musician and one of the best who ever played gospel music.”
The group inspired artists like James Brown, Stevie Wonder, and The Temptations, while Carroll is said to have personally coached blues great Chuck Berry.
The Dixie Hummingbirds also worked with Paul Simon, singing back-up on his track Loves Me Like a Rock in 1973. They also recorded their own version of the song, which earned them a Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance in 1974.
They later earned three more Grammy nominations for Best Traditional Gospel Album, and had their 1946 rendition of Amazing Grace inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000.