Whither greatness? My turn

A few posts back, I posed the above question to you all on an open thread.

I appreciate the responses I got...both here and privately. I realize that for some of you, this was a difficult question to answer..some of you may have felt that I was putting you "on the spot" by asking such a question. That was not my intention at all...I just wanted to know how you felt on this recurring question that is eventually asked of all fans of gospel music.

And I realize that approaching this question can blur the lines between an objective evaluation of a group's worth and just recounting which groups are mong one's favorites. It can be hard to evaluate what might be great and what may be merely what one likes a lot...and sometimes, as I stated, those lines can easily become blurred.

But I said that I would eventually weigh in with my own selections on this...and I'll do so here. But before I do, I want to explain the objective criteria I use to determine "greatness" in a gospel group...as opposed to just naming a list of my favorites....though there may even be a blurring in this list.

First of all, I feel the word "great" is often overused. "Great" doesn't mean "good" or even "very good". The term implies a level that is even above that of which we consider to be most accomplished...a level that, of necessity(if the term is to mean anything beyond hyperbole), is beyond merely highly accomplished or competent.

What, to me, makes a gospel group great? Here are my criteria.

1)ABILITY-Certainly a group that would have any pretensions of being great would demostrate a level of musical ability far beyond that of a merely "good" group.

2)LONGEVITY-To me, a truly great gospel group would not be one that only has a few recordings "under its belt"...a great group would be one that has demonstrated its' worth over a long period of time...the famous "test of time", as it were. This is why current groups, IMO, would not meet my standards in this area. It takes sufficient time and reflection on the work of a group to objectively determine any supposed greatness. It's quite possible that eventually, a current group might become known as a "great" group...but that takes sufficient time.

3)INFLUENCE-A great gospel group surely would be one that has made such an impact on their peers that many up and coming or would-be gospel groups would want to follow in that group's footsteps. Another way to put that is, just how many singers wanted to be gospel singers because of this group? If a group's impact on people who hear them is one in which subsequent artists want to "carry on" the vision or work of that group, then it's likely that that group has acheived a level beyond that of a mere good group.

4)RECOGNITION-Whether it be in terms of record sales, peer recognition, or industry recognition(awards, etc.), a great gospel group would demonstrate that their work was appreciated by a large number of people.

Having said all that, here are some gospel groups that achieved greatness, in my opinion. Note that in some cases, some of the above criteria is more evident than the rest of it. I would love to read your comments on my selections, and welcome discussions on any of them.



JOHN'S GREAT GOSPEL GROUPS

The Blackwood Brothers, The Blue Ridge Quartet, The Cathedral Quartet, The Chuck Wagon Gang, The Couriers, The Florida Boys, Gold City, The Harvesters, The Happy Goodmans, The Imperials, The Inspirations, The Kingsmen, The Lewis Family, The LeFevres, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Plainsmen, The Rebels Quartet, The Speer Family, JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, The Statesmen, and the Weatherford Quartet.

It's possible I may have left a few other deserving groups off my list, but I think that for the most part, the above gospel groups have risen to a level above the rest of their peers and are worthy of being termed truly "great" gospel groups

I welcome your comments.

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