What price magnificence?
Well, one day after being crowned a “message board hater”, I suppose it’s time to risk becoming known as a “Melody Boys hater”, though just as I am no message board hater(some of my best friends are part of message boards), I am even less a Melody Boys hater(they’re not my friends, but I have met them, and they are fine people)!
The Meldoy Boys have been an active quartet since the 1940s(perhaps even earlier), and have always been recognized as one of the smoothest, best sounding quartets out there on the road, as they remain today.
Under the long leadership of Hall of Famer “Smilin’” Joe Roper, the Melody Boys established a well-earned reputation for excellence that they have maintained today under the able leadership of longtime bass singer Gerald Williams(a Hall of Famer himself as of this year).
The last few years have been difficult for many traditional gospel quartets, and the Melody Boys have been no exception. Members have come and gone quickly since the departure of quartet pros such as Mike Franklin and Jonathan Sawrie, and the people who have replaced them are from a different sort of cloth.
Mind you, the youngsters that have been brought into the Melody Boys have been quite talented(especially the recently departed Allen Sipe), but they’re youngsters nonetheless.
I bring this up because at one point(the 1950s), the Melody Boys were approached by James Blackwood to team up with his quartet, in the same manner that the Blackwood Brothers would team up with the Statesmen to essentially rule gospel music through the 1950s and 1960s. Such was the esteem the Melody Boys were held in back in “the day”.
It appears that now, however, the Melody Boys are more like their cousins in name, the Dixie Melody Boys, in that both quartets are better known for the hiring and development of younger talent than for any aspirations to reach the top of the industry. And that is by no means a bad thing whatsoever…what is really so important about being “on top” anyway, besides a few extra dollars in flats(maybe!)?
What’s really important in gospel singing ought to be the singing itself, pleasing(and blessing)the fans, and being true to one’s calling. By those standards, it can be argued that even today’s Melody Boys are right up there at the top of their field.
It’s those kinds of singers I enjoy seeing the most. Sure, Gold City, Signature Sound, Legacy Five, and groups like that are fine in their own way as well, but there’s no doubt that a happy and fulfilled quartet is a good quartet.
The Melody Boys are a good quartet.
Posted on Aug 26, 2006 - 09:10 PM | [0]
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