2006

SG History 101 - Bob Jones, Sr.

This month, we will examine the life and career of a true gospel music Hall of Famer.

This year, the SGMA will enshrine several worthy people into its Hall of Fame. There are familiar names to many gospel fans, such as Wally Varner, Gerald Williams, Charles Key, Henry Slaughter, Mary Tom Speer, and Jack Pittman. But, one of the new Hall of Famers might not be as familiar to fans nationally. With the idea that he should be, I want to introduce you this month to a living legend of gospel music, especially on the West Coast. Along with Don Smith (featured in the September 2005 SG History 101) and promoter Polly Grimes (examined in March 2005), Bob Jones Sr. is one of the pioneers of southern gospel music in the Western United States. And he will be entering the SGMA Hall of Fame this year. Here is the story of a man who loves to sing gospel music, and has for most of his long life.

On June 18, 1914, Robert Martin Jones was born in Oakwood, Texas, the seventh of seven children. As a boy, young Bob moved to Sweetwater in West Texas, then on to Amarillo. While still in Sweetwater, 11-year old Bob sang his very first song in public at the local Nazarene Church, the start of what is now nearly 81 years of singing in public. Two years later, Bob's sister Pat paid for the 13-year old to attend the Stamps-Baxter Music School there. Bob learned to read shape notes quickly, and many at the school commented on the warm, smooth voice young Bob had. It was then that young Bob devoted his life to singing gospel quartet music, and doing what he could to help others sing it, too.

By 1936, 22-year old Bob made a move that would shape his life to this day. At that time, West Texas was in the midst of the Depression during what has become known as the "Dust Bowl" era. Bob's Dad had already passed away and he joined his grown brothers and sisters in moving west to California to make a new start. But Bob never gave up his dream of singing gospel music. Gospel pioneer V.O. Stamps responded to a letter from Bob telling him that he would let Bob know if he knew of any singers moving west as well.

In late 1936, Bob settled down in San Bernardino and over the next few years organized the California State Singing Convention, modeled on those in other states in the South. In time nearly every California county had a local chapter and sponsored monthly conventions and Stamps-Baxter style music schools.

During World War II, many people came to California from the midwest and south to work in the defense plants. Among those coming to Southern California for that purpose were the famous Blackwood Brothers Quartet. The group moved to San Diego from Iowa, and Bob was there at the time, married and raising two young children. Bob had a trio and sang with the Blackwoods from time to time on either bass or baritone.

Bob was always on the lookout for good singers. During the war he drove a cement mixer pouring gun emplacements. One day he parked his truck waiting to unload some concrete when he happened upon a young man a truck over who said that he was from Oklahoma. Intrigued, Bob asked him if he had been to a singing convention. The young man said yes, but he was more interested in playing baseball than singing. Bob encouraged the young man to try out for his quartet and wrote out "shaped notes" on a piece of cardboard and put it up in his truck and practice. They kept in touch, and a few weeks later he asked the young man if he wanted to go to an upcoming church picnic. Young Earl Weatherford wasn't overly interested until Bob told him that there would be a ball game organized for the afternoon. So Earl went and enjoyed himself, probably because it was there that he met a beautiful young lady that would change his life, Lily Fern Goble. As they say, the rest of that story is history.

Along the way, Earl appropriated Bob's unique style of singing and phrasing, and incorporated it into the style of his own quartet. That same style was also adopted by groups such as the Cathedral Quartet (an offshoot of the Weatherfords) and even the Bill Gaither Trio many years later.

By 1946, Bob moved north to Fresno to organize his own full-time quartet, the Stamps Harmony Boys. They quickly landed a show on KARM radio in Fresno, at the time a small station with a signal that confined its' reach to the immediate Fresno area. After a while, the show's sponsor, the Wheeler Furniture Company, wanted to move the show to a larger, more powerful station, the prestigious and 5,000 watt market leader KMJ. At first, KMJ said no, because they didn't want another "religious program".

But J.E. Wheeler didn't get to be a leading Fresno businessman by giving up easily. He insisted that KMJ audition the quartet for a show. They did, and the Stamps Harmony Boys got the program. But after a few months, Bob got a job offer from Dallas to be the lead singer for the Stamps Quartet based there. This was a dream job for Bob, so he could not refuse. He went to Texas, and Don Smith, the Harmony Boys' bass singer, kept the program going after forming his own quartet, the Gospelaires. That program still exists today, after 57 years.

As for Bob, he sang a few years for the Stamps, then re- formed the Harmony Boys and moved to Tulsa. From there, they moved to Atlanta and worked with Connor Hall and his Homeland Harmony Quartet. In 1954, Bob and the group moved back to California. A major insurance company sponsored the group on a radio program in the Los Angeles area. The sponsor thought that the name Harmony Boys sounded a bit too country, and suggested the group change its' name. The quartet's tenor, gospel music veteran Earl Terry, came up with the name Songfellows, which remains the quartet's name to this day.

The Songfellows have achieved notoriety as perhaps the finest quartet to ever come from California. They have worked with such singers as Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Red Foley, Stuart Hamblen, the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen, and the Oak Ridge Boys. Since 1994, the Songfellows have appeared at the National Quartet Convention. Among the famous singers that have been a part of the Songfellows include the aforementioned Earl Terry, Sherill Nielsen, Doug Jones, LD Mullins, and J.B. Watson. And a great source of satisfaction to Bob has to have been that his son Bob Jr. (not technically a Junior, since they have different middle names) has been a part of the group since 1958, helping to carry out his father's vision.

Bob Sr. switched from lead to baritone during the 1970s, but amazingly, has retained his smooth, pleasing vocal quality after nearly 81 years of singing before the public. Despite the acclaim he and the Songfellows have received down the years, he remains a modest, humble man that only wants to keep singing as long as the Lord allows him to. His unselfish concern for and support for young people and others wanting to do what he does is a template for what a Hall of Famer ought to be.  His continuing dedication to his chosen calling is an inspiration for all of us who have known him.

No, Bob Jones, Sr. was never acclaimed as one of the finest technical performers in gospel music, nor was he ever considered one of the more dynamic stage personalities to stand on a stage. But the fact that he has sung well, and faithfully, and consistently as a professional for 70-some odd years, as well as doing his best to further his beloved gospel music in whatever way he could, in his own area and beyond, .certainly justifies his inclusion in the SGMA Hall of Fame.

Truly, whenever Bob Jones' name is mentioned, others pause in respect for this "living legend," especially in California.