Porter Wagoner and The Blackwood Brothers Quartet
Biographie Porter Wagoner and The Blackwood Brothers Quartet
Porter Wagoner
was one of the first showmen of Country Western music. His "hillbilly deluxe" suits designed by Nubie Cohn set a trend for flashy dressing and showmanship followed by Elvis Presley, Wagoner's protege Dolly Parton, and others. Wagoner was on the cutting edge of other things, as well, such as the "concept album," in which the songs of such an album are unified in a theme. Also, he was not afraid to reach across his genre of music and invite other performers onto the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, of which he was the master of ceremonies. However, he incurred the wrath of many when he brought "the godfather of Soul,"James Brown onto its stage 1979 despite having Brown sing "Your Cheatin' Heart" and another country song. Nevertheless, his action demonstrated his innovative personality as he went on to invite other artists such as R&B Joe Simon because he felt that the show was the star, not the individual performers, and there should be variety. In this way, he launched the careers of many performers.
The Blackwood Brothers Quartet
was formed in 1934 with brothers Roy, Doyle, James and Roy's son, R.W. In the late 50s Roy and Doyle retired from traveling and in 1954 R.W. was killed in a tragic airplane crash. However the quartet with James, as the quartets' leader and spokesman, established a new group of singers who would go on to take Gospel music to new heights as they traveled and sang in all fifty of the United States, every Canadian province as well as cities in Great Britain, Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, South Africa, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
In 2002, James Blackwood went to be with the Lord, but his sons, Jimmy (James Jr.) and Billy have continued the 80-year tradition. Recently Jimmy retired after singing for 49 years and his younger brother, Billy now carries on the quartet which has the distinction of being the best-known name in Gospel Music history!
