2011 Hall of Fame Inductees

Doris Akers

DORIS AKERS

Doris Akers (1923 – 1995)
Inducted in 2011

Benefactor: Friends Of The SGMA

Doris Akers, born in Brookfield, Missouri, on May 21, 1923, was one of ten children. She learned to play the piano by ear at age six and by age ten had composed her first song. By the time she was twelve, she had organized a five-piece band that played music of the 1930's.

When she was only 22 years of age, she moved to Los Angeles, where she encountered a thriving gospel music community. She met several outstanding musicians, such as Eugene Douglas Smallwood, who greatly influenced the gospel music career of this young African-American lady. A year later, Doris joined the Sallie Martin Singers as pianist and singer. Two years later, with Dorothy Vemell Simmons, she formed the Simmons Akers Singers and also launched a publishing firm called Akers Music House. Many artists, including the Stamps Baxter Quartet, Bill Gaither, Statesmen, and Mahalia Jackson, have recorded Akers’ songs. Countless other Southern Gospel Music groups still record and sing her music. Millions of church members have sung her songs, which have long been published in many hymnals.

She was a recording artist, music arranger, choir director, and songwriter and was awarded Gospel Music Composer of the Year for both 1960 and 1961. She was honored by the Smithsonian Institution, which labeled her songs and records National Treasures. Her most noted composition, without a doubt, is Sweet, Sweet Spirit. She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Until the end of her earthly life, Doris Akers believed that God wanted His children to pray. Her songs have circled the globe, aiding Christians of all nationalities in their worship of the heavenly Father. She passed away on July 26, 1995, in Minneapolis.

Doyle Blackwood

DOYLE BLACKWOOD

Doyle Blackwood (1911 – 1974)
Inducted in 2011

Benefactors:
Terry Blackwood – Friends Of The SGMA

Doyle Blackwood, born in 1911, was captivated early on by the familyís love of music. He learned to play guitar and mandolin and even practiced voice projection from the top of tree stumps near the family home in rural Choctaw County in Northern Mississippi. Doyle and his brother James worked diligently at the Clear Springs Church Singing School near their home. Their talent was noted and they quickly found themselves singing in a quartet with their teacher Vardaman Ray singing lead and Gene Catledge singing bass.

Soon, the Choctaw County Jubilee Singers became quite popular in their area of Mississippi. They sang in the area for about a year and Mr. Ray contributed a great deal to the professionalism that the young Blackwoods continued throughout their career. Doyle and James ventured out locally with the Choctaw County Singers. In 1934, Roy, the brother of Doyle and James, moved back to Choctaw County and, with that move, the Blackwood Brothers Quartet was formed.

The 23 year old Doyle sang bass and played the guitar. The Blackwood Brothers Quartet disbanded in late 1935 and Doyle began to teach singing schools and sang briefly with the Homeland Harmony Quartet. When the Blackwoods reunited in 1937, Doyle gave up his stint with the Homeland Harmony Quartet to rejoin his brothers. At this time, the Blackwoods were using only Doyleís guitar as the sole accompaniment for the group. V.O. Stamps felt that the group needed a pianist, so he assigned Joe Roper to be the first pianist for the quartet. The year was 1939. The Stamps organization had provided the Blackwoods with a pianist, an automobile, and a steady income of $18.50 per member each week. Doyle retired from the quartet in the late 40’s and managed the Blackwood Brothers Record Shop in Memphis. He later sang with The Memphians Quartet with his son, Terry, and Verle Pilant, Chalmers Walker and Jack Marshall.

Bob Brumley

BOB BRUMLEY

Bob Brumley (12/7/37-12/24/20)
Inducted in 2011

Benefactors:
The Bob Brumley Family:
Wife – Tudy: Daughter – Elaine & husband Brad – Son – Bobby & wife Jane – Daughter – Betsy & husband Kevin – Grandsons Trey, Caleb, Reagan & Colton

Robert “Bob” Bartlett Brumley was born December 7, 1937. He is one of the most respected men in Southern Gospel Music today. Known for his honesty, integrity, hard work and undying love for his father and mother – he had a strong devotion to Southern Gospel Music. He proudly carried the tradition of keeping alive the music of his father, the late Albert E. Brumley, the pre-eminent gospel songwriter of the 20th century with over 600 published songs.

Bob continued publishing shape note songbooks, something the companies of Albert E. Brumley & Sons/Hartford Music have done since the early 1900's. Bob gained control of the company in the early 1980's. The Gospel songs his dad wrote and the company owns have been recorded by virtually every music genre. In addition, major movies including "O Brother, Where Art Thou" and "The Apostle" used Brumley’s song, "I’ll Fly Away." Bob also promoted America’s largest summer gospel music event, “The Albert E. Brumley Memorial Gospel Sing," which was established by his father in 1969. This event has given many of the major artists a popular showplace to perform and showcase their music. In 1990, Bob co-founded Integrated Copyright Group in Nashville, TN. He was the recipient of the James D. Vaughan Impact Award in 2006. He served as president of the Southern Gospel Music Association 2007-2009 and subsequently served on its Board of Directors.

Roy Carter

ROY CARTER

Roy Carter (1926 – 1998)
Inducted in 2011

Benefactor: The Chuck Wagon Gang
Shaye-Julie-Stan-Jeremy-Joe-Harold

Roy Carter was born March 1, 1926 in Calumet, Oklahoma, one of nine children of Dave and Carrie Carter. While Roy was just a young boy, his father transformed the family’s fortunes from poor migrant laborers to Gospel Music singing legends by taking three of his oldest children, Ernest, Rosa, and Effie, and launching a career on KFYO radio in Lubbock, Texas.

A year later, the Carter Quartet had moved to WBAP in Fort Worth and became known across the nation and around the world as the Chuck Wagon Gang. They began their recording career with Columbia Records – the company they would record for over the next four decades. Few groups in Southern Gospel has made a greater impact on the industry or touched more people than has the Chuck Wagon Gang. In 1952, Roy took over the role as bass singer for the Chuck Wagon Gang. Roy’s arrival came at an important turning point in the group’s history. The Chucks had recently begun making personal appearances, after years of being almost exclusively a radio and recording quartet. With Dad Carter now past the age of sixty, the role of manager and emcee was quickly thrust upon Roy. It was a job that Roy would fill admirably for the next forty years. He led the Chuck Wagon Gang into the mainstream of Southern Gospel touring, all the while following his father’s stage advice to keep the sound simple and build on the tradition that had made the group popular in the first place. Roy also wrote several popular gospel songs; among them Iím Going to Rise Up and Meet Him in the Air, The Early Morning Hours and My Wonderful God. Roy retired from singing and touring in the early 1990's and passed away of a heart attack in 1998.

Kenny Gates

KENNY GATES

Jerry Kirksey

Opal Lester

“Little” Willie Wynn