"I could tell, even over the phone, that these guys were something special."
Frank Zappa

"These guys," he said, "are deep sea divers. I'm just a fisherman in a boat."
Tom Waits

"They are to singing what Muhammad Ali was to boxing---invincible, innovative, original, beautiful."
The L.A. Weekly

"The Persuasions' style is a perfect marriage of passion and intelligence."
Greil Marcus, rock critic and author

"One of the hundred best works of the 1970s"
Rolling Stone referring to their 1977 album, Chirpin'

"The Persuasions are four parts of one voice, one spirit."
Mix Magazine

"These all-vocal, instrument-free heroes paved the way for today's platinum a cappella acts, Take 6 and Bobby McFerrin, as well as the retro-hip-hop styles of Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd."
Cash Box 1996

"Feeling depressed? Life got ya down? Is that your problem, Binky? If it is, I can think of no greater remedy than to watch Fred Parnes's documentary, Spread the Word: The Persuasions Sing A Cappella---a funny, moving, and invigorating look at a vocal group that is one of America's national treasures... Actually, I can think of one greater remedy for despondency: if the Persuasions happen to be playing around town, go see them. No film could possibly capture the sheer joy and energy of the group live."
Dozens of newspapers ranging from the Philadelphia Inquirer to the Denver Post carried major feature articles during the group's 35th anniversary year, in 1997.

"That The Persuasions---the godfathers of the movement---guys who were singing a cappella on the street corners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, N.Y., long before Boyz II Men were even Babiez II Men, are sometimes overlooked is a howling injustice, in five-partharmony."
The San Jose Mercury News

"Kings of a cappella."
National Public Radio stations in Boston and Los Angeles, 1997

"You don't have to be under four feet tall to be charmed by this CD. In fact, adult listeners will be transported with as much enthusiasm as their younger companions. The Persuasions have never been in better form musically (in all their 37 years as a group!)"
Primarily A Cappella referring to the CD, Good Ship Lollipop