SG History 101

Apr

2008

SG History 101 - George Younce

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Last month, I began a two-part salute to the two Hall of Fame singers that helped make the Cathedral Quartet one of the greatest groups to sing gospel music. Lead singer Glen Payne was the subject last month, and this month it will be their popular bass singer, George Younce.

For many fans of gospel music, particularly those who cut their teeth on it in the 1980s and 1990s, George Younce was one of the outstanding stage personalities in the genre’s history, and one of its’ finest all-time bass singers. But as we’ll see, Younce was a true “quartet man” whose roots go back to the gospel music of the 1940s and 1950s. And he did as much as any man during his long career to popularize that style of gospel music to a generation that was not that familiar with it.

Younce’s story begins with his birth on Feb. 22. 1930 near Lenoir, North Carolina…where he was born George Wilson Younce. His first name, of course, was taken from the first U.S. President, George Washington, whose birthday was still being celebrated on its’ actual day. His middle name, though, was not taken from President Woodrow Wilson, but from the name of the doctor who brought him into the world.

Gospel music fans who remember Younce’s captivating stage personality will not be surprised in the least that from his earliest years, he was quite the entertainer. As a boy, young George would sing and dance from the porch of a local storehouse and gather the pennies that passersby had thrown on the store’s porch to help himself to candy inside. And on Sundays after church, George would re-enact the morning’s sermon by imitating the pastor for his family, preaching from either a chair or the living room table.

Still, it wasn’t until his teens that George became interested in singing gospel music. When George was working at a furniture factory near his family’s home, he would get off work at the same time that a radio program featuring the Blue Ridge Quartet would come on. George quickly was taken with gospel quartet singing, and dreamed of the day when he might be able to sing with the Blue Ridge Quartet. Well, we all have our dreams, don’t we?

In those days in the South, there were plenty of Stamps-Baxter Schools of Music available for people wanting to learn how to sing gospel quartet music. George enrolled and learned well, well enough to sing for a local quartet known as the Spiritualaires by the time he was 17.

Spiritualaires, the first quartet George sang with, ca. 1947.
L-R: Stanley Wilson, Herb Miller, Ike Miller, George Younce, and Willis Abernathy

George initially sang the lead part with the Spiritualaires, but one day, when he realized that his voice had changed, the quartet allowed him to stay on as their bass singer, which was the part he would sing for the rest of his life.

George happily sang with the Spiritualaires until 1950, when his Uncle Sam called him to military duty. George’s older brother Eugene(known to gospel music fans years later as Brudge)was a paratrooper in World War II, and perhaps it was natural that George became a paratrooper as well, making nearly 30 jumps in the time he was in the Army, one of them over the atomic bomb test blast in Desert Rock, Nevada, which George in later years would describe as “…a pretty good fireworks show!”

Upon his return, George missed gospel singing. He had made friends with a youngster from the Beckley, West Virginia area, but unfortunately, that youngster lost his life in the service. When George went to visit the youngster’s grieving parents there, he met a gospel quartet whose bass singer had just left the group. George said he could sing bass, and after a brief audition, George was hired to sing bass for the Watchmen Quartet. This satisfied George’s desire to sing for a time.

In 1954, George heard about the plane crash that took the life of R.W. Blackwood and Bill Lyles of the famous Blackwood Brothers Quartet. He went to Memphis to audition for the bass singer opening. He was not hired, but the fact that he even had the nerve to try for the job indicated how far he’d come in a short time, and how much he’d grown as a singer.

1952, when George was with the Weatherford Quartet.
L-R: Earl Weatherford, Danny Koker, George Younce, Les Roberson, and Lily Fern Weatherford

Soon, though, another up-and-coming quartet originally from California, the Weatherford Quartet, had lost its’ bass singer, a fine young bass named Armond Morales, to the service, and George joined them about the time they had made their move to Fort Wayne, Indiana. George learned a great deal about singing under the direction of group leader Earl Weatherford. While he was with the Weatherford Quartet, George would meet a couple of men who would figure prominently in his life then, and in years to come, lead singer Jim Hamill and pianist/baritone Danny Koker.

