With Sand In Their Shoes, And A Song In Their Hearts…

...was how the Florida Boys Quartet was introduced for many, many years in concerts and on television.

In what is seen by some as a sad bit of news, that venerable quartet will finally retire from the road in a month or so.

It might be sad if you're a fan of the traditional southern gospel quartet...there aren't that many of those left these days, as the industry is in search of possible new directions to take the same basic sound and message. And if you're one of those people who have become used to the Florida Boys always being there, and night after night in concert seeing them give their loyal fans and whoever else might be in attendance a solid night of good gospel quartet singing.

Which they've done for some 60 years(!)...that's a generation before I was even alive!

But time marches on, and although the message the Florida Boys sang about is eternal...they(and we)are not.

So call it bittersweet, then...a touch of sadness on noting the retirement of one of the undoubtedly great names in gospel music...but finally a chance for legends like Les Beasley, Glen Allred, and Derrell Stewart(Hall of Famers all)to finally rest from their seemingly endless journeys across our land and taste home cooking on a regular basis for the first time since THEY were young men.

And that should be celebrated, I think.

After all, they go back to the days when quartets went from concert to concert in cars(some without AC, no doubt)...the days when artists would be glad to have a place to sing, period! Days when the whole mindset on why one sang gospel music professionally were so different from what they've become today. And they survived...which in the period of time they started in, was no small feat! For there were LOTS of groups vying for a relatively small number of venues to sing in...and just stay alive.

The Florida Boys survived that...and survived the era of "the Team"...an era when if your name wasn't Blackwood, or you weren't close friends of either James Blackwood or Hovie Lister, you had a tough time getting good bookings to sing at.

Along the way, they were television pioneers...with shows like the "Gospel SoundShp" and of course, their lasting legacy, "The Gospel Singing Jubilee", a show that STILL hasn't been surpassed today in terms of professionalism and quality production among gospel music television shows.

And they carried the quartet banner high, through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, when the gospel music business was going through a number of rocky transition periods. They never were at the very top of the ladder among gospel quartets in any of the decades they dang in, but they were always close enough to it to smell it.

And now, they're finally calling it a career. Why not? Now's as good a time to go as any, and they can certainly look back on their accomplishments in gospel music, and be proud.

But as you might expect in this day and age, there are those picky few out there who will not be satisfied by anything. There has been criticism of their lack of marketing their farewell in a fitting way...what does that mean? Haven't these fellas earned the right to retire on their own terms? They got where they got by doing things that way...and now, all of a sudden, they have to do a Gaitheresque "production" of their retirement? One would think that with all the misplaced but well-meaning sentiment attached to the farewells of the likes of Bob Barker, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Michael Jordan that it would be considered refreshing if someone just announced they're quitting, and just DID IT!

And we hear carping about how bad their website is..come on! One would think that after all they went through to get to where they got in gospel music, certainly a website would be rather low on their hierarchy of priorites.

They were a big part of a cherished remnant of gospel music history that should be celebrated for what they were, not carped at for what they're not!

So long, Florida Boys...you've earned your time to yourselves. Thanks for the songs...and the memories.

UPDATE: I read this morning that the Florida Boys will not only honor their booking commitments(but would you expect anything else?), but during many of those concerts, former group members will join them on stage. Also, Saturday night at this year's NQC will feature a final farewell appearance. So there WILL be something relatively "big" for those wishing for it.

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