The greatest?
I’m back…and posting…I needed to take a few days to collect my thoughts, and do some other recharging that we all need from time to time.
Today, I intend to post something I’ve threatened to post for some time here…I’m one of those who like to challenge occasional widely held myths, that to me, deserve to be challenged in the interests of clarity and accuracy.
Keep in mind that the following is solely(but I don’t think exclusively)my own opinion…but since what I’m challenging here is a consensus opinion and not factual, I don’t feel I’m necessarily out of line in posting a counter-opinion.
It is held almost as an axiom to many longtime gospel quartet fans(a group of which I am assuredly a member) that the greatest gospel bass singer of all time, without question, was one James Stephen Wetherington, known to gospel music fans as “Big Chief”, the much-heralded bass singer of the famous Statesmen Quartet for some 23 years. I say otherwise, and I’ll make my case here.
Now I realize that in so doing, It’s as if I’m challenging the almost universal notion among many that the Statesmen were the greatest quartet of all time. (Well, they’re not…but that’s another post for another time.)
For now, on to “Big Chief”. There can be no doubt that he was among not only the greatest bass singers of all time, but among the greatest overall contributors to gospel music. As a singer, he had a fine voice, was a great stage personality, was hugely influential on not only his peers but on subesquent generations of singers, and as a songwriter, has a very impressive resume. He wrote over 200 songs, many of which are still being performed today. And as a businessman, he also was impressive, not only owning a piece of the Statesmen for years, but also a couple of publishing companies. His presence is all over the gospel music of the 1950s and 1960s.
And in one respect, he was quite UNDERrated. Hovie Lister for years claimed that Big Chief was the ultimate “quartet man”, always looking sharp and being well-prepared for any personal appearance or any recording session. Lister claimed that once Chief got a hold of an arrangement, he’d “learn his part and everyone else’s within a day”! And contrary to another legend surrounding the Statesmen, Chief had a LOT to do with that group’s famous arrangements, right along with longtime baritone Doy Ott. I don’t doubt any of that at all…clearly Chief was a superior musician with obvious innate musical skills. Those skills went a long way toward developing the legend that would later surround him.
So why would you even THINK, John, in light of all that, which you concede…that Chief ISN’T the greatest bass of all time?
Well, one reason I don’t think so is that he was kind of tough to listen to sometimes…like his longtime partner, lead singer Jake Hess, Chief chose to use his voice in an extremely mannered style, with exaggerated pronunciations on some words, and used those unique idiosyncracies repeatedly to the point that it almost bordered on self-parody. To say the least, that aspect of Chief’s singing was indeed an acquired taste.
As was his habit of under-enunciating, or even NON-enunciating lyrics(particularly on fast songs). His diction was almost intentionally sloppy often, to the point where it was hard to make out the words to what he was supposed to be singing. The outstanding example of this sloppinesss is on the famous Statesmen recording of “I Wanna Know” from their 1959 RCA live LP. If you didn’t know what the words were ahead of time, you’d never learn them by listening to Chief. And he was only barely more intelligible on the faster songs on the rest of the album. And incredibly, when asked about this all too common tendency of his, Chief’s response was essentially, “It’s not that important.” Say WHAT? You’re singing the world’s greatest message in song, and people can’t understand you…but it’s not that important?” Hello! You’d wonder if Chief just had a problem getting the words out clearly, or whether it mattered to him that much. In any case, many of Chief’s contemporaries(JD Sumner, Armond Morales, even London Parris and Jay Simmons)were far superior to him in that respect.
And a legend persists that Chief could sing much lower than he demonstrated on record, but Hovie Lister held him back from doing so. While I never met Chief, and I never heard what he might have done off the record, and I’m aware that many singers claim that that is true…I have trouble buying it. For one, why. with JD Sumner on the very same stage with the Statesmen on many a night, and as competitive as the gospel business was in those days, did Hovie not let him show his stuff if he had it? I think fans would have loved to see “bass-offs” between Sumner and the Chief, much like the ones between Sumner and London Parris? Fans loved those…and so did Sumner and Parris, who, despite their rivalry, were the best of friends. Even once in a while on record, one would thought Hovie would have really “turned him loose” just to show people he could , if nothing else. That never happened, to my knowledge. I have most of the records that the Statesmen made between 1957 and 1969, and I never heard Chief approach those depths once. And even on the songs where he did go unusually low(for him), his vocal quality was nowhere near Sumner’s, Parris’s, or even Bob Thacker’s!
Of course, bass singing is not about merely singing low, or having the lowest voice. Still, it’s clear to me that there is more legend than fact in the idea that Chief is the unquestionable greatest bass singer of all time.
Now, I don’t mean to minimize Chief’s obvious skills. As I said, he was one of the best innate musicians ever to sing bass in a gospel quartet(his only rival in that respect might be JD Sumner). And his skill at singing rhythm bass is peerless, no question about that.
So, John, you don’t think Big Chief was the best? All right, who was then?
And I have to say, I really don’t know. Beauty is often in the eyes and ears of the beholders…and although I have my own personal favorites, I’m not prepared to say that they were the best, or lowest, or best-looking…or anything of the sort!
As a longtime fan of gospel music, I am glad that such a talented man as Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington chose to lend his skills and abilities to it, and gospel music is better for what he gave it. And that goes for the music’s other “legends”, too.
Posted on Sep 25, 2006 - 09:34 PM | [1]
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November 8th, 2006 at 9:35 pm e
Hello, I think your arguement is flawed. I have to preface this with saying that I am Big Chief’s nephew- sure, I’m a bit partial. However, it doesn’t seem to me your arguement holds water. Your sole arguement against Chief being label as the greatest is that (essentially) he mumbled some of his lyrics. I challenge anyone to sing bass at the tempo the Statesman sang their songs, especially live, and sing every word clearly. Chief was the rhythmic foundation of the group, he was basically in the driver’s seat for (what Hovie called) their “spirituals.” Jake (then Jack), Rosie, Doy, and Hovie were the voices that essentially sang the lyrics, Chief was the one that gave them their signature sound. Hovie always recognized this, that is why the group disbanded for a long period of time after Chief’s passing. I think the reason Chief is generally recognized as the greatest is due to all that he brought to the gospel singing “table.” I don’t believe he could hit the low, low notes like J.D., but then J.D. didn’t have the vocal control that Chief did. For these reasons, I think Chief’s legend and legacy will remain in tact. Jim had rhythym, tone and an unmatched enthusiasm for singing bass that I doubt will ever be matched. As far as the Statesman being the best group, I think J.D. Sumner said it best on Gaither’s “Statesman, An American Classic” video..”Nobody brought more excitement to the stage that the Statesman Quartet did. I traveled with them for twelve years, the only way you could out sing them was to “giddy-up” earlier than they did.” I agree with J.D., I’ve never heard a better vocal group, period. When I think back to those days and those shows I went to as a kid, what is remarkable to me is that they didn’t have the amplification technology back then, their instruments were their voices. Those boys truly loved to sing.