The Chuck Wagon Gang

The Chuck Wagon Gang
The Chuck Wagon Gang

Chuck Wagon Gang performing for the Christian Music Hall of Fame awards
Background information
Origin Lubbock, Texas
United States
Genres Country
Bluegrass
Southern Gospel
Years active 1936-Present
Labels Columbia Records
Website www.thechuckwagongang.net
Members
Jeremy Stephens- Bass, Emcee, Guitar,
Manger/Owner Shaye Smith- Alto,
Julie Hudson-Soprano
Stan Hill- Tenor
Joe Rotten-Bass Guitar

The Chuck Wagon Gang is a multi-award–winning Southern Gospel musical group that was formed in 1936 by founding member D.P. (Dad) Carter with his son Jim(Ernest) and daughters Rose(Lola) and Anna(Effie).[1] The "Gang" signed with Columbia Records and remained with them for 39 years, At one point they were Columbia's number one selling group with excess of over 39 million in record sales.[2]

By the late 1970s, the group was still touring but felt a lack of support from the label they had recorded for during the previous forty-one years. Columbia had stopped servicing their songs to radio; thus airplay had become non-existent. Roy and Ruth Ellen Carter talked about it. They asked each other the question: “What can we do to rebuild what Daddy started?” That became the aim: not to make money, but to truly dedicate themselves to rebuilding the group to the strongest position it had enjoyed in years past. It was at this point starting in 1979 that they began recording for Copperfield Records for several years.

The Chuck Wagon Gang has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Grand Ole Opry. The group has been elected to the Gospel Music Association's Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian Institution's classic American recordings.[2]

Contents

Current members

Dave Emery

Dave Emery grew up in a musical family in Indiana. He first heard of the Chuck Wagon Gang, from listening to the Mull Singing Convention broadcast as a child. His father and brothers formed a quartet while his mother played the piano. During their travels they would often sing many of the old Chuck Wagon Gang songs that were found in the songbooks published by Mull.

Emery spent 20 years as a teacher in a Bible college and as a pastor while singing across the country. Later in the 1990s he joined the Blackwood Brothers in Branson, Missouri, and even followed them to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where they still perform. He left Tennessee and moved back to Branson to join the Branson Valley Quartet. During his time with that group, Ronnie Page invited Emery to join the Gang.

Emery and his wife Phyllis live in Nashville, Tennessee.[3]

Shaye Smith

Shaye Smith was born Nashville, TN and grew up in Baton Rouge, LA. She lived in Ft. Worth TX for eleven years, has lived in NC for the past five years. Shaye sings the alto for the Chuck Wagon Gang and is the granddaughter of the Gang's original alto, Anna Carter Gordon Davis and Howard Gordon, who was the group's guitarist for many years. She and husband Andy Smith and make their home in Hertford, NC. They have two sons, Ben and Noah.

Shaye holds two Bachelor's Degrees in Music (Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting) and she arranges many of the Gang's new songs in preparation for recordings. Shaye was involved in many musicals and operas in college as well as choral and theater projects, and so feels completely at home on stage.

Shaye joined her Uncle Roy and the Chuck Wagon Gang in 1993 as soprano. She sang with the Gang until the Wagon was parked in 1996. In 1999, she helped get the group back on the road, eventually moving to her current position of alto. Of all her musical experiences, singing with the Chuck Wagon Gang is what she enjoys most, especially since she has the opportunity to continue the legacy that her grandmother and family began over seventy-four years ago. Shaye says the most important decision she ever made was on August 15, 1983, when she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. "Becoming a Christian gave my love for music a purpose. I devoted my life to Jesus and dedicated my voice to singing Gospel Music. I can't imagine being involved in music in any other form or fashion. The Lord has truly blessed me."[3]

Julie Hudson

Julie Hudson was born and reared in Bedford, Indiana, and was graduated from Olivet Nazarene University. She obtained a degree in nursing in 1987. She has been an operating room nurse for 18 years.

Hudson moved to High Point, North Carolina, where she became a music minister at her church. She was a member of concert and a cappella choirs and played the flute.

She resides in High Point, North Carolina, with her husband John, to whom she has been married for 18 years, and their 16-year-old daughter Brittany.[3]

Stan Hill

Stan Hill was born and brought up in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hill makes the list of tenors for the Chuck Wagon Gang. His voice and blend have helped to maintain the standards first taught by Dad Carter.

In addition to singing with the Chuck Wagon Gang, Hill sings with his wife and performs with other local groups and theaters in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Hill has been married to his wife Kathy for 25 years, and they have three children: Chris, 22; Brad,16; Rebekah,15.[3]

Joe Rotten

Joe Rotton was born and raised in Union Springs, AL. All of his family including a daughter, son-in-law, and six 6 grandchildren still live in the area. In the mid 80’s he moved to Spartanburg, SC with his job at Bonnie Plant Farm. He is semi-retired from Bonnie Plants and continues to work for them during the spring planting season.

He grew up listening to Southern Gospel and singing in the choir at Macedonia Baptist Church. The main group he remembers hearing on the radio was The Chuck Wagon Gang. The first time he was able to see the Gang was in the mid-50’s at the Wally Fowler All-Nite Singings in Montgomery, AL. He attended many of these with his grandmother and uncle. Later in high school he picked up the guitar and played with the FFA band and other local groups for several years.

