2007

SG History 101 - Gospel Harmony Boys

There are many people out there (including most of those who regularly read these articles) that consider the 1950s and 1960s the “Golden Age” of gospel quartet singing.

Perhaps that is so because of the large number of truly exceptional gospel quartets during those years. It can be argued that the talent depth in the gospel quartet field during those years was greater during that time than it was before or since.

One way to illustrate that contention is to point out some of the truly fine groups that were formed and flourished then, despite not being anywhere near the top of the gospel music industry as it existed at that time.

This month, we look at a quartet that fits the latter description. They had as much musical skill as any quartet that existed during those years, and had the admiration and respect of their peers in gospel singing. But the fact that they were not known for anything outside of their fine singing possibly kept them from reaching the “top” of the gospel quartet world.

This quartet was formed in 1952 in Huntington, West Virginia, certainly a relatively remote part of the United States in terms of the postwar "boom" that was sweeping the country at that time, but nonetheless it was an area that was very familiar with good gospel music, and good music in general.

Five men, Harold Lane, Leonard Adams, John Embry, J.B. Short, and Don Owens teamed up to call themselves the Gospel Harmony Boys. The quartet also had a female pianist for a short time near the beginning, Martha Ramsey. Adams sang tenor, Lane was the lead, Embry sang baritone, Short was the bass, and Owens accompanied the group on piano. As was often the case with quartets in those days, the personnel changed often. By 1954, Grey Johnson, known as "Pappy," was the bass, and Carlos Day was the pianist.

Between those times, however, the Gospel Harmony Boys had made big strides. In 1953, they became one of the first gospel quartets to appear on national television when they appeared on the relatively new "Today" show on NBC, hosted in those days by Dave Garroway. That same year, the group began a weekly TV show on Huntington’s WSAZ-TV, which would be a favorite of viewers in the Tri-State area(WV-OH-KY)for 17 years, from 1953 to 1970, on both WSAZ, and later WHTN-TV. Fans of the group will remember "Someone To Care" being the theme song for the show during all those years, it naturally is one song the Gospel Harmony Boys are best known for.

The quartet quickly attracted such attention in large part due to Lane’s excellent musicianship. Not only was he a fine lead singer, he also was a multi-talented instrumentalist as well as a composer and arranger of considerable note. It is said that a lot of arrangements used by many of the quartets in those years were actually done by Lane.

Attention to Lane had gotten so intense that by 1955, he left the Gospel Hamony Boys to take a job with the famous Homeland Harmony Quartet. That group, however, was in its’ last years and struggling. Nonetheless, Lane’s reputation prospered while he was there, and his arrangements became standard fare for many of the nation’s gospel quartets at that
time.

When the Homeland Harmony Quartet finally folded in 1957, Lane returned to the Gospel Harmony Boys. Although the group was still doing well with Dale Musgrave singing lead in Lane’s place, and Homer Fry joining the group on baritone, the group was extremely happy to have their "hometown" talent back in the fold.

By the late 1950s, the quartet picked up the services of Asa Legrand on tenor, and his sound became an integral part of the Gospel Harmony Boys well into the 1960s. Also in the early 1960s, the quartet signed a record contract with Skylite Records, and they issued albums for that company as well as their own custom label. Also, pianist Carlos Day would take several leaves of absence from the group to go into ministry, but his place was ably filled by talented musicians like Harold Patrick, who would later play with the Goodmans and the Golden Keys Quartet, among others, and Dick Lucas, who took Patrick’s place when the latter went to the Goodmans, and stayed into the 1960s.

The Gospel Harmony Boys of the 1960s didn’t have a charismatic stage personality along the lines of Hovie Lister, JD Sumner, or even a London Parris or a Willie Wynn. Their calling card was always their singing, and their ability to effortlessly execute the challenging vocal arrangements of Lane, and repeatedly entertain and bless their audiences with solid singing and a warm, friendly stage manner. And while it may have made them more famous to be more flashy, there is something to be said for just plain good gospel singing, something the Gospel Harmony Boys provided in abundance consistently.

Of course, with time, all things change…and change came to the Gospel Harmony Boys when once again Lane was lured away. This time, it was not by a group on its’ last legs, but it was by one of the top groups in gospel music at that time. The Speer Family hired Lane away in 1967 not only to get his voice, but his original compositions and arrangements as well. It was a good move for Lane, who would spend the next 22 years with the Speers, and who would be their main musical force during that time, writing more than ever, and coming up with the majority of the gospel music classics he wrote during his long career when with the Speers.