In 1954, George heard about the plane crash that took the life of R.W. Blackwood and Bill Lyles of the famous Blackwood Brothers Quartet. He went to Memphis to audition for the bass singer opening. He was not hired, but the fact that he even had the nerve to try for the job indicated how far he’d come in a short time, and how much he’d grown as a singer.

When Morales returned home, George caught on for a short time with Connor Hall’s old Homeland Harmony Quartet. George learned even more about the rudiments of quartet singing from Hall, but soon left that quartet because he was not making enough money to live on with them.

Watchmen Quartet, ca. 1956. L-R: Jim Hamill, Talmadge Martin. George Younce, and Danny Koker

So it was back to West Virginia for George, and he would get Hamill and Koker to join him with the reformed Watchmen Quartet for a time. Then, the chance to make a dream come true came.

The Blue Ridge Quartet was in need of a bass singer in 1957. George had longed to sing with them since his teenage days at the furniture factory, listening to them on the radio. To his astonishment, George was hired to sing bass for his dream quartet.

Blue Ridge Quartet, ca. 1963.
L-R: Elmo Fagg, Kenny Gates, Ed Sprouse, George Younce, Bill Crowe

For most of the next six years, George would join Elmo Fagg, Ed Sprouse and Kenny Gates to make one of the finest, smoothest sounding quartets to sing gospel music. The quartet’s music was described as the “sweetest singing this side of heaven”, and certainly George did his part to make that so. Not only was George benefitting from the patient coaching and teaching he would get from manager and group leader Fagg, but he was also getting voice coaching on the side from “the Professor”, the great Lee Roy Abernathy, long recognized as one of the best vocal coaches for bass singers.

George Younce in 1963, in his final year with the Blue Ridge Quartet. Within a year he would move to Akron to join the Cathedral Quartet

George would take a brief leave of the Blue Ridge Quartet in 1958 to fill in with the Florida Boys for a short timr until Billy Todd would permanently assume that quartet’s bass singing job, but he would be a fixture with the Blue Ridge Quartet until 1964.

Over in Akron, Ohio, a trio featured in Rex Humbard’s large Cathedral of Tomorrow was looking for a bass singer to become a quartet. George’s old friend Danny Koker was their pianist, baritone, and arranger. The other members of the trio were alumni of the Weatherford Quartet, tenor Bobby Clark and lead Glen Payne. They knew enough about George to persuade Humbard to pursue George to sing bass with them.

George was successful with the Blue Ridge Quartet. He and his wife Clara had settled down in the Spartanburg, South Carolina area, and most singers would not have chosen to leave such a position to work for a church quartet.

But Humbard’s church, thanks to its’ television exposure, offered more than most churches would in terms of salary and exposure, plus George would not have to be on the road virtually every night. This reality coupled with the realization that George was a family man now, with children to raise and provide for, along with his existing friendships with Koker, Payne, and Clark tipped the scales in favor of George accepting Humbard’s offer.

So in November of 1964, the Cathedral Trio became the Cathedral Quartet. The new quartet caught on quickly in the gospel singing world, recording a pair of albums for HeartWarming Records featuring string and brass accompaniment, and even a live album from the Holy Land during its’ first five years of existence.

But after those first five years, the singers felt that Humbard was asking them to do too much church type work that they weren’t called to do…such as counseling, for example. Not that the men in the quartet were unwilling or unable to do that work, but they were primarily singers who felt called to do that to make their living.

So by 1969, the quartet decided to leave Humbard’s church and go on the road full-time as a traveling gospel quartet. They signed a recording contract with Canaan Records, and George began to write songs.

George was actually a pretty good songwriter. Songs such as “If I Could Just Hold Out” and “Then I Found Jesus” did well for the quartet. And in 1972, George’s song “Yesterday” became a hit for the Florida Boys as well as the Cathedrals. It is by far George’s best-known and best original song.

Eventually, the Cathedral Quartet overcame their initial lean years to become one of the most popular gospel quartets ever by the 1980s. By that time, George had started to make a habit of winning the Singing News Favorite Bass Singer award.

In all, the Cathedrals won 70 Singing News awards and several Dove awards as well. All this recognition was due to not only their inspired singing, but to George’s own stage presence as MC and spokesman for the group.

