R.I.P. : Nashville gospel singer Isaac ‘Dickie’ Freeman dies at 84

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Peter Cooper



June 20, 1928 - Oct. 16, 2012

Isaac “Dickie” Freeman, a Grammy winner and Gospel Music Hall of Fame member who starred for decades as the bass singer
of Nashville-based gospel quartet the Fairfield Four, died Tuesday, Oct. 16, after years of declining health.

“He was the baddest and greatest bass singer, to me,” said singer Regina McCrary, daughter of longtime Fairfield Four leader
Sam McCrary. “Listening to him sing bass made you just stand up, and your mouth would drop.”

Mr. Freeman, whose voice was a crucial and distinctive element in the Fairfield’s sound, was 84.

Raised in Johns, Ala., he was the child of a single mother who died young. In his teen years, he was raised by his
grandmother, who often took him to worship and hear the music at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Johns. Mr. Freeman’s
grandmother died when he was in his late teens, and he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to live with an aunt.

After a quick audition, he joined quartet the Golden Tones, then moved to the Kings of Harmony and, in 1948, on to the Fairfield Four.

At the time, the Four had a reputation for thrilling live performances, and they had a regular show on Nashville’s powerful
WLAC radio. That didn’t make their travels through the segregated South any easier.

“It was rough,” Freeman told Bill Friskics-Warren of No Depression magazine. “Some places we could use the restroom, some
we couldn’t. The ones where we could, we always had to go around back. And at that time, they would have two restrooms —
one marked ‘white,’ the other marked ‘colored.’ ”

Mr. Freeman exited the group in 1950 and founded a new, Alabama-based quartet called the Skylarks. But he moved back to
Nashville in 1962 and worked at Metro Courthouse and at a water company.

In 1980, the classic Fairfield Four lineup reunited and began playing sporadic shows. Ten years later, Amy Grant booked the
Four for a benefit concert at her home, and that performance led to a record deal with Warner Bros. Nashville. Soon, the
Fairfield Four were Grammy-nominated, and they opened theater shows for Lyle Lovett.

In 1999, the group’s “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray” album won a traditional gospel Grammy, and the following year, Mr.
Freeman and the Fairfield Four were featured in the “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” motion picture and on the wildly successful
“O Brother” soundtrack.

Mr. Freeman’s bass voice was now being heard by millions of listeners, and in 2002, Mr. Freeman released his first solo album:
Produced by Kieran Kane, “Beautiful Stars” featured backing from Mike Henderson’s Bluebloods band and from The McCrary
Sisters.

“The first thing one notices about ‘Beautiful Stars’ is that voice,” wrote a New York Times reviewer. “Press ‘play’ and it jumps
out of the stereo louder, warmer and more present than almost any instrument could.”

Born into poverty and segregation, Mr. Freeman ascended to international acclaim, collaborated with stars including John
Fogerty, Elvis Costello and Johnny Cash, and forged a reputation as a well-recognized gospel great. Offstage, he was a
concerned and caring friend, doting on the McCrary sisters after their father died in 1989.

“To lose him, it’s like losing our daddy again,” Regina McCrary said. “He represented the Fairfield Four, and my chest stuck out
about five miles just to see him walk into a room. I know his spirit and his heart, and we just loved him. And when he opened
his mouth and went to sing, he wasn’t guessing at what he was singing. He knew it, and it was just awesome.”


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