The Persuasions

A-cappella group that formed in Brooklyn, New York in 1962.

The five Persuasions—Jerry Lawson, Jimmy Hayes, Joe Russell, Jayotis Washington, and Herbert “Toubo” Rhoad—fell together by chance in 1962, harmonizing on outdoor basketball courts in Brooklyn after pick-up games. Their first record deal was with Frank Zappa in 1968. He “discovered” them over the phone when David Dashev, phoned Zappa from a New York studio, declaring, “you’ve got to hear this.”