The Prisonaires
The Prisonaires were an American doo-wop group, whose hit "Just Walkin' in the Rain" was released on Sun Records in 1953, while the group was incarcerated in the Tennessee State Penitentiary in Nashville. The group was led by Johnny Bragg (born February 26, 1925,) who had been a penitentiary inmate since 1943. When at the age of 17, he was convicted of six charges of rape, which were later recanted or considered falsified. The Prisonaires were formed when Bragg joined up with two prison gospel singers, Ed Thurman and William Stewart (each of whom was doing 99 years for murder), and two new penitentiary arrivals, John Drue Jr. (three years for larceny) and Marcell Sanders (one-to-five for involuntary manslaughter). History The group was discovered by the radio producer Joe Calloway, who heard them singing while preparing a news broadcast from the prison. He arranged for the group to perform on the radio, a performance which was eventually brought to the attention of Sam Phillips of Sun Records. He arranged for the group to be transported under armed guard to Memphis to record. A few weeks later, "Just Walkin' in the Rain" was released and eventually sold 250,000 copies. Their success