Gospel Quartet Radio Performances

Since the beginning, Renfro Valley’s cast often experimented with different artist collaborations, sometimes necessitated by Lair’s song requests and sometimes just for artistic enjoyment. One such manifestation of this was in the formation of gospel quartets. With a cast made up of numerous fine singers, it is only natural that over the course of time various aggregations of such singers got together and sang, and sometimes they sang quartets. On many of Berea College ’s Renfro Valley radio recordings, such groups would be referred to as simply “the quartet,” and they may have sung anything from gospel to sentimental songs to barbershop tunes.

Occasionally, however, there emerged staff quartets who primarily focused their repertoire on gospel songs and gained considerable popularity specifically for their performance of such material. It is these quartets on which I focused part of my research, which I limited to pre-1965 Renfro Valley. During this time two quartets existed that deserve mention: the Rusty Gate Quartet and the Gloryland Quartet. One quartet active during this time that I did not heavily research was the Memory Men Quartet. Their repertoire was weighted more with sentimental, barbershop-style songs and not gospel songs. As the Rusty Gate Quartet and the Gloryland Quartet were both active only between 1940 and 1950, the subheading of this section reflects that.  

The Rusty Gate quartet was a Renfro Valley radio presence during the period 1944-1948. Consisting of various staff performers, their repertoire drew heavily from spirituals and classic black gospel songs. Their performing style reflected the famous jubilee quartets of the 1930s and 40s. Original personnel included Glenn Pennington, Jerry Behrens, and the Turner Brothers (Red and Lige). Others over time included Wade Baker, Carroll "Shorty" Bradford, Bob Simmons, and Troy Gibbs. With performances that were tight and polished, the group at its prime were heard often on both the Barn Dance and Gatherin'. Particular highlights were Behrens's guitar work and Pennington's skillful bass singing.

The Gloryland Quartet was heard at Renfro Valley for only about a year, 1948-1949. The group was made up of singing duo, Shug and Ray Mulkey, fiddler, Shorty Sheehan, and comedian, Manuel "Old Joe" Clark. In the quartet, Ray and Shug respectively sang lead and tenor while Sheehan and Clark handled baritone and bass.

Broadcast recordings and a repertoire list suggest that in part, they continued the Rusty Gate's emphases on spirituals. However, they also followed other country radio quartets in covering Hank Williams songs such as "I'll Have a New Life," "Lord Lead Me On," "I'll Fly Away," "After the Sunrise," and Bill Monroe's arrangement of "Drifting Too Far From the Shore."