2006

SG History 101 - Harold Lane

The state of West Virginia has given, and continues to give, gospel music many talented singers and musicians. Arguably the "Mountaineer State"'s foremost contributor to shaping gospel music as we know it is one Harold Lane. As a singer, writer, arranger, manager, and teacher, few from any state have contributed more to gospel music than this kind, unassuming man from West Virginia.

Lane was born to Curtis and Cassie Lane in Huntington, West Virginia on February 1, 1929. Like many youngsters in that part of the country, church was a very big part of his life. And it's certainly not a long stretch to go from church to music, and young Harold fell in love quickly with the music of the church.

It didn't take Lane long to decide that music would be his calling. He spent a lot of his youth learning how to sing and play a variety of musical instruments. When he entered the service upon turning adult, he even studied music in Germany during his military stint, since he loved the gospel quartet music of his home country, he developed a dream of forming an outstanding gospel group that would be unique and distinct from other groups of his time and place.

So when Lane returned to Huntington in 1952, he set about forming such a group. Joining forces with area friends Leonard Adams, J.B. Short, John Embry, and a pianist, Don Owens, Lane formed the Gospel Harmony Boys. Almost immediately, the fledgling group garnered a lot of acclaim and popularity in that portion of the country.

Lane had already acquired considerable arranging skill by that time, and was continuing his musical education at Marshall University there, earning his Masters degree by 1954. It was unusual then as it is now for members of gospel groups to have such broad formal education and training in music, and Lane used that background to make the Gospel Harmony Boys one of the more interesting groups in the gospel music world.

Lane's unusual talents attracted the attention of one of the most renowned gospel quartets of all time, the Homeland Harmony Quartet offered Lane a job in 1955, so Lane went to Nashville and stayed with that famous quartet for a year, where he did all the arranging for the group. The Homeland Harmony Quartet was well known for its difficult and advanced arrangements, and Lane continued in that vein with the group. Unfortunately, the Homeland Harmony Quartet was struggling to make ends meet in the mid-1950s, and Lane opted to leave the group in 1956 and return to Huntington and rejoin the Gospel Harmony Boys. Nevertheless, Lane continued writing the arrangements for the Homeland Harmony Quartet from West Virginia, and mailed the sheet music south to group manager Connor Hall.

The Gospel Harmony Boys had changed personnel drastically since Lane left them in 1955. Bass singer Grey Johnson, who joined in 1954, was still there…but Asbury Adkins was the new tenor, Homer Fry the new baritone, and Harold Patrick had become the pianist for the group. Still more changes occurred in the coming year, with Asa LeGrand replacing Adkins on tenor, and Johnny Bruce replacing Patrick on the piano. In May 1958, the group was involved in a car wreck which forced Bruce to leave, and Carlos Day became the pianist in his place.

By this time, the Gospel Harmony Boys were becoming a well-known group in the gospel business, and Lane was attracting more attention as a singer, writer, and arranger. By 1961, the group recorded its' first LP, I'm Redeemed. During all this time, Lane was augmenting his income by teaching. He was the band director at Wayne High School near Huntington, and he also managed to direct grade school glee clubs. He also wrote the alma mater for Wayne High School(how many other gospel performers wrote school alma maters, I wonder?).

By 1963, the Gospel Harmony Boys were becoming seasoned, popular recording artists. They were regulars first on WSAZ-TV and later WHTN-TV in Huntington, and entertained TV audiences in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio for the next 17 years. In 1964, they joined Skylite Records, and Lane's arrangement of "Jesus Loves Me" from that album joined "Little Biddy Chapel" from a couple of years earlier as hit recordings for the group. Also, Lane was beginning to make his mark as a writer, his "I've Done What The Lord Said ‘Do'" was recorded by the Prophets and a number of other top quartets of the day.

By 1966, the group scored again with Lane's arrangement of "Love Lifted Me," then, in Nashville, G.T. (Dad) Speer passed away, an event that would alter the course of Harold Lane's life and career.

As the founder of the oldest and most successful mixed gospel group of the era, "Dad" Speer would not be an easy person to replace in the Speer Family. Besides being a very popular singer and personality, it was "Dad" that taught all his children to sing and play a variety of instruments. Clearly then, the replacement for "Dad" had to be not only a gifted singer, but an equally gifted all-around musician.

Brock Speer, who by this time had assumed management of his family's group, knew that the best man for the job was up in West Virginia, so he contacted Harold Lane, and offered him the job in the Speer Family.

And in 1967, Lane joined the Speer Family, setting in motion a 22-year stint that would not only add to his considerable reputation that he had already earned, but his joining the group helped the Speers hit their commercial peak as a gospel singing group.

Over that time, Lane wrote such classic gospel songs as "Thank You, Lord" (popularized by the Couriers, but arranged for them by Lane), "Touring That City" (a huge #1 hit in 1973 for the Inspirations), "What Sins Are You Talking About?", "I'm Standing On The Solid Rock" (a big hit for the Speers and the Florida Boys), "The Next Time He Comes", "But By Me, Saith The Lord", "He Was Willing", and many more.

Brock Speer would introduce many of Lane's songs as "old-sounding new songs", acknwledging their musical roots in the historical tradition of gospel music, but sounding simultaneously fresh and up-to-date. In that sense, Lane's work foreshadowed the work of songwriters such as Phil Cross, Daryl Williams, and Rodney Griffin. Lane was certainly an important transitional figure in gospel music's development from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Lane himself made some changes in that period, one such change was ordered by the Speers.  When he joined, he was told to let his hair grow out. The Speers were seeking a younger audience, and Lane's flattop (which he'd worn since his military days) was not conducive to the group's aims in that respect.

Lane stayed with the Speers for 22 years, finally retiring from the road in 1989. But like most gospel music personalities, even in retirement, their work doesn't end. Lane has appeared since then on some of the Bill Gaither Homecoming Videos, and has continued to write and arrange music for many of the leading artists of today.

And in recent years (up to today), he has resumed teaching on the faculty of the Stamps-Baxter School of Music, now being run by Ben Speer.

So, at the age of 77, Harold Lane continues to contribute his God-given gifts of music to the world…he shows no signs of stopping his giving anytime soon. His vast musical skills and talents have been put to use richly for the benefit of the Kingdom of God on earth, and they have been (and likely will continue to be) blessings and treasures to people now, and the heritage of gospel music, for years to come.

My heartfelt thanks to Dean Adkins (one of Mr. Lane's band students in the early 1960s) and Mike McIlwain for their generous help in the gathering of information for this article.