The gospel quartet sound began evolving in the1940s when jubilee quartets incorporated songs by pioneering gospel songwriters, such as Thomas Dorsey and Lucie Campbell, in their repertoire. The Dixie Hummingbirds, Golden Gate Quartet and the Soul Stirrers, among others, helped to introduce and popularize this new musical style, initially rejected by ministers of denominational churches, to the Black masses through their live performances and regular broadcasts on local radio. In the 1950s some jubilee quartets had begun slowly transforming into gospel quartets. This transformation included a repertoire of nearly as many gospels as jubilee songs, and the addition of instruments, particularly the guitar. Influenced by the bluesy melodies of Thomas A. Dorsey’s gospel songs and the sanctified singing style of Holiness-Pentecostal churches, gospel quartets emerged as a distinct tradition. By the 1960s, several quartets had also added piano, Hammond organ and drums.

Most gospel groups moved back and forth between two traditions: the jubilee and gospel. They sang jubilee songs in close harmony, using a call-and-response format in which the soloist introduced a phrase of text that is answered and completed by the group. The highly syncopated performance style emphasized an even blend of voices in which falsetto voices and changing leads were common. By comparison, the gospel quartet style featured a soloist who freely improvised, interjecting moans, screams, etc., over short repetitive lines or doo-wop syllables sung by the group members.