Calvin Newton (October 28, 1929 – March 3, 2023) was an American gospel singer from West Frankfort, Illinois.
Youth
Newton was a boy soprano who took up amateur
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
because he was tired of being bullied. Newton won a Kentucky
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...
championship, retiring one opponent in just 23 seconds.
Music career
In his late teens Newton was recruited to join
the Blackwood Brothers
The Blackwood Brothers are an American southern gospel quartet. Pioneers of the Christian music industry, they are 8-time Grammy Award winners in addition to winning 7 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. They are also members of the Memphis M ...
, then a prominent
Southern gospel
Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...
quartet
In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments.
Classical String quartet
In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...
. From 1953 until 1956 Newton sang lead for the
Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was change ...
, and later he was a co-founder of the
Sons of Song, one of the first pioneering acts in what would become the CCM industry. (Please note that the correct name between 1953 and 1956 was the Oak Ridge Quartet.)
Criminal career
According to biographer
Russ Cheatham, Newton was "super-handsome, athletic, and charged with sexual charisma...Audacious, Newton never turned down a dare...
edonistic-- reckless driving, heavy romancing, and addictive pill popping."
Later Newton would spend decades involved in crime: serving time in state and federal prisons for a variety of crimes including theft, counterfeiting, and drug offenses.
Return to Gospel community
In his seventh decade, under the discipleship of
Jake Hess, who he described as the one who "stood by him when most gospel singers abandoned him,"
Newton would end his estrangement from the gospel community, eventually reconciling with dozens of former colleagues and appearing in a
Bill Gaither-produced gospel performance video titled ''All Day Singing and Dinner on the Grounds'' and touring with Gaither's traveling gospel music show.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Calvin
1929 births
2023 deaths
American gospel singers
Southern gospel performers
The Oak Ridge Boys members
People from West Frankfort, Illinois