The Statesmen Quartet

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The Statesmen Quartet
Origin Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres Southern gospel
Years active 1948–2001

The Statesmen Quartet was a Southern Gospel Music group founded in 1948 by Hovie Lister. Along with the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen Quartet was considered the most successful and influential gospel quartet of the 1950s.[1]

During the first years, the group underwent several member changes, and included singers like James 'Big Chief' Wetherington, Denver Crumpler, Jake Hess, Doy Ott, Hovie Lister, 'Rosie' Rozell, Jack Toney.

Their hits spanned many decades, they were the first Gospel artist to receive endorsement deals, they made television commercials, appeared on TV shows and they were signed to RCA Victor before launching their own label with the Blackwood Brothers.

Contents

[edit] Group history

[edit] Early years

The Statesmen Quartet was founded in 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia by piano player Hovie Lister, a Baptist minister and convention-style piano player with a flair for showmanship. Lister constructed the quartet as a hand-picked group of the best singing voices in order to secure a prime time-slot on the new WCON radio station.[1] The initial line-up included lead singer Hovie Lister from Atlanta, Gordon Hill on bass, Bervin Kendrick from Birmingham singing baritone and Bobby Strickland of Albertiville singing the tenor. The group's name was lifted from the title of a newsletter published by Herman Talmadge, Governor of Georgia, with Talmadge's permission.[1] The quartet made their debut on WCON in Atlanta in October, 1948.

From 1948 to 1952, the group underwent several personnel changes. In 1953, Lister's vision of the premiere lineup was realized with the addition of Denver Crumpler as tenor. Crumpler joined Jake Hess (lead), Doy Ott (baritone), and James 'Big Chief' Wetherington (bass), with Lister on piano and master of ceremonies. During the next years, The Statesmen Quartet achieved fame as one of the premiere groups of Southern Gospel music.[1]

[edit] The glory years

In 1952, the Statesmen entered into a business partnership with The Blackwood Brothers Quartet. The "Stateswood" team would dominate Southern Gospel music for the next two decades.

The popular Cat Freeman, a native of Fyffe, Alabama was replaced by the great Irish tenor Denver Crumpler. With this lineup, the Statesmen began recording for RCA Victor and began starring in the Nabisco Hour national TV show. Popular songs of this period include "Get Away Jordan" and "Happy Rhythm". As early as 1950, the Statesmen used the phrase "Rockin' and rollin'" in a song, and Hovie Lister's frantic boogie woogie piano, piano bench acrobatics, and hair shaken down in his eyes predated Jerry Lee Lewis' use of the same tricks by a good five years.

During this period, the quartet had offices at the Briarcliff Hotel at Ponce and N. Highland in Virginia Highland, Atlanta. Business manager Don Butler and tenor Roland "Rosie" Rozell partnered to open the King & Prince Restaurant inside the hotel.[2]

On 4 July 1955, the Blackwood/Statesmen team traveled to Texas for an engagement that would feature several secular artists on the same program. Among them was Elvis Presley. Elvis was planning to sing his rock hits, but refrained out of respect of his gospel idols, the Statesmen and Blackwoods. The Statesmen exerted a powerful influence on young Elvis, who idolized and imitated Jake Hess' vocal stylings and Big Chief's leg shaking. In an interview with songwriter Bill Gaither, Hess remembered seeing young Elvis coming to Statesmen shows in Tupelo when Presley was only nine or ten. Hess said that the serious young Elvis would ask him, "How do you make a record?" or "How many suits you got?" On the Gaither Homecoming video "Oh My Glory", Jake Hess tells about Elvis coming to Statesmen concerts and being invited up onstage to sing lead in place of Jake on a song or two.

[edit] Tragedy and triumphs

In 1957, Denver Crumpler died in diabetic shock when his symptoms were misdiagnosed as a heart attack. Cat Freeman came back briefly, followed by lyric tenor Roland 'Rosie' Rozell, a soulful singer and former policeman from Oklahoma. The Rosie-Hess-Ott-Chief lineup recorded such classics as "Faith Unlocks The Door" and Rosie's signature tune "Oh What A Savior" and "There's Room at the Cross"

In 1963, Jake Hess left the Statesmen to form his own quartet, Jake Hess and The Imperials.

