Jerry planned to be the one lead singer who didn’t leave his group to go solo but it seemed fate had different plans.
Jerry said he had a calling. So he left the group in 2003 with the intention of pursuing a variety of personal goals that transcended a cappella music. Little did he know that a San Francisco a cappella group, Talk of the Town, was about to enter his world. And what is so amazing is that this phenomenally talented group had been studying and performing Jerry’s arrangements and repertoire for decades. In fact in an interview years earlier they said “We know we make great harmony but what we’re missing is a great lead singer like Jerry Lawson”. Eventually they “accidentally” met Jerry when he walked into a Sonoma County, CA brewery where Johnny Otis was broadcasting his weekly show. They were stunned when Jerry walked through the door as they had just finished singing 2 of Jerry’s Persuasions’ arrangements. What are the odds of that? They met, they invited Jerry to sing a song with them, they got an autograph and then they headed to their next gig. Call it serendipity, synchronicity or kismet. But one day 7 years later they met Jerry again when they were all performing at the same private party. Jerry had heard many a cappella groups through his years but when Talk of the Town sang Paper Doll by The Mills Brothers Jerry was wowed. He was so impressed with their talent that he couldn’t resist the inevitable. He just had to record with them. In 2007 after 40 years and 22 albums with The Persuasions he finally realized the harmonies he long dreamed of on this self produced masterpiece.
Then in the winter of 2010 Jerry Lawson and Talk of The Town were introduced to a new generation of a cappella fans when they were featured on The Sing Off on NBC TV during prime time! How about that. Jerry spent 4 decades preserving the dying art of a cappella. ( The black sheep genre of the music industry) He kept it going against all odds.Record labels didn’t believe there was an audience for 5 guys with no band. They wouldn’t even approach radio stations with it because they said if there were no drums you couldn’t dance to it. So you can only imagine what it meant to Jerry to have lived long enough to see a cappella get this attention, to have his legacy be shared and to perform on this show with a viewing audience of 7 million viewers per episode.
If you purchase the physical CD it comes with a 20 page booklet of liner notes including song comments by Jerry. It’s definitely a collector’s item. Jerry dares anyone to find an a cappella album that compares.