Add this entry to Your Favorites | [0] Favorites [31] Comments

Please wait...

You have performed with some impressive groups, JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, the Blackwood Brothers, and even the Master's V. Give us a little history about who you've performed with, and how long you've been singing.

I have been singing 54 years, having had my parents start me when I was the ripe old age of 2! I sang in front of 10,000 people at 3 and it's been going ever since. I was with the Masters 5 for 4 1/2 years, having taken Rosie Rozell's place. Then when everyone started going their own separate ways leaving only JD & I, that's when we went back to the name "JD Sumner & The Stamps Quartet." I was with The Blackwood Brothers twice; once for a year after leaving The Stamps, and then I went with The Wayne Newton Show (where I sang gospel music) for almost 3 years and then back to the Blackwood Brothers upon my leaving the Newton show. Altogether I was priviledged to travel and work with my lifelong friend, Cecil Blackwood for only 4 short years before we lost him to cancer.

What was your big "break" in getting a career going in Southern Gospel Music?

Everytime the Masters 5 would come to town, they would play a series of dates around Houston Texas, our hometown. My wife, Shirley & I had been to their first concert in their "series" and the next afternoon, I got a call from JD stating that they were in the emergency room with Rosie, who had suffered a stroke earlier that afternoon, and inquired if I could "handle singing tenor that night." I assured him that I could (although I was not actually a "tenor"). We sang the entire program that night (all they were singing was old Blackwood & Statesmen songs that I had grown up on) and that was that. I had the priviledge of producing 7 of the 8 albums I did with the M5, arranging most of the music and producing 3 solo albums for JD, 2 for James and 2 for Jake. I've been richly blessed. Those days are gone now, leaving me with a small fraction of what I did previously, but I have tons of great memories and recordings that I am quite proud of.

You've been tagged with the nickname "The Voice", and understandably so. Who dubbed you with that title and why?

I believe it was Wayne Newton, although it's been so long ago now. I suppose that it's because I have been blessed with a 4 1/2 octave vocal range that has given me an obvious wide scope of versatility as well. In most groups I've been in, I've sung, at one time or another, everything from tenor to bass (although I certainly would not classify myself as a "bass singer" either!). Just for fun mainly, a few years ago I recorded Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus," singing it just as he originally wrote it (reading the written score) in the original key, singing all 4 parts 10 times each (making it a 40 voice choir) and doing it a capella. THAT was a real workout for my range!!

When singing in your Tenor range, you sound more like Rozie Rozell than anyone I have ever heard. Do you have to work at that, or is it a natural phenomenon? Was Rozie a hero of yours?

I think that it was more of a thing that while I was actually "developing" my tenor "chops," I was singing with Jake doing a lot of the leads in the M5 and it just sort of happened. Not to take anything away from the great artistry of Rosie (he certainly brought a lot to the Statesmen when he joined in 1958), but Bill Shaw was always my ideal when it came to singing tenor. There never has been a tenor in the history of gospel music, (which most people, today, are unhappily unaware of) to ever sing as long with a group as Bill. He sang correctly. That is why, today at 83, he can still sing, more than reasonably well. In truth, the "Big 10," (The Blackwoods & Statesmen, in their glory years) represented the best, period. Although I was just a kid growing up, these dearly departed (save for Bill Shaw) pioneers were my friends as well. When most people today talk about them in glowing, respectful and complimentary terms ( of which they most assuredly deserve), I have the pleasure of having known them, been around them backstage and sort of behind-the-scenes.

I heard you on your Christmas CD singing all four parts of a song. Just how wide of a range do you have? What range do you prefer singing in?

Every voice on the Christmas CD is mine, on all the songs. Although the range width we've already discussed, my favorite place to sing is in my natural voice, around a lead or baritone. I'll still reach up from time to time and pop a few high ones, just for fun!

Many people may not know that you performed for a while with Wayne Newton. Tell us a little about that experience.

