When Was Your First SGM Concert
moo...@datalinkok.com
your first SGM concert? I can remember attending one about 1946, but I
don`t remember a lot about it, I just know it was a Stamps-Ozark or a
Stamps-Baxter Quartet, and I`m not even sure whether they were from
Texas or Arkansas. But I do remember clearly one I attended in Tulsa,
Ok.
in 1950. The program featured, The Blackwood Brothers Qt.-James
Blackwood,R.W. Blackwood,
Dan Huskey, Bill Lyles and Jackie Marshall-piano; Rev. Hovie Lister and
The Statesmen Qt.-C.G.
"Cat" Freeman,Jake Hess, Doy Ott, "Big Chief" Jim Wetherington and
Hovie Lister-piano; The Tulsa Trumpeteers-"Rosie" Rozell[before Rosie
joined The Statesmen], Norris Wing, Charlie Hutton, Jack Smith and
"Little" Joe Wing-piano; Wally Fowler and The Oak Ridge Qt.-Wally
Fowler, Bob Prather the other singers, I`m not sure of but Glen Allred
may have played guitar. I`m interested in reading about your first, or
one
of your first gospel concerts.
James
gp...@bellsouth.net
the exact date but I do remember the group. It was the Florida Boys. They
came to our elementary school here in South Louisiana. My uncle was
friendly with a man named Videt Polk at the time and I think he arranged for
them to come to our little town. I was about 10 years old or so when they
came. I can still remember Derrel Stewart's big smile and those red socks!
Les Beasley, Glen Allred, Coy Cook and I think Billy Todd were there. Boy,
was that a long time ago! It probably had more impact on me because we had
just started attending the Assembly Of God church. The church we attended
previously sort of asked us to leave because we wanted piano music in the
church and they didn't believe that instruments should be used in worship.
Seeing and hearing Derrel Stewart was quite fascinating for me. The crowd
that night was very small so I didn't get to attend another concert for a
very long time. The only Southern Gospel quartets I heard growing up were
those on TV, The Jubilee show and Bob Poole's Gospel Favorites.
<moo...@datalinkok.com> wrote in message
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Carol LeFevre
were four groups on the program, The Statesmen, The Blackwood Bros., The
LeFevres and I forget the fourth. My friends and I sat in the very last
row of the balcony and the singers looked like they were about 2 inches
tall from so far away. Obviously the place was packed and it was a big
auditorium. By the time the next concert came around three months later
(they were held every three months) we had gotten a little better seats.
We learned that the sooner you ordered our tickets the better seats you
got. I forget how many months later, we had made it to the front row
and nearly got blown out by the large speakers. It was great though
when Hovie and The Statesmen sang "Get Away Jordan" and jumped down in
the audience. Lloyd Orrell was the promoter. I have been hooked on SGM
every since but much prefer the "then" to "now".
CL
RayDunakin
<< Do you remember the year and the group[s]that was on the program at your
first SGM concert? >>
Living in San Diego, I didn't have many opportunities to attend live SG
concerts. I think the first time I heard a real SG quartet perform, it was the
Jubilaires. They were part of a program at a local church. That was sometime in
the early 70's.
In the mid-70's I got to attend a couple of the Rambos concerts here. In the
early 80's I saw the Cathedrals a couple of times, performing at a local
church. I saw the Florida Boys here in the 90's, and a couple more Cathedrals
concerts.
RayDunakin
1978 or '79. Bought my bible from them.
And I saw Cecil Blackwood's quartet at a local church sometime in the mid-80's.
Big Bob
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
> Do you remember the year and the group[s]that was on the program at
> your first SGM concert?
James,
I can't remember back as far as you can, I'm only 28. However, my first
concert was when I was 5 years old (1981). The Kingsmen came to
Springfield, Missouri, once a year every year and did a revival for a
church. They did it in a big tent, and all I can say is what a great time
that was.
The first concert I remember going to where I actually understood what was
happening and began to understand that it was the music of the angels was
in 1986 (I think) at the Civic Center in McAllen, Texas. Appearing on
stage were none other than the Masters V.
I still have a songbook I got that night signed by all the members.