Hovie tapped young, debonair Jack Toney from Boaz, Alabama to replace Hess. Before long, Toney's movie-idol looks and powerful voice helped the Statesmen to soldier on without missing a beat. Ironically, Jack Toney would replace Jake Hess on five different occasions in three different decades with the Statesmen and the Masters V.

Bass singer "Big Chief" Wetherington died of a massive heart attack on October 3, 1973, while attending the National Quartet Convention in Nashville. He is buried in a small cemetery just outside Atlanta, Georgia.

[edit] The later years

Later incarnations of the Statesmen would include tenors Sherrill 'Shaun' Nielson, Willie Wynn, and Johnny Cook; lead singers Roy McNeil and Jim Hill; baritones Chris Hess (Jake's son), Biney English and Rick Fair; and bass singers Ray Burdette, Bob Caldwell and Doug Young. Over the years, Jake Hess, Jack Toney, Doy Ott and Rosie Rozell would rejoin the Statesmen at various times, most notably a couple years after Chief's death when Lister brought back Rozell, Jake Hess, and Doy Ott as "The Statesmen" sans bass. A comical pairing of this classic Statesmen "trio" with longtime Blackwood Brothers/Stamps Quartet bass singer J.D. Sumner at the 1977 National Quartet Convention in Nashville was the birth of the Masters V Quartet, which would include, in its classic lineup, Rosie Rozell, James Blackwood, Jake Hess, J.D. Sumner, and Hovie Lister. The Statesmen's influence lives on in some of today's most popular quartets, such as The Dove Brothers, and Ernie Haase and Signature Sound.

Hovie Lister died on December 27, 2001, at the age of 75. He is buried in Decatur Georgia.


[edit] Members

Pianist and owner
  • Hovie Lister (1948–2001)
Tenor
  • Bobby Strickland (1948–51)
  • Earl Terry (1951)
  • Cat Freeman (1951–53, 1957–58) (died in March 1989; aged 67)
  • Denver Crumpler (1953–57)
  • Rosie Rozell (1958–69, 1973, 1977–81) (died February 28, 1995; aged 66)
  • Shaun Neilsen (1969–73, 1975)
  • Willie Wynn (1973–75)
  • Johnny Cook (1992–93)
  • Tank Tackett (1993)
  • Steve Warren (1994)
  • Gene Miller (1994)
  • Wallace Nelms (1994–2001)
Lead
  • Mosie Lister (1948)
  • Jake Hess (1948–53, 1953–63, 1975, 1977–79, 1992–93) (died January 4, 2004; aged 76)
  • Gary McSpadden (filled in for Jake Hess)
  • Les Roberson (1953)
  • Jack Toney (1963–66, 1967–68, 1979, 1994–01) (died April 15, 2004 at the age of 70)
  • Roy McNeal (1966–67)
  • Jim Hill (1968–71)
  • Gary Timbs (1971–73)
  • Elmer Cole (1973–74)
  • David Will (1975)
  • Buddy Burton (1979–81, 1993–94)
  • Wayne Little (1993)
Baritone
  • Bervin Kendrick (1948–51)
  • Troy Posey (1951)
  • Doy Ott (1951–78) (died in November 6, 1986; aged 67)
  • Chris Hess (1978–79)
  • Ed Hill (1979–80)
  • Richard Coletrane (1981)
  • Biney English (1992–93)
  • Scooter Simmons (1993)
  • Jerry Candler (1993–94)
  • Mike Loprinzi (1994–98)
  • Rick Fair (1998–2001)
Bass
  • Gordon Hill (1948)
  • A. D. Soward (1949)
  • Jim "Big Chief" Wetherington (1949–73) (died October 3, 1973; aged 50)
  • Ray Burdette (1973–75)
  • Tommy Thompson (1979–80)
  • J. D. Sumner (1981) (died November 16, 1998; aged 73)
  • Bob Caldwell (1992–93)
  • Stacy Bragg (1993)
  • Nick Val (1993)
  • Roy Pauley (1993)
  • Doug Young (1994–2001)

