Life(and L5)goes on

I must take issue with my good friend Daniel Mount on this one.

In his latest blog posting, Daniel laments(to a degree, anyway)the hiring to Tim Parton as the new pianist for Legacy Five, replacing Roger Bennett, who recently passed away after a prolonged battle with health issues.

Daniel concedes that such a hiring was inevitable, yet seems to question whether Parton is an adequate replacement for Bennett at this time....he also appears to be pining at the term "permanent replacement", as if this were somehow an inappropriate use of the term.

Well, I'll tell you where I disagree with Daniel.

First and foremost, I don't think the members of Legacy Five for a moment are even pretending that Parton will fully take Bennett's place in the group. He is not being hired to manage the group, or be its' master of ceremonies on stage, or its' representative in the world of gospel music. He is simply being hired to play piano for them on stage....that's all.

And at that, Parton is a most qualified person to assume that capacity. His previous experience in gospel music with groups like the Speer Family and as a renowned session musician demonstrate beyond a shadow of any reasonable doubt that he is more than competent to handle the pianist duties for a top tier gospel quartet such as Legacy Five.

He also has top-notch composing and arranging skills as well, which will come in handy as far as keeping the readily identifiable sound of Legacy Five at its' customary high level.

As far as "replacing" Bennett entirely, no one will be able to do that with Legacy Five, and Parton surely is not even pretending he will...nor are the members of Legacy Five doing so.

Bennett was the heart and soul of Legacy Five...he was the group's driving force, and its' major onstage personality.
What he gave to Legacy Five in that respect can't and won't be "replaced" by anyone. Clearly, a chapter in the history of Legacy Five has ended here, and a new one is beginning.

And that, perhaps, is the "legacy" Bennett would like to leave with his group.

Legacy Five is a fine quartet...among the best in gospel music today. They SHOULD go on, and they should continue to make good gospel quartet music. I'm sure Bennett would want nothing less from heaven from his former comrades in song.

And I'm also sure(though I never got the chance to ask him myself)that Bennett would want someone with Parton's demonstrated ability to take his place on stage with his group.

Changes happen with gospel groups. People depart and join them all the time. The Blackwood Brothers lost two of their key members in a tragic plane crash in 1954, and the shock from that event almost made group leader James Blackwood fold the quartet, since the losses of RW Blackwood and Bill Lyles were crucial to the quartet's image and personality, not to mention their sound.

But Blackwood, encouraged by his friends and colleagues, persevered...and hired his nephew Cecil to sing RW's part, and JD Sumner to sing Lyles', and the quartet not only continued on, but became even more popular than it ever was!

And speaking of Sumner, who almost singlehandedly made the Stamps Quartet a major force in gospel music again after 20 years on the gospel circuit's back burner, when the venerable bass singer passed away in 1998, it was said that that was the end of the Stamps Quartet...that no one could replace him.

But today, the Stamps are back, thanks in part to the leadership of Sumner's son-in-law, Ed Enoch...and that time honored gospel music name is alive and well on the gospel trail.

For they were able to get someone else to sing the bass part, and create a new identity for themselves...just as the Blackwoods were able to create a new identity in the late 1950s with new singers on the baritone and bass parts(and a new, improved stage presence), and their "legacy" continued.

IMO, Parton will help Legacy Five maintain their high standards....and we'll see if the other members of the group will be able to create a new identity for themselves. I think Bennett would want it that way.

And, who knows what the future might hold for Legacy Five? One Person does, and since He ain't tellin' yet, I'm prepared to look forward to the future to find out. Daniel, I hope you are, too.

Tim Parton will do a fine job for Legacy Five....don't worry about that! As for the rest, stay tuned...

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