My turn: The Couriers that never were
I noticed that my friend Daniel Mount isn't above appropriating other people's ideas into his own fine blog. If you read his latest post at his blog(southerngospelblog.com), you'll see he borrowed an idea based on another blogger's concept of listing the best all-time vocalists of various groups by part into a sort of "ultimate quartet". Daniel's twist on this idea is to list people that would have fit into a particular quartet and sounded good, but who were never actually in that group...kind of like "the X quartet that never was"...which is a fascinating concept as well.
Since I've not been shy of late in shamelessly borrowing concepts from Daniel, I'll do it again this time. I will list a prototypical version of a quartet myself, based on Daniel's criteria mostly, with a twist(you'll see it when you see my list).
The quartet I'm picking, not surprisingly, is the Couriers Quartet, a classic group I'm more familiar with than most. I will name a prototypical Couriers Quartet based on Daniel's criteria...mostly consisting of singers who never sang with the original Couriers, but who would best reproduce the sound and feeling of the actual group itself. The list is first, with an explanation of my selections below.
Tenor-Larry Ford
Lead-Neil Enloe
Baritone-Mark Trammell
Bass-Tim Beitzel
The tenor is a relatively easy choice. Duane Nicholson was characterized by a big, full, semi-operatic tenor sound. His voice was the focal point of the original Couriers' sound. The only tenors I could think of that are even capable of duplicating the effect Duane's singing and presence on audiences are Larry Ford and Bill Shaw. Ford, who sang with the Dixie Echoes and the James Blackwood Quartet, is the best choice of the two, for he is also a preacher(like Duane), and has a similar vocal style to Duane in his heyday. Plus, he is a longtime friend of the Couriers. Thus, Larry Ford is my tenor in this revamped Couriers Quartet.
Now, I know my lead is a ringer...since Neil actually WAS the lead for the Couriers from the time they left Bible college up to when they retired(both times). But try as I may, I could not think of anyone who could recreate Neil in voice quality or sound, and who would fit the concept of the Couriers as he could. And so, since it's my list, I'm going to put Neil back in his own quartet where he belongs. Surely Neil's most versatile voice, plus his relaxed stage manner and his songwriting, make him a difficult person to replace in ANY group I could come up with.
On the baritone, I'm putting a man who considers Neil to be one of his heroes(as do I)...a man who can blend with a quartet but could also take a strong lead in a song, much like Couriers Quartet baritones Don Baldwin and Phil Enloe, Mark Trammell. He too, exemplifies a "Courier" attitude in his work, and is the ultimate quartet men.
On Dave Kyllonen's bass part, I'm going with another ringer, the bass/baritone in the current Couriers, Tim Beitzel. When the current group adds a fourth part, Tim moves down to the bass part...where he does a creditable, Kyllonen-like job. And since Kyllonen''s sermons became integral parts of Courier concerts from about 1966 on, Beitzel, another ordained minister, could deliver a fine closing sermon to fittingly close a classic Couriers' concert.
Of course, there never will be a lineup to fully replace the real Couriers, and I suspect that Daniel will have the same problem when trying to create his new versions of his classic groups.
Posted on Sep 12, 2007 - 10:48 PM | [0]
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