A discussion elsewhere initiated this thought in my mind. What are your top groups for each decade of southern gospel history? Let’s take out any thought of who “merits” the distinction, and just let the criteria be who is/was your favorite. For some, I’ll do a little ranking. You don’t have to unless you want to.
1950s:
The Statesmen – Hovie, Jake, Denver, Doy, and Big Chief set the standard some are still trying to replicate today.
1960s:
The Imperials – This was tough for me, because I’m less familiar with the music of this decade, but the Hess-Morales-Slaughter combination had a terrific sound. I almost picked the Weatherfords for the Payne-Morales-Slaughter configuration, but it didn’t last long enough in the 1960s.
1970s:
?1. The Inspirations – The boys from Bryson City were at their peak in this decade, with an exciting sound and big time hit songs. Some of my earliest memories of listening to southern gospel music are Inspirations songs from this era.
2. The Kingsmen – With Big & Live, the mighty Kingsmen as we know them were born.
3. The Cathedrals – The configuration with George Amon Webster and Roy Tremble is the earliest one that appeals to me in a big way.
1980s: (side note: I love the 80s in southern gospel)
1. The Cathedrals – George, Glen, Danny, Mark, Roger (and sometimes Gerald). ‘Nuff said.
2. Gold City – Hard to argue with the supreme abilities and electricity of the Parker-Free-LeFevre configuration.
3. The Kingsmen – Little Ernie kept things going in the early part, then my personal favorite Kingsmen configuration, with Sheppard, Crawford, and Rice, took over.
1990s:
1. Gold City – Starting with Pillars of Faith, and then from the big 1994 personnel shift on, southern gospel music doesn’t get any finer in my book.
2. Greater Vision – The early part of the decade showcased the greatest trio vocal blend we’ve ever seen, and the latter part sprung the fountain that is the pen of Rodney Griffin.
3. The Kingdom Heirs – Highly underrated sound with Clayton Inman and Rick Strickland in the early part of the decade, then establishing the solid Arthur Rice-David-Sutton-Eric Bennett combo in the second half.
4. The Cathedrals – How could I put them this low? The songs were tremendous, but the vocal blend of this era is not my favorite of the Cathedrals.
5. The Gaither Vocal Band – It began with Michael English and the rest of the Band finding their niche in southern gospel, and ended with David Phelps and Guy Penrod blowing everyone away.
2000s:
1. The Kingdom Heirs – In my book, no one else this decade has made more consistently good quartet music. The soon-to-be Triumphant Quartet started it, and the hire of Jeff Chapman helped continue it. Arthur Rice and Steve French were rock-solid constants.
2. Greater Vision – Another group that was consistent throughout the decade, as the hits kept coming.
3. The Mark Trammell Trio – The Eric Phillips/Joseph Smith combo had a great blend, but didn’t quite come up with the big hits. They really hit their stride at the end of the decade with Dustin Sweatman, including two of my favorite albums of all time in Once Upon a Cross and Always Have a Song.
4. Gold City – They continued what they started in the mid-90s, at least for a few years.
5. The Perrys – Starting with Changed Forever in 2001, the Perrys began putting out music right up my alley. They were another very consistent deliverer.
2010s:
So far, it’s the Mark Trammell Quartet leading the way, with the Kingdom Heirs and the Inspirations following, but you never know what is going to come our way…
What say you?
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