The Gospel Harmony Boys, though, would press on…Sonny Sites wouild take Lane’s place as lead, and Legrand was next to leave, and a young man named Roger Horne came on board for a short time to sing tenor. Legrand was famous for introducing “I Found A Savior” into the quartet’s repertoire, and it would remain there for several years afterward. Audiences were fond of Legrand’s distinctive tenor stylings.

By the 1970s, even more change was coming to gospel quartets, and naturally, it came the Gospel Harmony Boys’ way as well. 1971 saw a youngster named Clacy Williams join the group as tenor, and the following year saw another youngster named Greg Tingler join as bass guitarist. The gospel quartet sound was getting bigger than solely the piano, and it helped that Tingler could sing as well as play the bass.

Another big personnel change occurred in 1974…longtime bass singer Gray "Pappy" Johnson decided to come off the road. He had endured three heart attacks during the 20 years he had sung bass, and while he cut back on his singing, Ransom Fry (a relative of Homer’s) filled in as bass on occasion, but by 1975, Calvin Thompson joined the quartet as Johnson’s permanent replacement.

By 1985, Thompson had stepped aside, and Johnson returned to the group for three years. Johnson’s passing in 1988 left the Gospel Harmony Boys without a bass singer, so the group sang as a trio with Williams on tenor joined by Denis Chapman as lead and baritone Jack Hanks, with pianist Michael Bloomfield. Despite the lack of a fourth part, that configuration of the Gospel Harmony Boys kept the group’s reputation for polished, top-notch singing and musicianship intact.

Come the beginning of 1997, the Gospel Harmony Boys decided to become a quartet once again, with Will Adkins joining the group as the bass singer. Adkins quickly became known as one of gospel music’s lowest bass singers, with remarkable extension in his lower range. Adkins was joined by Tingler on baritone, Chapman on lead, and Williams continuing as tenor.

That combination didn’t last long, as Williams retired from the road in 1998, and Chapman in 1999. Rusty Phillips joined as tenor and Rod Taylor as lead, but by 2002, the Gospel Harmony Boys were finding times to be tough, so the group disbanded after 50 years as one of gospel music’s most respected and proficient quartets.

But quietly, ex-group members Williams, Hanks, and Steve Black had been singing for a while as the River City Boys. They asked pianist Steve Owens to join them, and occasionally they were joined by Calvin Thompson singing bass. People seeing this group sing became nostalgic for the return of the Gospel Harmony Boys, and with former group member Greg Tingler filling in as lead on occasion, the demand became intense for this group to bring back the name of the Gospel Harmony Boys, since the sound and members were so familiar to group fans.

So in December of 2004, the group brought the name Gospel Harmony Boys back, and one of the finest names in gospel music remains alive and well on the gospel music circuit!

The current Gospel Harmony Boys consist of tenor Clacy Williams, lead Greg Tingler, baritone Rusty Ballinger, and bass Calvin Thompson. Their sound is reminiscent of the classic sound of the old group, but is fresh for today’s audiences.

Besides introducing songs like "I've Done What The Lord Said Do" (an early Harold Lane classic), "Jesus Walked All The Way" (written by longtime group baritone Homer Fry's father Harkins and covered by the Oak Ridge Boys, among others), "Liddle Biddy Chapel" (the title song of one of their Skylite albums of the 1960s), and "The Christian Way" (written by pianist Dick Lucas), "Jesus Loves Me," and "Payday For The Saints Of God" (a song the group still performs today), the Gospel Harmony Boys brought gospel quartet music to the Tri-State region of the United States, featured some of the best gospel quartet singers of all time (I don’t want to leave out ex-group tenor Asbury Adkins here), were named official goodwill ambassadors of the state of West Virginia, and have been longtime fixtures on such long running gospel music related events such as the National Quartet Convention and the Jubilee At Sea Cruises.

Yes, the Gospel Harmony Boys are one of the better products of gospel quartet music's "Golden Age," spawned during one of the most competitive and talent laden portions of gospel music history, and they made gospel music history of their own, not by necessarily becoming the most famous or acclaimed gospel group of their day, but always by being fine Christian men and examples of the very best in gospel quartet singing and musicianship.

Group co-founder Harold Lane is surely destined for Gospel Music's Hall of Fame before too long, but regardless, the group he started and led for some 15 years, the Gospel Harmony Boys, have deservedly made their place in gospel music history.

I would like to thank Dean Adkins for his invaluable help, materials, and insights, without whose help I could not possibly have written this tribute.