Dave's Top Eight

1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars)
2. Sounds Like Sunday by Janet Paschal (reviewed 5/07) (5 Stars)
3. True To The Call by Kingdom Heirs (reviewed 3/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
4. Revival by Gold City (reviewed 10/06) (4 1/2 Stars)
5. Get Away Jordan by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (reviewed 2/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
6. Breakin' Chains by Three Bridges (reviewed 5/07) (4 1/2 Stars)
7. Big Sky by The Isaacs (reviewed 4/07)
8. Skywriting by Mercy's Well (reviewed 7/07)

Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.

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August 25, 2005

James Blackwood Biography

James Webre Blackwood
(1919 - 2002)
James Blackwood formed the Blackwood Brothers Quartet in the 1930s along with his two older brothers (Roy and Doyle) and a nephew (Roy's son, R. W.). The group turned heads over the next twenty years, but their career really began to skyrocket in 1954 when they won a competition on Arthur Godfrey’s television program and were signed to record with RCA Victor. Tragedy also struck the group in 1954 when two members (R. W. Blackwood and bass singer Bill Lyles) were killed in a plane crash in Clanton, AL. J. D. Sumner and Cecil Blackwood joined the group at that time and Wally Varner soon became their pianist.

James Blackwood and J. D. Sumner are noted for jointly designing the first bus for group touring purposes. They also started the National Quartet Convention, which grew to become the largest annual event in Southern Gospel music. Later Sumner and Blackwood purchased the Stamps Quartet and in time Sumner left the Blackwood Brothers to manage that group.

Following the formation of the Gospel Music Association in 1964, Blackwood served on the GMA board of directors. In 1971, Blackwood found himself at the center of an ethical scandal over methods the Blackwood Brothers used when selling GMA memberships at concerts. Ultimately, the Dove Awards were nullified for that year and Blackwood issued an apology to the industry. After the GMA expanded to cover all forms of Christian music in the 1980s, Blackwood frequently criticized the organization for promoting what he deemed to be worldly influences.

In the 1980s, Blackwood joined Hovie Lister, Jake Hess, J. D. Sumner, and Rosie Rozell to form the Masters V. The group was very popular on the concert circuit. Blackwood frequently performed “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” and “More And More Like Jesus Everyday,” going out into the audience and delighting them by ending the song in tenor territory. Blackwood was in his mid-60s at the time. After that group disbanded, he started the James Blackwood Quartet which included several former Blackwood Brothers members. Blackwood was also a frequent guest on the Gaither Homecoming videos in the 1990s until his death in 2002. He was inducted into the SGMA Hall Of Fame in 1997.

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posted by David Bruce Murray @ 9:31:00 PM


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