BigBob
David Bruce Murray
> your first SGM concert? I can remember attending one about 1946,
Hmm . . . It would be 20 more years before I was born. :o)
The first SG concerts I attended were at my church. My minister of music was
in a part time group called the Directors Quartet, made up of four ministers
of music or "choir directors" as they were commonly called back then. They
sang from time to time at my church when I was just a kid. I probably
remember them from the time I was 6 or 7 years old, which would be circa
1972.
--
David Bruce Murray is still "Making hay while the sun shines"
CD Reviews/BLOG: www.musicscribe.com/blog.html
("I know a pagan piano riff when I hear it." - Dr. Bobby Clark)
James Franklin
From reading many posts over the past year, I think that I must be a year or
two older than you. Don't you agree that quartets and singing back then was
the golden years in gospel muic? Well, the first gospel concert/singing
that I remember had to be about 60 to 63 years ago. The Chuck Wagon Gang
(all male group) came to the courthouse square in my Texas county. Besides
singing, they served hot bisquits from their trailer or chuck wagon. Of
course, I have seen what we know as the Chuck Wagon Gang several times
thereafter. When I was in grade school, I would come home for lunch and
hear the Chucks on WBAP in Dalllas/Fort Worth. Also, back in the late
forties or early fifties, I saw different groups of the Stamps Quartet.
Later, I was able to see Frank Stamps in person. However, the most
memorable concert was Beaumont, Texas in the summer of 1953: the Blackwood
Brothers Quartet, the Statesmen Quartet, and the LeFeveres. Of these
groups, I have a good representation of their recorded music. In my
library, I have over three thousand recordings of gospel and sacred music.
I guess that I will always love gospel music.
James Franklin
<moo...@datalinkok.com> wrote in message
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danlemke
;-)
moo...@datalinkok.com
James, I was born 8/12/37, and it appears that you have had the
priviledge of attending
gospel concerts before me.
I do agree with you that singing back then was the golden years in
gospel, not that we don`t
have some outstanding singers and muscians today. But as I heard James
Blackwood say
"dedication", that is the main thing for people who want to get started
in gospel music.
And in my opinion we had a higher percentage of dedicated singers 50
years ago.
In the Statesmen we had The "Big Chief", who made the statement "I`d
sing for nothing",
he loved to sing that much. And Jake Hess who seemed shocked when
someone at a concert ask if he ever thought of doing something else,
and said-"Why...No-all we ever wanted to do
was Sing. It wasn`t easy for some to stay on the road, I heard it was
"chicken one week, and
feathers the next."
And you undoubtedly heard The Chuck Wagon Gang several years before me.
I first heard The Chucks about 1963 in Memphis, Tn. at the NQC and
three members I remember was Roy Carter, and sisters Anna and Sis.
Rose.
James
Jim
to the Cathedral of Tomorrow near Akron . The monthly Sunday afternoon
singing featured the Weatherfords, the Statesmen and the Blackwood Brothers.
Soon after I discovered the Prophets and Rebels, Golden Keys, Tenneseans,
Oak Ridge, Mariners, etc at local churches.
I liked what I heard and found out Lloyd Orrell recruited ushers from the
Akron Youth for Christ organization and I could be an usher (and sit down
front for free!) for his "Singings" (Usually four groups) at the Akron
Armory.
When I went to college in Chicago (1965), I was glad Lloyd was holding the
same Saturday night sings at Medinah Temple on the Near North side. The
Statesmen's "Through the States" live album was recorded at Medinah Temple a
few years earlier and is one of the best live albums done in the era...or
maybe anytime. Hovie was at his best.
Ahhh...great memories. Did an interview with Jake for the school newspaper
one night.
Me: "Why did you start the Imperials"
"Well, hear the Statesmen singing "Get Away Jordan right now? Only so many
times you can sing the same song night after night."
Me: "What percentage of the folks who come to these singings do you think
are really Christians?"
Jake: "So many come because of culture. Maybe 25% are really Christians."
Blessings,
Jim
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Ruthfro...@webtv.net
years old.
Just Allan
>Do you remember the year and the group[s]that was on the program at
>your first SGM concert?
