Modern Hill Woman

Four Part Harmony

My sisters suggested that we take a trip to the Memphis Quartet Show. I was not excited, but agreed to go. A bunch of old men singing boring old songs didn’t sound like much fun. Boy, was I wrong.

I’d forgotten how exciting it was when a quartet came to your church to sing; men in suits and shiny shoes singing four-part harmony, extremely high notes and extremely low notes, with a big finish and a pianist that rivaled any honky-tonk piano player.

I’ve never seen so many old people get so excited. My sisters and I are all 60+ and we looked like youngsters in that crowd. The stadium was filled with energy, happiness, patriotism and diehard Southern Gospel fans. The whooping and hollering for certain groups revealed that there were gospel groupies in the crowd that follow them as they tour.

Until 1870 songbooks were written in a four-note system, known as “Sacred Harp” using only voices and no instruments. Ruebush/Kieffer Publishing printed songbooks with a seven-note scale that provided a completely different style of harmony and sound. James Vaughn took Ruebush/Kieffer’s singing class, started his own publishing company, and formed a traveling quartet to promote his songbook. In 1910 the first professional, all-male Southern Gospel Quartet in America hit the road. He opened music schools and recording studios and hired V.O. Stamps to run his Texas office. From this event would come the famous Stamps/Baxter Music Company. By the end of WW2, Stamps/Baxter sponsored 35 gospel quartets.

Southern Gospel’s popularity declined in the last 20 years as it branched out into Contemporary Christian, Praise and Worship, and Christian Rock, but it’s alive and well in the south. Churches are again having traveling Red Back Hymnal Singings. Members of older gospel quartets have retired from the road and young men are replacing them in this ministry and are starting to attract a younger crowd. Southern Gospel is born again.

Our favorite performers in Memphis were the Dove Brothers. I’d never heard of them, but my sisters were already fans. They were extremely entertaining, great harmonies, with a fantastic piano player, and lots of old-time songs. The lead singer, McCray Dove, at one time “got happy” and danced his way across the stage, ending up standing on the piano bench.

After the show, we spoke to him, and I told him that we were speculating about his preaching style, thinking he might do cartwheels behind the pulpit, since he’s also a pastor. His response was, “Sometimes God sends you honey. Sometimes he sends you dynamite.”