It was a level of professionalism and musicianship that I had not been accustomed to in the quartet world. With quartets, it was more "you sing this, you sing that, let's put it together and see if it flies and the piano player can just fall in with us!" In the Newton show, there were written orchestrations for the instruments and, particularly when I was given the responsibility of leading that section, the vocal group had written arrangements as well to coincide with what the orchestra was doing. (This was not a stretch, since I had been writing out all of the M5 and Stamps & Blackwood Brothers arrangements for years. A written arrangement alleviates having to commit a total arrangement to memory until one has really learned it from the written score.) The Wayne Newton Show was pure class, in its musical integrity, stage uniforms, stage settings, lighting, special effects, and everything you could imagine. I'm a better performer today because of it. The best thing about it, however, was having the opportunity to sing gospel music to a "non-gospel" crowd who had, by & large, never been exposed to it. I pray that someone, somewhere, by my singing gospel music at an unexpected time and place, picked up on the "seed" and explored further the Gospel that the music is all about and experienced salvation.

There is a video on YouTube showing you singing a Gospel song on one of Wayne's shows. Did you get to do that often?

That's all I sung on the Newton show and, thankfully, it was every night. From my first night, Mr. Newton gave me a solo spot on the show and always specified that I sing gospel, although, I would have, anyway! I'd like to have a copy of that video, by the way!

You've been doing a lot of solo work lately, do you have any desires to go back to singing with a group?

No, that phase of my life is over. Oh, I may do a fill-in here & there, but, I'm to the place that I'm pretty much set in my ways, musically, and I know what works for me, and that's my "comfort zone." At 56, I really have no desire to get out of it!

Tell us what you are doing now, and if someone came to see your show, what can they expect to see?

At this writing, we're doing 3 shows a night, 5 nights per week at the "Great American Steak and Buffet Company" in Pigeon Forge Tennessee. You can expect to see and hear a variety show of old music. (I sing old music because I'm Old and don't know any New songs!!!) It will be a variety show, consisting of everything from Big Band hits of the 40's, Sinatra (which is My favorite genre of music, by the way), Elvis hits, country classics, some rock& roll (from back when rock & roll was really music) and, of course, gospel. I've had people ask why I don't do all gospel and I explain that I'd rather do some gospel music for a lot of people rather than all gospel to a few. Be advised that all of the non-gospel music is music that I would sing to (and have sung to) my pastor, as well as any of the folks who know me from the gospel quartet days. It's music we all listen to and enjoy.

If fans wanted to get in touch with you how could they do so?

Through our website http://www.stevewarrenthevoice.com

Reader Comments

tmooney,
You view me as a know-it-all, which is fine. It seems from your recent petty name calling on the message board..."frustrated wannabe," "frustrated has been," etc...that I'm in good company.

http://sogospelnews.com/index/forum/search_results/242c70f4b7a48b97938cdf60d37317b6/

--Making hay while the sun shines--
sgnforum@musicscribe.com - BLOG - SGHistory.com

That's worth the opinion of about 2 people.

We asked Steve to clarify a few questions people had and this was his reply:

"When I refer to "Masters 5" I mean the original group: James, Jake, JD, Hovie & myself. (In actuality, the original group had Rosie singing tenor for about a year and one half, my being there for the better part of 4 years). Jack & Ed were late comers as far as Masters 5 were concerned. When I said "Everyone had gone their seperate ways," I was referring to James, Jake & Hovie. If this person really wants to get technical and nit-pick, when JD & I were having this conversation, I was temporarily GONE from the Masters 5, having Sherrill singing tenor, but JD was wanting me back and was asking me my thoughts and opinion on changing the name back to "The Stamps Quartet." I distinctly remember saying to JD that I was not interested in the least in returning to the Masters 5 but that I was VERY interested in coming to JD Sumner & The Stamps. This conversation took place in the mobile home that JD had placed behind the actual building at 58 Music Square West, housing Skylite Records just in case we're REALLY going to nitpick."

I believe this is sufficient and should end any further speculation and conjecture. Further questions can always and should be addressed to Steve through his website: http://www.stevewarrenthevoice.com

Wow! Interesting reading. I enjoy hearing "wannabes" tell those who actually lived it, how it actually happened. LOL

There is alot of insignificant details that Steve left out of the article. He left out him singing with the Junior Houstonians, The Timesmen, the Royals in Houston (which included greats like Larry Gatlin, Pat Hoffmaster, Laddie Cain, Roy Tremble, and my father, Tommy Howe), He played the piano for the Cathedrals at around age 17, and filled in with the Blackwood Brothers at around age 16 at piano (those two examples there show how superb a pianist he was at even such young an age) ... he left out the brief stint with Exodus before he returned to the M5 to then change the name to the Stamps. And he left out kind things about himself, like he was directly responsible for the great Pat Hoffmaster going with the Blackwood Brothers, sacrificing his own group for the better interest of his friend by placing a call to James, which was responsible for the hiring of Pat ... and my how many hundreds of thousand, if not millions, because of this selfless gesture, got to enjoy and were blessed by the beautiful voice of Pat Hoffmaster. Yea, he left out ALL those details. But he did give a brief overview of what MOST southern gospel fans should find of interest without boring anyone with too many details. And let’s face it, who else in gospel music except the true legends has a resume like Steve has?