Never been to one - I bought the Cathedrals farewell concert on video
tape tho'. : (
moo...@datalinkok.com
Bob,...(boy to be 28 again-lol)Seriously though I have been to several
concerts in Springfield`s Shrine Mosque when The Kingsmen were there
and have attended 2 or 3 at The Central High School auditorium, but I
didn`t attend the tent revival held by The Kingsmen-it must have been
great though. Former Kingsmen M.C. "Big" Jim Hamill attended a Bible
College in Springfield, Mo. (CBI) now called CBC, and I heard him sing
in The CBI quartet when he was about 22 or 23.
James Moore
Big Bob
called CBC, and I heard him sing in The CBI quartet when he was about 22
or 23.
Wow James. You must really be old if you heard Hamill sing in the CBI
quartet! :-)
I loved those days of the Kingsmen. I listen to their stuff from 1975-1990
all the time. Nothing quite like Big Jim and Ray Dean (and all the other
miscellanous players, Sheppard too) on the stage. They created a show that
I think has really been unparalleled in gospel music since. They weren't
as showy (read professional in manner) as the Statesmen nor as refined (as
in almost choreographed programs) as the Cats. They had fun and sang every
show like it was their first and last.
There was nothing quite like watching 4 guys who all were 'uniquely
voiced' singers get together and pull off what they did. I think the band
was almost as much a part of the experience as the singers were. You know,
too many times today the 'band' is either fake (stracks as our friend Avery
likes to call them) or real but they just stand in the background and do
their thing without being part of the show.
They never needed background vocals and stacks either. :-)
Ahhhhhh.....for the days of long ago.......
BigBob
moo...@datalinkok.com
Yeah Bob, I`m getting up there, and I can feel it, 67 in fact. Yes
I loved The Statesmen, Blackwoods, and Cathedrals, but I also loved
The Kingsmen especially when Big Jim and Ray Reese were together in
the group.
Like you said-Ahhhhhh.....for the days of long ago. When you went
to one of their concerts, they put so much into their singing you
came away feeling like you had been to a good ole Gospel concert
you would remember for sometime.
James Moore
Greg Taylor
That night it was at the Ford Auditorium. We got there late so Paul
Belcher gave us his tickets, which were pretty good seats. At the time
I was learning to play the drums so I was completely mesmerized by Rick
Goodman's drum set. It was one of those Ludwig vistalites, made of
see-through plexiglass, and wrapped halfway around the drummer (6-7
toms). The Hooper Brothers and Connie were on the program which made me
even more envious because Dean and I are close in age and he was their
drummer then and got to play on that huge set.
The Inspirations were there but Archie was sick, so Eddie Dietz sang
tenor and Jack Laws sang baritone (at that time he was just playing bass
and singing a few specials). The Happy Goodmans were, of course, the
featured group and sang the whole first set without Vestal. Howard
brougth her out during the second set and you should have seen the
diamond studded necklace she had on. It was blinding us in the lights.
It was our first time to see the late Johnny Cook in person and of
course we were totally amazed at how much he could sound like Vestal and
those unbelievably high notes (Looking For A City, etc.).
Lloyds son, Larry promoted in Detroit during the 80's, but used the
smaller auditorium at the Masonic. We saw alot of the Cathedrals,
Nelons, etc. there.
Razor
<moo...@datalinkok.com> wrote in message
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moo...@datalinkok.com
Interesting post Carol,
I agree with you about gospel concerts "then" being prefered
over concerts "today". We had such great groups, and when they
went off stage, another came on. Groups like The Statesmen, Blackwoods,
LeFevers,Rambos and Singing Speer Family-just to name a few,and IMO
they just aren`t
matched today. And something else I enjoyed at concerts years ago,
that groups don`t seem to do much now[and I don`t know why],is come out
on an encore and join in with the other group. I don`t know if they
have quit that everywhere or if it`s only in
this part of the country. Something else the groups did, and you`ll
remember too Carol, was go into the audience to sell albums etc.I
don`t
see that much now. Yes Gospel concerts were better then,and I still
think gospel music is
the ONLY music that really matters.
James Moore
Bobby
house. Florida Boys, Dixie Echoes and Minnie Pearl. Just outside of
Montgomery Alabama. They had a semi flatbed set up as the stage.
First actual concert I remember was at the municipal auditorium in
Montgomery. Florida Boys, Happy Goodmans, Dixie Echoes, and Wendy
Bagwell.