by Pat Prince, Goldmine editor

In 2002 Gary Freiberg founded Vinyl Record Day, a nationally established day to celebrate as the organizations Mission Statement says:”The Preservation of the Cultural Influence, the Recordings and the Cover Art of the Vinyl Record” and to have August 12th as a day of Family, Friends and Music. The choice of the date, August 12, is significant. Reportedly, it is the day Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.

So far, Vinyl Record Day has not gained the recognition that, say, Record Store Day has. But it is gaining momentum. Getting national publicity without a budget or a paid staff can be tough. To solve this difficulty Freiberg has written a proposal for a series of First Class postal stamps that commemorate the historical importance of the recordings on vinyl records. The Vinyl Record Stamp proposal has been accepted by the U.S. Postal System, the proposal’s current status is ‘Under Consideration,’ which, according to Freiberg, is a “notable big step toward issuance according to representatives of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.” Unlike Record Store Day, a for profit group whose focus is to sell music on any format, the goal of the 501 (c) 3 non profit Vinyl Record Day (VRD) is to increase awareness of the importance to preserve our audio history recorded on vinyl and to encourage a day in the middle of summer when friends and family gather together with their favorite music to remember that regardless of world news or personal difficulties life always has its goodness.

Below is a recent interview with Gary Freiberg, founder of Vinyl Record Day:

How did this idea of Vinyl Record Day become a reality? read more

The Singing Stars are still “doing their thing.” With the death the legendary Tommy Ellison, there was a serious question of what would happen to The Singing Stars. Well, from a conversation with Sam Williams today it was clear that the guys recognized they had to regroup and bring in new members to still be a ‘national’ group in gospel music.

They called up one of the original members of The Five Singing Stars, Billy Hardie. For many years Mr. Hardie was the second lead singer for Tommy Ellison & The Five Singing Stars. After leaving the group, he recorded the very popular CD Call On Jesus as Billy Hardie and The Gospel Soul Brothers. He has returned as one of the lead singers for the current line up of The Legendary Singing Stars.

Guitarist Dennis Bowers also shares lead duties. Rhythm Guitarist Sam Williams is the glue that keeps it all together. He is joined by Franklin “Big O” Hardnett on the Bass Guitar, Joe Dawkins Jr. (Drummer), Dennis Da’Quan Bowers (Lead Guitar), Justin Mickens (formerly of Rev. Mathew Mickens & The New Highway Travelers) is another guitarist, and Joseph Ricks Horns (keyboard). All the musicians contribute to the background vocals.

Notice that there is now a keyboard player in the group. This addition represents a big step forward for The Legendary Singing Stars. We have often said Williams, Big O and Dennis together sounded like you were listening to a ten piece band. They had developed the right ‘plucks’ to make 3 guitars sound like a huge band section. Now with the addition of the keyboard player and a fourth guitar one can only imagine that the group’s on stage performances will be taken to another level.

According to Sam Williams, the new musicians bring youthful energy to an already energetic group and “we are blessed to have them.” The group is also working on new material. It is safe to say that by 2011 there will be many new songs from The Legendary Singing Stars.

It seems difficult for a gospel quartet group to move beyond the death of their lead singer. This is particularly true when the lead singer’s name and persona were so uniquely tied to the group. For instance, although members of The Gospel Keynotes have recorded since the death of Willie Neal Johnson, they have yet to reach the level of success experienced by Willie Neal Johnson & The New Gospel Keynotes. The same can be said for the members of Willie Banks & The Messengers. And, of course observers of this genre know full well what has happened to the group Tommy Ellison & The Singing Stars. It is just difficult for most quartet groups to move beyond the death of their lead singer who, to a great extent, was the group.

Contrast these examples to that of The Jackson Southernaires. Although, promoters and Radio Angles may refer to the group as Huey Williams and The Jackson Southernaires, that is not the group’s official name . It is The Jackson Southernaires. So, when the legendary Frank Williams died, the group was able to continue on with little, if any, interruption. Of course, Frank’s contributions to later recordings are missed. However, his death did not mean the end of The Jackson Southernaires. And, the same can be said for The Swanee Quintet. They have lost many lead singers, but the group continues on. This is just another example where the names of none of their lead singers have ever been incorporated into the name of the group.

That brings us to Slim & The Supreme Angels. You may recall that after the death of Rev. Hunt, the group reverted back to their original name – The Supreme Angels. And, they actually released a CD titled Reloaded. Now, the longest serving members of the group have decided to venture out with a new group – Slim’s Original Angels.

Michael (Big Mike) Kempson, Gregg Kelly, and Sugar Hightower have joined forces to bring back that style of gospel quartet music created by the original Supreme Angels. With the new name, the guys pay homage to their longtime leader (SLIM) and members (ORIGINAL ANGELS) that have been with the group for many, many years. According to Big Mike, the group will be ready to minister to their many fans by the end of the summer. Look for something new and exciting from this new amalgamation of The Supreme Angels.