Jack and Granny
Roy E. Davis's "Jack and Granny" radio act shows another side of the man who mentored William Branham, blending gospel entertainment, revival celebrity, radio performance, and Pentecostal-Nazarene evangelism with his wider history in Klan leadership and religious organizing; through his work with the Stamps Gospel Quartet, his appearances with major fundamentalist and gospel figures, and his role as master of ceremonies among nationally known singing groups, Davis used music, humor, radio, and stagecraft to build credibility and access within revival culture, helping explain how he could move between white supremacist organizing, Pentecostal sect-building, and popular religious entertainment.
Rev. Roy E. Davis and his daughter were nationally-recognized radio performers with a stage act "Jack and Granny". Davis was one of the original members of the Stamps Gospel Quartet, gaining recognition in gospel radio.[1] As "Jack", Roy Davis worked with religious celebrities Dr. John Roach Stratten, pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in New York, Dr. Caleb A. Ridley, pastor of the Central Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, Billy Sunday, and more.[2]
During the 1930s, the "Jack and Granny" act was widely popular, appearing before well-known radio stations WDOD of Chattanooga, BBLT, WLAP of Lexington, WXYZ of Cincinnati, KVSO of Ardmore, OK, WNBR, WHBQ of Memphis, and more.[3] The fame enabled Davis to enter the Pentecostal and Nazarine revivals[4] as entertainers.
In 1943, Davis was elected master of ceremonies[5] for the State Convention of the California Singers and Musicians Association, where (as "Jack"), he sang with the Blackwood Brothers Quartet, the Willis Singers, Mayme Starke, Leonard Gordon and his Hollywood Singers, the Western Vaughn quartet, the Stamps-Baxter quartet and more.[6]