Mar 07

Quartet Madness: Lead Round 1 Results

There were three close matches in the first round of the lead bracket, and a couple of upsets. 77 total ballots were submitted.

Glen Payne was almost a unanimous choice, winning 76-1 over Les Beasley.
This contest has leaned heavily toward the modern, but not in this one. Jim Hamill easily beat Clayton Inman 52-23.
In a classic 5-12 upset, Hall of Famer James Blackwood was defeated handily by Arthur Rice, 49-26.
It ended up being closer than it looked at the beginning, but Gerald Wolfe was never threatened by Michael English, winning 44-31.
With the second largest margin of victory in the round, Ivan Parker won impressively, 54-23 over Squire Parsons.
Guy Penrod and Jonathan Wilburn went back and forth early, but in the end Penrod pulled away, 42-35.
The Kenny Hinson-Scott Fowler matchup had a similar script as Penrod-Wilburn, with Hinson grabbing a narrow victory, 41-34.
Jake Hess made a late charge, but could not catch up with Ronnie Booth, who won in a stunning upset, 39-36.

The second round matchups are set. There are a couple of very exciting ones coming up.
Glen Payne vs Jim Hamill
Arthur Rice vs. Gerald Wolfe
Ivan Parker vs. Guy Penrod
Kenny Hinson vs. Ronnie Booth

The first round of the Baritone Bracket will open later today. Keep those votes coming!

Mar 04

Quartet Madness: Favorite Leads, Round 1

Click here to take survey

Next in line for voting is the first round of the Lead Bracket. If you thought the Tenor Bracket was tough, wait ’til you see how loaded this one is! Click above to vote in each of the eight first round matchups. They are:

Glen Payne vs. Les Beasley
Clayton Inman vs Jim Hamill
James Blackwood vs. Arthur Rice
Gerald Wolfe vs. Michael English
Ivan Parker vs. Squire Parsons
Guy Penrod vs. Jonathan Wilburn
Kenny Hinson vs. Scott Fowler
Jake Hess vs. Ronnie Booth

The rules are simple: vote for your favorites! And tell us about it in the comments if you want!

Mar 03

Quartet Madness: Tenor First Round Results

Voting is closed in the first round of the Tenor Bracket, and the results are in! There were 82 total ballots cast, which easily exceeded the number I was expecting. Thanks for the great participation, and I hope you continue to do so at the same pace. Without further ado, here are the first round tenor winners. Only one matchup was close, and it was very tight indeed.

Top seed Ernie Haase easily dispatched Rick Strickland, 58-23.
The legendary Archie Watkins was no match for David Sutton, who won 56-21.
Jay Parrack was not challenged by Hall of Famer Denver Crumpler, winning 57-21.
Chris Allman upset Kirk Talley in a blowout, 58-20.
Danny Funderburk felt a little heat from Michael Booth, but won comfortably 48-32.
David Phelps’ sheer power overwhelmed the smooth Johnny Parrack, 56-24.
Rosie Rozell vs. Ernie Phillips was easily the most closely contested match. At no point did I see a margin of more than three votes. Rosie led most of the way, but Little Ernie surged ahead at the last minute, winning 40-38 in a slight upset.
Johnny Cook looked poised to make some noise early, but eventually succumbed to Brian Free, 48-31.

In the second round of the Tenor Bracket it will be:
Ernie Haase vs. David Sutton
Jay Parrack vs. Chris Allman
Danny Funderburk vs. David Phelps
Ernie Phillips vs. Brian Free

The Elite Eight of Tenors will get a week or so of rest before facing off in Round 2. I’m already looking forward to it!

Look for the first round of the Lead Bracket tomorrow morning!

Mar 02

Quartet Madness: Favorite Tenors, Round 1

Click here to take survey

We’ll kick off this bracket with, as Tim Riley used to say, the ladies’ part. Click above to view the 8 first-round matchups and vote for your favorites. I tried to include some background information on each singer to help, but by no means are you supposed to vote for which one has the most impressive “resume”. Simply vote for your favorite! The matchups are:

Ernie Haase vs. Rick Strickland
David Sutton vs. Archie Watkins
Jay Parrack vs. Denver Crumpler
Kirk Talley vs. Chris Allman
Danny Funderburk vs. Michael Booth
David Phelps vs. Johnny Parrack
Rosie Rozell vs. Ernie Phillips
Brian Free vs. Johnny Cook

Feel free to post who you voted for in the comments, if you want. Or you can just share your thoughts about what makes some of these guys special to you.