[edit] Discography

  • 1957: The Statesmen Quartet with Hovie Lister
  • 1958: The Statesmen Quartet Sings with Hovie Lister
  • 1958: The Bible Told Me So (RCA LPM 1683)
  • 1959: Hymns
  • 1959: I’ll Meet You By the River (RCA LSP 2065)
  • 1959: Get Away Jordan
  • 1960: Mansion Over the Hilltop (RCA LSP 2127)
  • 1960: On Stage (RCA LSP 2188)
  • 1960: Something To Shout About
  • 1960: Encores
  • 1960: Peace, O Lord
  • 1960: Statesmen Blackwood Favorites
  • 1961: Out West (RCA LSP 2281)
  • 1961: Through the States (RCA LSP 2351)
  • 1962: Stop, Look & Listen for the Lord
  • 1962: Camp-Meeting Hymns (RCA LSP 2440)
  • 1962: Singing Time in Dixie (Skylight SRLP 6000)
  • 1963: The Mystery of His Way (RCA LSP 2546)
  • 1963: Message in the Sky (RCA Camden CAL-743)
  • 1963: A Gospel Concert
  • 1964: Hovie Lister Sings with His Famous Statesmen Qt. (RCA LSP 2790)
  • 1964: Hovie Lister Spotlights Doy Ott (RCA LSP 2864)
  • 1964: Songs Of Faith (RCA Camden CAL 843)
  • 1965: The Best Of (RCA LSP-2933)
  • 1964: Doris Akers & The Statesmen Sing for You
  • 1965: The Sensational Statesmen Quartet (RCA LSP 2989)
  • 1965: Sings the Golden Gospel Songs (RCA LSP 3392)
  • 1965: All Day Sing & Dinner on the Ground
  • 1966: The Happy Sound (RCA LSP 3494)
  • 1966: Sings the Gospel Gems
  • 1967: In Gospel Country (RCA LSP 3703)
  • 1967: My God is Real (RCA Camden CAL/CAS 2151)
  • 1967: Showers of Blessing (RCA LSP 3815)
  • 1968: Sing Brother Sing (RCA LSP 3888)
  • 1968: Hits of the Decade
  • 1968: Happy Land
  • 1968: The Best of the Statesmen Volume 2 (RCA SLP 3925)
  • 1968: God Loves American People (Skylite SLP 6070)
  • 1968: Standing on the Promises
  • 1969: Taller Than Trees (RCA Camden CAS 2314)
  • 1969: Thanks to Calvary (Skylite SLP 6080)
  • 1969: New Sounds Today (Skylite SLP 6090)
  • 1970: No Greater Love (RCA Camden CAS 2419)
  • 1970: Featuring…
  • 1970: The Common Man
  • 1971: Put Your Hand in the Hand (Skylite SLP 6110)
  • 1972: Keep On Smiling
  • 1972: Hits of the Decade
  • 1972: Hits of the Decade Vol. 2 (Chime 605, Artistic 20711)
  • 1972: They That Sow (Skylite SLP 6120)
  • 1973: I Believe in Jesus
  • 1973: In Memory Of “Big Chief” Jim Wetherington & Denver “Crump” Crumpler (Lord, I Want to Go to Heaven) (CAM LPS-1407)
  • 1973: Time to Remember
  • 1974: Ain’t That What It’s All About
  • 1974: Precious Memories
  • 1974: Feature Doy Ott
  • 1977: The Legendary Statesmen Return
  • 1977: Gospel Songs Elvis Loved
  • 1977: Get Away Jordan
  • 1978: His Love Put a Song in My Heart
  • 1978: Oh What a Savior (Skylite SLP 6190)
  • 1979: Gospel Gems (Skylite SLP 6200)
  • 1979: Hovie Lister & The Sensational Statesmen
  • 1980: He is Here (Skylite SLP 6235)
  • 1981: Sweet Beulah Land
  • 1992: I Surrender All
  • 1992: The Bible Told Me So
  • 1992: Get Away Jordan
  • 1992: Jubilee’s A Coming
  • 1992: Revival
  • 1992: O What a Savior
  • 1993: O My Lord What a Time
  • 1996: Saints Don't You Know
  • 1997: Hovie Lister & The Statesmen
  • 1998: Still Sensational
  • 1999: You Can't Shake the Rock
  • 2000: Even So Come
  • Unknown Year Precious Old Book (Temple 8503)
  • Unknown Year Faith Unlocks the Door (Temple 8522)
  • Unknown Year How Great Thou Art (Skylite 6294)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Goff, James (December 2001). Close harmony: a history of southern gospel. The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 169–174. ISBN 0807853461. 
  2. ^ Southern Edition, "Atlanta's Briarcliff Hotel, a Part of Ponce de Leon Avenue's Comeback?"

[edit] External links

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