Evelyn Starks

Evelyn Starks Hardy was born in Birmingham on Dec. 15, 1922. She founded the The Original Gospel Harmonettes, a pioneering all-female black singing group that performed at Carnegie Hall and the Apollo and made their voice heard in the civil rights movement. Hardy organized the Harmonettes and was the group’s original pianist, composer, and arranger. She had a major role in enlisting the vocalists, including Dorothy Love Coates, who was widely regarded as one of the greatest of all gospel singers. Her amazingly, talented piano style of playing was much imitated and her sanctified musical approach gave the group a distinctive sound. The group, originally the Harmoneers, included Mildred Madison Miller Howard, Odessa Edwards, and Willie Mae Newberry. They were soon joined by Vera Kolb, whom some include as an original member. Ms. Starks, the last surviving member, at the time even recruited Dorothy Love Coates in 1947. The newly christened Gospel Harmonettes recorded for RCA in 1949 and for Specialty Records beginning in 1951. They toured the country with Sam Cooke and others and had their own radio program in Birmingham, sponsored by a funeral home. In the early 1950s, Ms. Coates, then known as Dorothy McGriff, became the principal lead singer of the group, which had been renamed again and was now the Original Gospel Harmonettes. Hardy retired from the Original Gospel Harmonettes' tours in 1953, although she continued recording with the group for many years; on the road, she had hand-chosen her replacement, Detroit pianist and organist Herbert Pickard so she could focus on her teaching career. Starks graduated from Miles College and later earned a master's at UAB. She taught for 40 years in Birmingham City Schools, retiring as an assistant principal. She was recruited by Reverend John Porter at 6th Avenue Baptist Church to play the piano and lead their choir. She was also appointed as the founding director of Sixth Avenue Baptist Church's Men of Distinction Male Chorus. Hardy once described her piano style as being purely supportive, a modest statement from one able to go out successfully as a solo and play riveting, revivalist-type piano. Her style of piano playing influenced both gospel and secular artists. She wrote an autobiography, “The Sweetest Harmony: Evelyn Starks Hardy and the Original Gospel Harmonettes,” with Nathan Hale Turner Jr. (2009). She died at her home in Birmingham, Alabama at the age of 92 on April. 2, 2015.