2005

SG History 101 - The Lewis Family

What we’ve come to know as southern gospel music encompasses many forms and styles. And nowhere historically is that more evident than in the case of the famous Lewis Family from Lincolnton, GA… for 54 years, one of the most acclaimed gospel groups that have ever existed.

The distinctive musical feature of the Lewis Family has always been their bluegrass base. In fact, they have won wide acclaim on both the bluegrass and the gospel circuits.

The Lewis Family story begins with the family patriarch, James Roy Lewis, Sr., a native of South Carolina born September 22, 1905, whose family settled down in Lincoln County, GA by the 1920s. His family (as one could imagine) was quite musical, and like many young men in the South in those days, found the love of his life quite early. In 1925, he eloped with another musically inclined South Carolinian, Pauline Holloway, and together, they were husband and wife for the next 77 years!

In that time, the Lewises had eight children: Miggie, Wallace, Esley, Mosley, Talmadge, Polly, Janis, and Roy, Jr. aka “Little Roy”. Not surprisingly, there was music at all times in the Lewis household. Wallace learned the guitar at 12, and Little Roy took up the banjo at the tender age of six. When he was eight, Little Roy won a local talent contest, singing and playing the five-string banjo. Little Roy grew up being influenced musically by Earl Scruggs and Don Reno, and through the years has become known as one of the finest banjo pickers in the country. To this day, Little Roy’s exciting banjo playing and seemingly unquenchable enthusiasm in playing and singing have made him one of the most beloved onstage personalitites in gospel music.

Finally, after much persuasion by friends and neighbors, the Lewises formed a musical group. At first they were known as the Lewis Brothers, made up of Talmadge, Esley, Wallace, “Pop”, and occasionally Little Roy. The brothers played country songs and fiddle tunes, and performed at square dances as well. Then, Esley left for the service, and the girls began to join in…and the group began to integrate gospel songs into their repertiore. In 1951, they were invited to perform at a gospel program for Woodmen of the World in Thomson, GA, and from that day they have been known as the Lewis Family and have performed gospel music ever
since.

The Lewis Family was influenced by such artists as the Chuck Wagon Gang, Martha Carson, Bill Monroe, and the Louvin Brothers…and it is a tribute to their innate musicianship that they have been able to take such diverse influences and mold them into such an engaging and compelling style of their own.

Their first records were in the early 1950s for the Hollywood label. They then made a few recordings for Sullivan, then spent 15 years recording for the famous Starday label, owned by the famous “Pappy” Daily, the label that also spawned the career of country music legend George Jones. By 1969, the Lewis Family had moved to Canaan Records, then to Riversong in the 1980s before moving to the Daywind label, where they record to this day.

The Lewis Family was also one of the first gospel groups to get a regular television show. In April 1954, they began a weekly program on WJBF-TV in Augusta, Georgia, that ran for a record 38 years before the group’s travel schedule made it impossible to continue regular weekly television. At one point, the show was syndicated in the Southeast, and 25 other stations also carried it. To this day, the group still tapes a Christmas TV show for WJBF every year.

The Lewis Family began working the gospel circuit in the 1950s and 1960s with artists like the Florida Boys, the Sunshine Boys, and the Happy Goodman Family. It was the Goodmans that helped give the Lewis Family their big break. After one concert at a Baptist church in Georgia, Rusty Goodman recommended the Lewis Family to famous gospel promoter Wally Fowler, who got them on one of his All-Night Sings in Augusta, where Little Roy remembers JD Sumner picking him up and standing him on a piano stool at that concert.

By 1960, the Lewis Family had bought a bus. A short while later, the family gave up their various day jobs to travel and sing full-time. By 1969, the Lewis Family was invited to play at their first bluegrass festival, and since then, they have been regulars on the bluegrass circuit as well as the gospel circuit.

The Lewis Family performs each year at the Albert Brumley Memorial Singing in Springdale, Arkansas, as well as fifty bluegrass festivals, school auditoriums, civic centers, fairs, and anywhere people wish to hear them. They average around 200 personal appearances each year, and have appeared all over the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico, and cruises to the Bahamas.

Talmadge Lewis toured with the group until 1972, when he left the road to manage his automobile business in Augusta. Although “Mom” Lewis traveled with the group through the years, she never appeared onstage. She was also slowed in her later years by surgery for brain tumors, and hip and knee replacements. Wallace Lewis left the road after playing in the group for many years due to Parkinson’s Disease. More recently, he has had more health problems. Wallace’s son Travis joined the group to play bass and also help with the bus driving, and stayed for 30 years, retiring in May of last year. He has been replaced in the group by a young man named Scot Yarbrough.

The one remaining current member of the group not heretofore discussed got his start playing banjo at the age of five. Sound familiar? Janis’ son Lewis Phillips was playing that banjo for a Lester Flatt LP recorded at Pilot Mountain, NC. The following year, he was featured on a Carol Burnett/Dolly Parton CBS-TV special. He began appearing regularly on the Lewis Family albums, and now plays banjo, guitar, and resonator banjo in the group, as well as vocals. Frequently Lewis does duets on the banjo with his uncle “Little Roy”, who, when he was still a child, often
pretended he was in his play times.

These days as always, Little Roy is the showpiece of the group. His banjo solos and comedy routines still keep him a crowd favorite wherever the group goes.

“Mom” Lewis finally passed away on Feb. 8, 2003…and “Pop” lived to be 98 before finally leaving this world on Mar. 23, 2004. “Pop” was always featured vocally on specialty songs, and he was best remembered on stage for his recitation on “Just One Rose Will Do”, always a favorite at Lewis Family appearances.

The generations of the Lewis Family are quite active in gospel music. Polly’s daughter Sheri developed into an exceptional singer and songwriter in her own right, and formed a successful group in the 1990s with her husband, Jeff Easter (himself a part of a well-known bluegrass gospel family). And Sheri’s children Madison and Morgan perform as well with her group. So the influence of the Lewis Family is likely to remain for generations to come.

Recently, the Lincoln County (GA) Historical Society has helped to build a permanent tribute to the Lewis Family there, and the Lewis Family Pavilion is now an oft-visited tourist attraction there.

The Lewis Family has received numerous awards over the years… six Dove Awards, numerous song and album of the year awards, and in 1992, were inducted into thee Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2000, “Pop” Lewis was inducted into the SGMA Hall of Fame, and this past February, the Lewis Family was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame.

The Lewis Family have proven that a talented group can be a success in both the gospel and the secular realm by remaining true to its’ identity and values, and the joy they’ve always exuded in their performances is the proof that they knew what they were doing was the right thing.

This article is a humble “rose” offered to the Lewis Family, for 54 years of great music, and a great witness!