During the late 1930s and 1940s, the Golden Gate Quartet’s sound permeated the popular music field with its successful blend of spirituals, barbershop harmonies, and hot jazz in a career that has endured for seventy years, the most prominent and successful gospel quartet of their time. Founded in 1934 by first tenor A.C. `Eddie´ Griffin, second tenor Henry Owens, baritone Willie Johnson, and bass Robert `Peg´ Ford, the GGQ’s original raison d’être was to perform spirituals in the new `jubilee´ style that was sweeping Virginia churches in the early 1930s. Their name refers to the `golden gate´ of heaven rather than the famous bridge. Precision and syncopation, both elements integral to the Swing Era, were their hallmarks, taking the group’s sound far beyond that of secular groups like the Mills Brothers and the Three Keys.