Wendy Bagwell

Wendell Lee "Wendy" Bagwell was the founding member and leader of the Southern gospel music and comedy trio, Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters. Born in Chamblee, Georgia, on May 16, 1925, he joined with two young singers he met in church, Geraldine Terry (later known professionally as Jerri Morrison), and Georgia Jones (ultimately replaced by "Little Jan" Buckner, the wife of Bagwell's adopted nephew), to form the gospel trio. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=uqT-CJYcqskC&pg=PT41&dq=%22wendy+bagwell%22&sig=ACfU3U0lX2_Mw7qNqEE-Jyp6IF-Jtvj6Sg#PPT41,M1 W.K. McNeil, "Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music"] 21 - 22 (2005).] Bagwell was best-known for his comedy monologues, notably the million-selling "Here Come the Rattlesnakes" (also known as "The Rattlesnake Song"), an account of the trio's performance at a small church that engaged in snake handling. Bagwell died on June 13, 1996, and was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 1997. [ [http://www.sgma.org/inductee_bios/wendy_bagwell.htm Wendy Bagwell] (visited June 29, 2008).]

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