Here I am with Neil Enloe at the piano.
Here's how I began the Blackwoods article: "June 14, 1954. Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, one of the most popular shows in those early days of television. The winners that night were a group of young men who were the first gospel group ever to appear on nationwide television. When the Blackwood Brothers Quartet won that night, they were catapulted into national prominence.
"Just two weeks later on June 30 their rising star would come plummeting to the ground in a literal ball of flame.
"As the group prepared to do a concert in an airplane hangar with the Statesmen Quartet in Clanton, Ala., baritone R.W. Blackwood, who piloted the group’s plane, decided to do a test takeoff on the short runway before dark. Bass singer Bill Lyles joined him. In view of horrified onlookers, after pulling up from an aborted landing attempt, the plane stalled, came crashing to earth and was engulfed in flames. Both men were killed. Jake Hess of the Statesmen restrained lead singer James Blackwood from rushing into the fire."
Read the whole story here. Unfortunately the article I did on the Couriers is not online.
From the press release:
The Southern Gospel Music Association announced March 17 at Dollywood its Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees for 2009.
“We are honored to add these great musical servants to a very elite group of people who have made Southern Gospel music known around the world,” said Dr. Jim Goff, SGMA Induction Committee chairman. “Without their contributions it is safe to say our music would have reached fewer ears and affected fewer hearts and lives. Without them our industry would have been much smaller in its reach.”
The 2009 SGMA class of inductees includes: Neil Enloe, Ed Hill, Harold Lane, Don Light, Bill Lyles, Elizabeth "Lady" Mull, Billy Todd, and Charlie Waller.
The official induction ceremony will occur as part of the festivities of SGMA Day, Oct. 7, 2009.
Tidbits about this year’s honorees (Courtesy SGMA Hall of Fame):
Neil Enloe
Southern Gospel performer and songwriter Neil Enloe was destined to become one of the most influential through his more than 40 years with the Couriers based in Harrisburg, Penn. The group pioneered Southern gospel in the urban centers of the east and Canada The groups was one of the first regular groups on the “Gospel Singing Jubilee.” Over the course of his career, from one of the quartet’s founding members in 1957 to his retirement in 2000, Enloe sang lead, played piano, and arranged the majority of the group’s music. Along the way, the Couriers became one of the best-known and most respected groups in Southern Gospel. Several of his songs have become standards, most notably “Statue of Liberty,” the Dove Award winning song from 1976.
James William “Bill” Lyles 1920-1954
Bass vocalist Bill Lyles is considered one of the industry's greatest voices. He performed with the Hamilton County Quartet near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the famous Swanee River Boys. He rose to national prominence as the bass singer for the Blackwood Brothers Quartet reaching new heights of popularity starring on national television, charting in Billboard magazine, and recording exclusively on the RCA label. Lyles was killed when a plane piloted by fellow quartet member R.W. Blackwood crashed in Clanton, Ala. on June 30, 1954.
