John Thorpe and Truth Return to Hudson Valley

By Journalist Ms. Jones

NEWBURGH – Remember the Mighty Jubilaires who used to sing that down- home quartet music all over the Hudson Valley? John Thorpe, aka “Kermit,” was one of the lead singers of the Mighty Jubilaires and is still singing today. On Sunday, November 5 John Thorpe and Truth, his new group, gave a concert at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Newburgh after performing the night before at Riverview Baptist Church in Kingston. They drove all the way from North Carolina, which is where they reside, to minister in the Hudson Valley.

Thorpe has been singing for most of his life.

“I started probably at five years old and then I quit for a while and started back at eighteen with the Mighty Jubilaires here in Newburgh… I was just singing on the corner… with the boys… at the barber shop on South Street… and a fellow by the name of… Freddy Moore… had a group… the Southern Echoes… and he told me to come down for rehearsal. So, I went down for rehearsal… We had a program that night and another group was there called the Mighty Jubilaires… So, I was singing with the Southern Echoes and the Mighty Jubilaires came on the floor and just blew us away and so from then on I said, ‘I don’t wanna be with y’all. I wanna be with the Mighty Jubilaires.’ So, I joined the Jubilaires ‘cause they were… really good. They embraced me. They said I had something they could use,” said Thorpe.

The members of the Jubilaires were Lawson “L.H.” Coleman, George Davis, Billy Evans, Horace Williams, Artist Swan from North Carolina, and Felton Coleman who was the manager. They performed all over the country.

“Then we [me, Felton, and Swan] joined the Brower Brothers out of New Jersey and that went for a fifteen-year run also and so then I moved to… Rougemont… North Carolina… and I started a family group called John Thorpe and the Family. We did that for like thirteen years or so… So, here we are today, John Thorpe and Truth… We’ve actually been singing five years. God has blessed us, anointed us. God is just opening up doors and making a way and we’re just trying to walk in… spread the gospel,” said Thorpe who was so glad to be back in Newburgh because it is where he “ran the streets” and is now promoting the gospel.

The members of John Thorpe and Truth are John Thorpe, of course, Michael Hawthorne on keyboard, Brandon Gibbs on guitar, Jamaal Moore on drums, Lorenzo

Dixon on bass guitar, and Wayne Kee on guitar. Thorpe’s son, Jonathan Thorpe, lives in Newburgh, but sings with him when he gets the chance. He sings tenor.

John Thorpe and Truth sang many songs from their new CD including “Stay With Jesus,” “Strengthen Me,” “Wings of a Dove,” and “Old Rugged Cross.” Of course, the crowd was on their feet singing along and praising God.

“The new CD came out two years ago called ‘Stay With Jesus.’ I wrote all the songs except the hymns. Jonathan did most of my backgrounds, he and a guy named Ray Braswell,” said Thorpe.

Thorpe performed part of the time sitting down and had a walker close by, which is unusual for him as he normally walks up and down the aisles for the full concert.

“God is good because I had a head-on collision and most folks that go into a head-on collision… with a 3500 full-sized Chevrolet truck and a trailer… at forty-five mph don’t live to tell about it. God shielded me, protected me, and made a way for me to be here on today. So, I know that God has a purpose for me to be here,” said Thorpe whose leg was broken as a result of the accident.

If you missed him this time, don’t worry. He will be back in the Hudson Valley soon.

“I’m… definitely gonna be here August of 2018 because I’m doing the… Dutchess County Fair… I’ll be doing the Gospel Tent [for 2018 and 2019]. In 2019 they’re having their 176th anniversary and I was one of the hosts of the Willie Hudson Gospel Train [on WEOK] and so I was there fifteen years at the fairground. So, they’re bringing me back… in 2018. It’s the last weekend in August.,” said Thorpe who plans to do a concert at New Hope on that Saturday night and perform at the fair on that Sunday.

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