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Dillard Crume: Biography
Many years ago, when he was just a little boy, Dillard
developed the idea that he wanted to be a gospel singer. Little did he know that this childhood aspiration would someday become
reality.
Born in the state of Missouri, Dillard heard his first gospel quartet at the tender age of five. At the age
of 81/2, he and his family migrated to the city of Chicago, Illinois. At the age of 91/2, Dillards oldest brother, A.C. Crume,
taught all of the younger brothers to sing.
There were eight boys and two girls in Dillards family, of which six of
the boys formed a gospel group called The Crume Brothers, when Dillard was only 9 years of age. Since that time so long
ago, two of the brothers have died.
After developing their singing and musical talents during the early years,
the Crume Brothers became quite famous in their own right in the city of Chicago, Il.
Other professional groups began
to gain an interest in the singing and musical abilities of the brothers, and at the age of 19, Dillard was approached by
the famous Five Blind Boys of Jackson, Mississippi to become their guitarist and background singer. He accepted their offer
and traveled extensively within the United States.
After singing and playing with the Blind Boys, Dillard became a
member of the Highway QCs of Chicago, Il.
After his stint with the Highway QCs, Dillard left the gospel field for
awhile and played R&B, Rock and Roll, Blues, Calypso, etc, for about ten years.
While visiting the late great
Willie Dixon (Little Red Rooster, Wang Dang Doodle, Cant Judge The Book By Looking At The Cover, etc.) one day, Dillard got
his first chance to leave the country.
Willie was the American coordinator for the American Folk Blues Festival of
1968, which was booked out of Frankfurt, Germany by the Lippman Rau concert bureau, and gave Dillard the opportunity to travel
to Europe as the bass player and emcee of the show, which consisted of thirteen acts including; Son House, Sonny Terry &
Brownie McGee, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, KoKo Taylor, Booker White, Odie Payne, and others.
After years of
playing and singing R&B, Rock and Roll, etc., which included a stint with his own band (The Soul Rockers), Dillard felt
an emptiness in his life. Realizing what that emptiness was, Dillard turned down a lucrative offer of part ownership in the
club he was currently playing, to return to gospel music as the lead singer and producer of the world famous Soul Stirrers
of Chicago, Illinois in 1976.
This is the very same group that gave the world the late great Sam Cooke.
Dillard
traveled even more extensively with the Soul Stirrers, having traveled to all of the western European countries, the Caribbean,
Canada, Japan, Scandinavia, etc., singing Gods praises.
In 1998, Dillard formed his own gospel group called; Dillard
Crume and the Soul Crusaders, and has a new CD release out at this time.
Little did Dillard know when he had a dream
at the tender age of five, that his dream would become reality, and allow him to travel the world over, singing and playing
the music he loves so much.
Now, after all this time, Dillard has come full circle and formed his latest group, "DILLARD
CRUME AND THE "NEW SOUL STIRRERS".
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