HOPSON FAMILY

    Photo taken from the backside of their Jewel LP "On The Mainline"

The Hopson Family is a real family group, father (Wash Sr), mother (Corine) and their four children Wash Jr, Rick, Nadine and Geraldine. The liner notes of the Jewel album states that Wash Sr and Corine started singing back in 1964 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Five years later their four children joined the group. It was around that time (1968/1969) that they recorded their first 45s for SongBird as the Wash Hopson Singers.

Somewhere in this ten year period they must have moved into the Memphis Tennessee area, because on the back of their HSE album it's written that the family was from Memphis but at the time of the recording of their HSE album residing in Rockford, Illinois.

The most peculiar thing about the Hopson Family is that, their Select-O-Hits and HSE recordings were issued under the name Hobson Family. Did they forget their own name? Or where their contractual obligations? Or was it just a misunderstanding?

It's certainly one and the same family as the first names on the HSE and Jewel albums are identical and the Select-O-Hits 45s were later on re-issued on Jewel 45s or at their Jewel album.

All songs on the Jewel album, the Luna 45 and the Select-O-Hits 45s were recorded at the Select-O-Sounds recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee and produced by Skip and John Phillips. The HSE album was recorded at Champ Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

Hopson Family 45s Discography (in what we believe is the chronological order):

Hopson Family Album Discography:

Additional Source:

- John Glassburner

- Bob McGrath(ed): R&B Indies (see Links Page)

- Hayes & Laughton: The Gospel Discography (see Links Page)