Steve mentions that he can be contacted through his website, but I think you will enjoy visiting his MySpace, too, as you will see photos of all these events from his life and a true photographic history of his career. Very interesting reading.

http://www.myspace.com/stevewarrenthevoice

Jym Howe

This is just my opinion ... and it should be yours. 

Steve Warren asked me to post this for him.

"I appreciate the people who have commented on my stating historical facts on your site. Yes, some of the comments are true, to a point. I choose not to dignify my malefactors by stating their names. They, as well as you folks who have been following this "fact controversy" know to whom I'm referring. The fact is that, yes, there was a cassette released with Sherrill, Jack, Ed, and J.D. called "The Masters 5." I know. I was called in by J.D. & Hovie to help with recording the vocals at Hilltop Studios. (For the benefit of the "nit-pickers" who pounce on every little nuance and detail that may not have been covered in totality, I do not recall the dates and times of these sessions, nor the color of socks worn by the participants.) I also know that just a few months later after Hovie exited the group, this product was pulled from the table, having being replaced with the "JD Sumner and The Stamps Today," on which we updated with my singing tenor and playing piano to establish the new group. We also "updated" the "Masters 5 sing the JD Sumner songbook" (or whatever it was called) AND updated the hymn album "The Masters' Hymns by The Masters 5" released about 3 years prior, making it a Stamps project. For those of you in posession of these cassettes, that was why individual pictures of the members were used, as we had not taken the time to go into a photo studio for a formal group picture. Again, my apologies to the "nit-pickers" as I cannot recall the recording dates, however, they were done and remixed at Merit Studios.

Let me reiterate the fact that I was not stating that Jack & Ed & CJ had "gone their seperate ways, leaving ONLY JD & myself." I was referring to what the general gospel music public regarded as "The Masters 5" (James, Jake, Hovie, JD & myself).

Sadly, the gospel music history myths, created by either national gospel video producers or heads of yearly conventions featuring performers from days gone by have tried to completely erase me (with, unfortunately for me, highly successful results), from ever having traveled a single mile, singing a single song either in the recording studio or on a concert stage or church platform. I suppose, after hearing the arguments against my facts (in effect, calling me a liar), this proves the "powers that be" success in their campaign to "de-Steve Warren" the gospel music business history. It's a shame that their minds are much more occupied in trying to prove a performer wrong in their stating facts, thereby attempting to discredit the performer as a whole, rather than concentrating on the power of the message that the performer conveyed to the audience, either on recordings or in a live performance.

This kind of childish rubbish is just one of the many things that I do not miss about being involved in the full-time gospel quartet business. It's amazing how little of this went on during my tenure in "The Wayne Newton Show" and how much more true Christianity was displayed there.

I welcome any of the above-mentioned mis-guided ilk to contact me directly, via the e-mail address listed on my website http://www.stevewarrenthevoice.com. I'll be more than happy to set the record straight."

Steve Warren

Deon Unthank
SoGospelNews.com
My Blog

Some people are like Slinkys… Not really good for anything, but they
still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs - Author Unknown

DBM, you're killing me! 8

Add Comments

If you are seeing this form you are not a Member or have not logged in. Why not consider becoming a Member? All comments must be made with a valid email address. Comments with invalid email addresses are subject to removal.

Membership allows you to have a prepared signature of your choice applied to every comment you make, as well as the ability to choose an avatar to display next to your name to help identify your posts. Members are also given opportunity to vote weekly in our Weekly Chart as well as special Members Only contests, polls and giveaways during the year. If you are already a member, login here, otherwise please register here.

**Note: Forums membership is a seperate membership.

By posting you agree to our Comments Policy

Name:
Email:
Location:
URL:
Comment:
	Remember my personal information
	Notify me of follow-up comments?
Please enter the word you see in the image below: