Southern Gospel with the Rangers, Blue Ridge Quartet, Foggy River Boys

Southern gospel music is a periodic enthusiasm of mine, one that has not been in evidence here for a number of years. Today we have a Vocalion reissue of some American Decca sides that capture three popular, although less celebrated gospel groups of the mid-century period – the Rangers and Blue Ridge Quartets and the Foggy River Boys.

Rangers Quartet

The Rangers - Denver Crumpler (top), Vernon
Hyles, Arnold Hyles, Walter Leverette

The Rangers are the earliest, with three New York City recordings dating from September 1939, its sole Decca date, which yielded 12 masters. Originally from Texas and named the Texas Rangers, the quartet was at the time of the session based at either WHAS radio in Louisville, Kentucky or WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Members at the time were tenor Denver Crumpler, baritone and guitarist Vernon Hyles, baritone Walter Leverett and bass Arnold Hyles, all of whom were in the group for well over a decade. All became well known, especially Crumpler, who moved to the famous Statesmen Quartet in 1953, and Arnold Hyles, whose powerful bass voice is perhaps the most notable feature of these records.

Blue Ridge Quartet

Ed Sprouse, Kenny Gates, Elmo Fagg
of the Blue Ridge Quartet

The Blue Ridge Quartet was originally the Stamps Blue Ridge Quartet from Raleigh, North Carolina, moving in the late 40s to Burlington and then Spartanburg, North Carolina, where they were heard on WSPA. Decca invited the group to New York to record four songs in March 1950, three of which are heard here.

At the time, the quartet comprised either tenor Clarence Turbyfill or Ed Sprouse, lead Elmo Fagg, baritone Everett Payne, bass Burl Strevel and pianist Kenny Gates.

Foggy River Boys

The Foggy River Boys - Back: Warren Holmes,
Charlie Hutton, Bill Matthews.
Front: Bill Hedrick, Monty Matthews

The final group is the Foggy River Boys, who are related to the Jordanaires, one of the best known gospel groups because of its extensive work with Elvis Presley. According to the indispensable (although not infallible) Southern Gospel History website, around 1950 the Jordanaires began using the Foggy River Boys name when making secular recordings. By 1953, they had resumed using the Jordanaires name, and at that time brothers Bill and Monty Matthews, two founding members of the Jordanaires, assumed the Foggy River identity.

The Matthews version of the Foggy River Boys was associated with Red Foley, appearing on both the radio and television versions of his Ozark Jubilee program in 1955 and thereafter. The group had three Decca sessions, the earliest likely in 1954, and then April and December 1955 dates, each of which yielded one single. This LP contains four of the six sides made for that label. Group members at about that time were likely tenor Bill Matthews, tenor Rosie Rozell (later of the Statesmen), lead Charlie Hutton, baritone Monty Matthews, bass Warren Holmes and pianist Bill Hedrick.

As you listen to the three groups, you probably will notice a stylistic transformation from the relatively straightforward Rangers to the extroverted Foggy River Boys, who were strongly influenced both by the showmanship of the Blackwood Brothers and Statesmen, and particularly by the innovations of black gospel groups, producing a style sometimes called “gospel boogie.” The font of this style is the famous song of that name as recorded in 1947 by the Homeland Harmony Quartet, available via my singles blog.

The sound is good, if you make allowances for the reverb that the transfer engineer has applied enthusiastically throughout the program.

I should mention that all of these groups recorded for other labels as well as Decca – some of them prolifically.