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The Statesmen Quartet (also known as Hovie Lister and The Statesmen Quartet) were an American southern gospel quartet founded in 1948 by Baptist Minister Hovie Lister. Along with the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen Quartet were considered the most successful and influential gospel quartet of the 1950s and 1960s and had a wide influence on artists during that time from the gospel, country, pop, and rock and roll genre. Along with hits spanning many decades, The Statesmen Quartet had many notable successes including being the first Gospel group to receive endorsement deals. Additionally, they made television commercials, appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, and were signed to RCA Victor before launching their own record label, Skylite Records, with The Blackwood Brothers. Formation (1948) The Statesmen Quartet was founded in 1948 in Atlanta, Georgia, by Hovie Lister, a Baptist minister and convention-style piano player. 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. The initial line-up included Bobby Strickland singing tenor, Mosie Lister singing lead, Bervin Kendrick singing baritone, and Gordon Hill singing bass. The group's name was lifted from the title of a newsletter published by Herman Talmadge, Governor of Georgia, with Talmadge's permission. The quartet made their debut on WCON in Atlanta in October, 1948. Broadcasting & recording (1948-1952) After having several radio programs in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, The Statesmen "became the first Southern gospel quartet to have a nationally syndicated TV program, Singing Time in Dixie, sponsored by Nabisco." The group recorded 36 songs for Capitol Records from 1949 to 1953. They switched to RCA Victor in 1954, recording more than 30 albums during their years with that company. In 1968, they began recording for Skylite. Though most fans were inclined to support the group in terms of religious inspiration and/or entertainment, a 1964 profile of the group in Billboard magazine noted, "The Statesmen ... are known as a complex organization to the music industry." In addition to the broadcasting and recording activities already mentioned, the article cited ownership of four gospel music publishing companies that "print and distribute song books and sheet music." Pinnacle years (1953-1957) In 1952, The Statesmen Quartet entered into a business partnership with The Blackwood Brothers Quartet. The "Stateswood" team would dominate Southern Gospel music for the next two decades. Lister's vision of the premiere lineup came to fruition by adding Jake Hess on lead in 1948, James "Big Chief" Wetherington as bass in 1949, Doy Ott as baritone in 1951, and finally with Denver Crumpler as tenor in 1953, with Lister on piano and master of ceremonies. During the next years, The Statesmen Quartet achieved fame as one of the premiere groups of both Southern gospel and quartet music. With this lineup, The Statesmen began recording for RCA Victor and began starring in the Nabisco Hour national TV show as mentioned above. 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 would have great influence on early rock and roll artists, particularly on Jerry Lee Lewis, who was a fan of gospel music and the Statesmen. On July 4, 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 exerted a powerful influence on young Elvis, who idolized and imitated Jake Hess' vocal styling and Wetherington's movements and gyrations on stage. 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", Hess recalls Presley attending Statesmen concerts and being invited up onstage to sing lead in his place on a couple of handpicked numbers. Phillip Goff, in The Blackwell Companion to Religion in America, provided a description of how The Statesmen began one live appearance. "Greeted by thunderous applause, the announcer approaches the microphone: "You're listening to the original Wally Fowler All Night Singing, November the sixth, right here in Nashville, Tennessee, nineteen hundred fifty-nine. This is the eleventh anniversary and the greatest crowd that's ever assembled for any program in the Ryman Auditorium is here tonight for the all night sing." Goff's description related but one aspect of The Statesmen's showmanship. Francis Edward Abernathy wrote about lasting changes that the group introduced to the world of gospel quartets: The Statesmen Quartet added flourishes which entertained new audiences—exuberant singing, arm waving, hand clapping, and electrifying performances. This was alien behavior for traditional convention quartets. But the new behavior attracted interest. The Statesmen became so popular that subsequent gospel quartets imitated their style. Rosie Rozell era (1958-1973) In 1957, Crumpler died after seeking medical attention for what was at the time diagnosed as a heart condition, but was revealed to be diabetic shock. Former tenor Cat Freeman came back briefly, but was replaced in 1958 by former Oklahoma police officer Roland "Rosie" Rozell. The Rozell-Hess-Ott-Wetherington lineup recorded such classics as "Faith Unlocks The Door" and Rozell's signature songs "Oh What A Savior" and "There's Room at the Cross," both songs becoming gospel music mainstays for decades after. In 1963, Hess left The Statesmen to form his own quartet, Jake Hess and The Imperials. Lister recruited Jack Toney to replace Hess. Before long, Toney's powerful voice helped The Statesmen to press on and continue with their success. Another setback occurred when Wetherington died suddenly of early heart disease on October 3, 1973, while attending the National Quartet Convention in Nashville. It was around this time that the group was losing stability on its own and more changes to the line-up were inevitable. Later years (1974-2001) 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, Biney English and Rick Fair; and bass singers Ray Burdett, Tommy Thompson, 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 Wetherington's death when Lister brought back Rozell, He.... Discover the John Sowers Bob Goff popular books. Find the top 100 most popular John Sowers Bob Goff books.