Mar 01

“Daystar” – Greater Vision Quartet ;)

Here is a wonderful video of the Original Greater Vision with Pat Barker joining in on the bass part.  Hard to beat this lineup!

Mar 01

March Madness, Quartet Style

Most of you probably have at least heard of “March Madness”, and if you are a sports fan like me, you will probably spend a good bit of time watching college basketball tournaments this month.  The NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament has taken a life of its own over the last decade or two, piquing the interest of even the most casual sports fans, and even non-sports fans. Its 64-team (or 65, or 68?) single elimination bracket format is easily adaptable to fit an infinite number of competitions, serious or not.  For fun, I thought I’d bring a little “madness” to the southern gospel world this month.

I’ve seen some variations of this over the last couple of years, but I’ve never seen it quite like what we’re going to do here at Southern Gospel Critique.  The concept is very simple:  you will vote on your favorite southern gospel singers in a series of head-to-head individual “matchups”.  There will be four brackets, one for each quartet part (tenor, lead, baritone, bass), with sixteen singers in each bracket.  Each matchup will “eliminate” one singer, while the other will move on to the next round, until we have whittled the field down to four, one from each bracket.  Unlike the basketball tournament, our “Final Four” will not be “competing” against each other, but instead will comprise our Championship Quartet of four singers.

I have already done my very best to choose 16 singers of each part, out of any era of southern gospel, past or present.  I tried to get a good mix of the legends, and current favorites.  There will surely be some of your favorites that didn’t make my “cut”, but hopefully the ones I chose will be the ones that have the best chance to get votes and win.

I have set up the entire tournament, and we will begin tomorrow with the first round of the Tenor Bracket.  All you have to do is come here and vote in the polls I have set up.  And tell your friends/family/twitter followers/blog readers to join us!  The more votes, the better the result!  You are also welcome to share your thoughts in the comments for each of these posts, telling us who you voted for, or giving any thoughts you have about the singers (remaining positive at all times, of course!).  This is all for fun, not to create rivalries or start arguments.  See you tomorrow, and happy voting!

Feb 26

Songs From Scripture #3: “Poorest Man in Heaven” (Kingdom Heirs)

“Poorest Man in Heaven” is an energetic track written by Marty Funderburk and Jeff Silvey, found on the Kingdom Heirs’ outstanding 2005 album Give Me the Mountain.  The hook around which the song is based is repeated several times during the song: “I’d rather be the poorest man in heaven than the richest man in hell.”  While this entire concept obviously is Scripturally sound, I want to point out just a couple of lyrics in the song that can be specifically found in the Bible.

Jeff Chapman sings the first verse, and in the middle of it, you hear this phrase: “And they may gain the whole world, but one day lose their soul.”  Most of you are probably familiar with the famous verse this lyric paraphrases.  They are the words of Jesus in Mark 8:36

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul?

Jesus talked often about how true followers of Christ must forsake the things of this world, whether it be fortune, fame, or sometimes even family.

One other specific instance Jesus taught this principle is retold in the second verse, sung by Arthur Rice.  Near the end of the verse is the phrase “Just like that rich young ruler, you gotta be willing to sell.”  This subtle lyric is based on a Bible passage in which a rich young ruler asks Jesus a very important question.  This is from Luke 18:18-25

18And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

19And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

20Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.

21And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

22Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

23And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

24And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

25For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Jesus’ point was not that giving money to the poor is how you get to heaven.  The point was for someone to be saved, he has to be willing to make Jesus Lord over all his life.  Jesus tested this young man to see if he really wanted to make the worldly sacrifices necessary to be a Christian.  Unfortunately, he failed the test, and unless God did a work not recorded in Scripture, that young man might just be the one of those “richest men in hell” today.

Even though it is a fun and fast-paced song, Funderburk and Silvey are delivering an important message in “Poorest Man in Heaven”.  We all need to be willing to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. (Mark 8:34)