Since I happen to be off work today, I want to wish all you readers a Happy 4th of July weekend.  Be sure to thank God for the blessings of liberty He has given this great nation.

Via Daniel Mount, the Mark Trammell Trio has announced Joel Wood as their new tenor singer.  Joel previously sang with the Daybreak Quartet.  I’m not familiar with him, so I will be very interested to hear what Joel brings to the table, so to speak.  Listening to the clips on the Daybreak website, I’d have to agree with Daniel that he sounds similar to Keith Waggoner, he has really nice quality in his voice.  Congratulations to Joel and to the Mark Trammell Trio.

With yesterday marking the 55th anniversary of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of RW Blackwood and Bill Lyles, I thought it would appropriate to share a video featuring these men.  Thanks Dean for sharing this classic with us!

This song comes from the 1970 LP Gospel’s Alive And Well featuring Jim Murray, Terry Blackwood, Roger Wiles, Armond Morales, and Joe Moscheo.  I’ve long considered this to be the best live album I’ve ever heard (along with the Oaks Performance and the Statesmen On Stage), and quite possibly one of the greatest SG albums ever recorded.  This particular song was actually a secular song written in 1955 that had by this time become an “inspirational” classic.  The Imperials arrangement is spectacular, with complex harmonies and several sections within the song where the instruments drop out for an acappella section, then coming back in with accompaniment.  The difficulty level is incredibly high to do something like that, and not a lot of groups will tackle that kind of challenge.  Still, it’s a note perfect rendition that was very deservingly inclueded a few years ago in the Hall of Fame 2 CD set.  Pull out the LP or even the CD set and listen to one of the most impressive, smooth performances you’ll ever hear.

OK, so that doesn’t quite have the ring to it that “King’s Gold” does, but regardless, a nice little morsel buried in L5’s latest e-newsletter is that Legacy 5, Greater Vision, and the Booth Brothers have recorded an album of SG classics (with a couple of new tunes) entitled Jubilee.  Of course the song with the same name is included, as are classics like “Life Will Be Sweeter Someday” and “You Better Hurry Up” along with a new tune called “Someone Who Cares For You.”  The newsletter states that this was a joint idea from Scott Fowler, Gerald Wolfe, and Michael Booth.  A formal release announcement is expected in the next few weeks.  If KingsGold was any indication, this should be an incredibly successful release.  I for one am anxious to hear it!

According to a press release sent to the Singing News, Randy Crawford has been named the new baritone for Brian Free & Assurance.  Crawford was with BFA in the 90’s and recorded two albums, A Glimpse Of Gold and Doing This For You as the group’s lead singer.  It’s intriguing that a former lead singer is brought back as the baritone, though it has worked out extremely well for the Kingsmen and Bryan Hutson.  I’m sure this will be similarly successful.  I’ll be interested in hearing how Randy sounds as the group’s baritone under Brian and Bill Shivers.  One thing is for sure, the harmony can be stratospherically high with Crawford, Shivers, and Free.  Congratulations to Randy and BF&A.

According to the Singing News, former Florida Boys pianist Derrell Stewart was transported to the hospital in Florida West Florida Hospital (how’s that, Daniel? <g>) via ambulance.  Stewart has had several blackout episodes and is currently undergoing testing in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.  Stewart is another in an increasingly smaller list of SG legends that are left.  Please pray for Derrell and his family.

The press release went out last week that the Lefevre Quartet was changing their name to Priority, due to the passing of Eva Mae Lefevre and out of respect for the family name.  While I definitely respect the family’s wishes, and if that is the way they want to pay tribute to the matriarch of the family, that’s certainly a fitting tribute, but I have to think it puts Priority in a bit of a bind.  The group was starting to really hit its stride with their debut Canaan release, and now they have to almost start over in establishing their identity.  Actually, I think the official group name was still the Mike Lefevre Quartet, as that is what is on the cover of Nothin’ But Good, and Mike’s recognizable name from his Gold City and Assurance days provided them with some credibility up front.  Now, they’ll have to establish that credibility as Priority.    This will certainly be a challenge, but one that can be met, as these guys are good no matter what you call them.  Best wishes to Priority as they move forward.  In case you haven’t seen it, I’ll copy the PR text below.

In a bold move, the LeFevre Quartet announced their decision to retire the family name with the recent passing of matriarch Eva Mae LeFevre. The group will be known as “Priority”.

A partnership, forged barely four years ago, established a sound and set in motion a number of unprecedented milestones. Within months of forming, fans voted them Horizon Group of the Year at the 2006 Singing News Fan Awards because of what they heard and saw in them. The following year came Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award. Next came television appearances on Dr. Charles Stanley’s popular In Touch program, a 2009 Dove Award nomination and recordings along the way that simply raised the bar for an entire genre.

This move comes in response to a request by some LeFevre family members to discontinue the name when Eva Mae was no longer able to travel. In a statement, Priority (Stacy Bragg, Gus Gaches, Mike LeFevre, and David Staton) said:

“We were able to honor a name that had such an influence on gospel music in America. On nearly every recording we’ve done, we re-recorded a classic LeFevre tune as a sort of tribute.”

Recognizing that now is the time for them to impact this generation of gospel music fans and the twenty-first century church, the group hopes to solidly establish their identity as “Priority”. The name is a reflection of who they are, what they’re about, why they do what they do, where they’re headed, and how they’ve gotten this far.

“Life is about relationships and priorities. God has blessed so much, and certainly not because we’ve done anything to deserve or earn His favor. So we want our relationships to take priority—with Him, our families, our churches, and each other.”

There are no personnel changes and no changes in musical style, just a new name.  The group will still travel with a live band consisting of Jordan LeFevre and Trey Ivey.  Audiences will continue to hear the trademark harmony and talented musicians.

I wanted to let you know that the funeral service for Eva Mae LeFevre is available for viewing (hat tip CS) on Mount Paran Church of God’s website.  I had trouble getting it to load at work but maybe you will have better luck!  I’m going to give it a try when I get home this afternoon.  You will see Eva Mae’s photo in the upper right hand corner of the main screen.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Wes will be back next week and it will be my turn for some fun in the sun.

Here is a clip of the recently announced new tenor for Gold City, Chris Cooper, sharing testimony and song.  I’ve never had the chance to hear him until now but I remember Shane Dunlap speaking highly of him when he hired him to sing with N’Harmony several years ago.  According to the information by the uploader, this clip is from December 2008 when he was with The Melodyaires.