George took over MC duties for the group after Koker left the quartet in 1968, and his knack for entertaining, stemming from those childhood days on the storefront porch and the family living room after church, was instrumental in winning new fans for the quartet and keeping them. His onstage banter with Payne also charmed and blessed audiences for many years. To many, it was as much George’s personality as his fine singing voice that helped keep the Cathedrals at the top of the gospel singing world until their retirement in 1999.

For George was gifted with a most flexible voice. Like the great bass singers of his time and place, he was adept at almost any kind of song. His range allowed him to sing vocal lines reminiscent of quartet lead singers, but he was also quite able to drag bottom with the best of them.

In 1998, George was voted into the SGMA Hall of Fame. He was fortunate to be so recognized when he was still alive to experience it.

Sadly, in those later years, George battled serious health issues. A heart attack in 1987 almost ended his career. Fortunately, George recovered, thanks in large part to his joyous personality and his desire and zest for life. George always looked for the positive side of any situation. In the last years of his life, he spoke of being “packed and ready” for heaven.

After the retirement of the Cathedrals, George didn’t stop singing. He made limited appearances as a soloist and with his son-in-law, Ernie Haase, and Jake Hess in the Old Friends Quartet. Those appearances along with his appearances with the Gaither Homecoming cast kept George in contact with the gospel music fans whom he loved, and who loved him in return.

Finally, on April 11, 2005, George Younce passed away, and no doubt went immediately to a choice seat in the bass section of the heavenly choir.

George Younce spent 49 years being married to his wife Clara, and had four daughters(Gina, Dana, Lisa, and Tara)and a son, George Lane. He was also blessed with three grandchildren.

And to gospel music fans, he remains a beloved legend, one of the finest and most popular gospel singers of all time.

Reader Comments

To describe George on one word?"CLASS"!!!

Commented by Skullitor On 04/01/2008

I still love to listen to the Cathedrals. George was a real class act and is probably my favorite bass singer of all time. My dad sang bass in a local quartet when he was in his teens and a couple of times, he got to sing with the Cathedrals on stage. He looked up to George and so my brother and I grew up listening to the Cathedrals. What a blessing the Cathedrals have been to my family and I'm sure to many other people as well.

Commented by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 04/01/2008

George was in a class all his own. He was unique & loved by all. There will NEVER be another singer like George!

God is good all the time & all the time God is good.

Elaine Harcourt

Commented by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 04/05/2008

John, that's a nice tribute to a legend of our times. I loved and will always love the Cathedrals. My appreciation of the Cathedrals was bolstered by the spirit-filled lives of George Younce and Glen Payne which was most evident in how they lived their lives before us. These were authenic men and Christian leaders that brought honor to the gospel music profession. They enriched our lives and not only gave us wonderful memories but a body of work that will bless the church until Jesus returns.

Tony Partigianoni

http://www.ksgm.com/images/gospel.gif

Pure SGM & Quartet-Style Singing
http://www.ksgm.com

Commented by Tony On 04/06/2008

Good article...Thank you for enlightening me on
George Younce's life. I smiled from beginning to end as I recalled the many times I saw him perform on TV. :-} He surely was/is a blessing to those lives he touched through his singing and
'just being George'.
...Jackie M.

Commented by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 04/06/2008

There will never be another George. He could talk to an adult one minute, and a small child the next. And both would know that George loved them. He was the single most expressive singer that ever lived.

Commented by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 04/10/2008

I learned several things, from your article, that I didn't know previously about George Younce. He was obviously a fine Christian man, and all who knew him or were privileged to hear him sing were blessed, I'm sure. I had the privilege of seeing George sing with the Blue Ridge Quartet on several occasions, and again at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion with the Cathedrals Reunion. The fun that he and Glenn Payne had on stage will probably never be matched........and they still could put a blessing on you. Thanks for an excellent article, John.

Keep me safe ‘til the storm passes by

Commented by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 04/24/2008

Actually, George stayed with the Homeland Harmony a very short time and then returned to the Weatherfords. Finally, matters came to a head between the guys and Earl, THEN resulting in the Watchmen Quartet.

Commented by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) On 04/24/2008

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