This is a story that I proudly share because one of the people included in this is my deceased stepfather. The story started around 2011, when the North Carolina Arts Council decided to do a story about various musicians of Eastern North Carolina, which turned into a book.
A young man from Carolina Soul in Durham, North Carolina discovered Charles and ewe agreed for him to come and interview Charles. He also told us that "The Love Knot" recorded by Charles "Chuck: Wells was still being played in Europe .
I believe most of the musicians were still in that area except for Charles Wells, who had moved to Greensboro, where his singing and playing the piano and keyboard remained an important part of his life. Charles was music; that’s what he knew and loved immensely. This amazing man, Charles “Chuck” (stage name) Wells was legally blind, and he played by ear.
His former years prior to new birth- Charles played at different clubs and other places where there was entertainment in Wilson, Rocky Mount, and other locations in North Carolina with people like Roberta Flack and James Brown.
Even after his new life Charles had been asked to play at various restaurants in Greensboro When it came to the songs of Zion, one of the people who was instrumental in getting the “Wells Singers” to perform at community events was Mrs. Nettie Coad. Mrs. Nettie loved Charles’ music and she would invite the group to come and take part in the festivities. Additionally they sang at family reunions in a few counties.
These were the before and after Charles’ new life-
If you were not in the same room with him, and he would be playing and singing “What I Say,” you would have thought he was Ray Charles. Charles could “Rock the House” When he was a resident in an assistant living, Charles would get on that baby grand piano, and people would come out of their rooms trying to hurry down the hall in their wheelchairs, and their walkers to get closer to this phenomenal man.
His Christian journey- In Greensboro Charles performed at different places, and when he married my mother (Catherine Patrick Wells) they were live; sometimes their music was pre-recorded on the radio on Sunday mornings. Other people joined the group at different times; some came and some went.
The first group that he and my mother had together were the Patrick Sisters, my mother’s siblings. Later, the group was named the Wells Singers and kept the name until my mother passed. The Wells Singers traveled to various cities in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia singing songs of Zion.
This is a short version of a man whose had a long history in the music world- Charles "Chuck" Wells. December 1936 - July 30, 2018
Tomorrow Lord willing, An African American Activist “Nettie Coad”
His handmaiden, Betty A. Burnett ~ Burnettministries.org
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