Joe continued to follow the Gang as a fan through the years. In the early 90’s Pat McKeehen was having back problems and Joe was asked to help Harold Timmons with the bus driving duties. Several years later, in 2004, the group relocated the headquarters from Ft. Worth, TX to Nashville, TN. It was then that Joe began driving to Nashville to again help drive the bus. Someone in the group mentioned it would be nice to have a bass player. Joe offered to learn and a few weeks later started playing with the gang.

Joe says, “This is like a dream come true to be playing with the group that I have been a fan of all my life.” “My only hobbies are The Chuck Wagon Gang and SEC football (in that order).”[3]

Original Members

D.P. (Dad) Carter- Tenor
Rose(Lola) Carter Karnes- Soprano
Anna(Effie) Carter Gordon- Alto
Jim(Ernest) Carter- Bass, Guitar

The Family Connection

Shaye Smith (Member 1994-2007, 2010–present)

Shaye Smith is the granddaughter of the Gang's original alto, Mrs. Anna (Carter) Davis. Shaye has two bachelor's degrees in music and taught choir at Kings Mountain High School, close to her home in Shelby, North Carolina for several years, till she rejoined the Gang in early 2010.

Shaye participated in musicals and operas while in college as well as choral and theater projects.

Former members

D.P. (Dad) Carter
Rose Carter Karnes
Anna (Carter) Gordon Davis
Jim Carter
Jim Waits
Haskel "Hi-Pockets" Mitchell
Roy Carter
Eddie Carter
Howard Gordon
Ronnie Crittenden
Pat McKeehan
Greg Gordon
Vickie Gordon (Owens)
Ronnie Page
Bettye Goodwin
Ruth Ellen Yates
Shirley Carter
Patricia Neighbors
Harold Timmons
Debby Trusty
Anita Saylor
Kathy Watson
Renee' Martin
Darrell Morris
Jim Wesson
Rick Karnes
Melissa Kemper
Ronnie Page
Allen Thompkins
Penny Greene
Kelly Jennings
Source 'CWG 70th Ann. CD Cover'

External links

References

  1. ^ "old-time country music cds, cassettes, videos, books". The Music Barn. http://www.themusicbarn.com/html/index.php?chuck_wagon_gang.html&main. Retrieved 2008-02-14. [dead link]The Start of the Carter Family
  2. ^ a b "The Renaissance Center - Home - News - Chuck Wagon Gang 2003". The Renaissance Center. http://www.rcenter.org/Home/News/Concerts/ChuckWagonGang.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-14. The Chuck Wagon Gang's Start
  3. ^ a b c d e "Welcome to The Chuck Wagon Gang - Official Website". The Chuck Wagon Gang Official Website. http://www.thechuckwagongang.net/. Retrieved 2008-02-14. Current Members



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music — Infobox Album | Name = The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Country Music Type = Compilation album Artist = various artists Released = 1981 Recorded = (all selections previously released) Genre = Country Length = Label = Smithsonian Collection… …   Wikipedia

  • Chuck McCann (Acteur) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir McCann et Chuck McCann. Chuck McCann est un acteur, réalisateur et producteur américain né le 2 septembre 1934 à Brooklyn, New York (États Unis). Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Chuck mccann (acteur) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir McCann et Chuck McCann. Chuck McCann est un acteur, réalisateur et producteur américain né le 2 septembre 1934 à Brooklyn, New York (États Unis). Sommaire 1 Biographie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Songs of the Century — ist eine Liste, die 2001 von der Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) erstellt und veröffentlicht wurde. Das Ziel der Liste war es, die musikalische Kultur der USA an den amerikanischen Schulen zu bewerben. Es wurden Hunderte von… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chuck McCann (acteur) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir McCann et Chuck McCann. Chuck McCann est un acteur, réalisateur et producteur américain né le 2 septembre 1934 à Brooklyn, New York (États Unis). Sommaire 1 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • The Cowboys — Infobox Film name = The Cowboys caption = 1972 movie poster director = Mark Rydell producer = Mark Rydell writer = Irving Ravetch Harriet Frank, Jr. based on the novel by William Dale Jennings starring = John Wayne Roscoe Lee Browne Bruce Dern… …   Wikipedia

  • List of The Nostalgia Critic episodes — The Nostalgia Critic is a Web review series hosted by Doug Walker. The series began in July 2007 on YouTube, but after having a large amount of his episodes removed from YouTube, those, along with new ones, started appearing in April 2008 on… …   Wikipedia

  • List of one-time The Simpsons characters — Further information: List of characters in The Simpsons and List of recurring characters in The Simpsons The following is a list of one time characters from the American animated television comedy series The Simpsons. Some of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Folklore of the United States — The folklore of the United States, or American folklore, is one of the folk traditions which has evolved on the North American continent since Europeans arrived in the 16th century. While it contains much in the way of Native American tradition,… …   Wikipedia

  • Columbia Records — This article is about the American record label active worldwide except in Japan. For the Columbia Records label which was a unit of EMI, see Columbia Graphophone Company. For the Columbia Records label in Japan, see Nippon Columbia. Columbia… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”