The Foggy River Boys was the name of two related American male singing quartets from southern

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

specializing in

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 ...

, spiritual, and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

1940s group

The original Foggy River Boys traced their lineage to the early 1940s, when Bill and Monty Matthews, joined by their brothers Jack and Matt, formed the Matthews Brothers in

Poplar Bluff, Missouri Poplar Bluff is a medium city in Butler County in Southeast Missouri, United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as "The Gateway to the Ozarks" among other names. The population was 16,225 at the 2020 census. The Poplar B ...

. All were ordained ministers for

Disciples of Christ The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States and Canada. The denomination started with the Restoration Movement during the Second Great Awakening, first existing during the 19th ...

. They had two daily live shows on

KWTO-AM KWTO (560 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Springfield, Missouri. It is owned by Zimmer Midwest Communications and airs a Talk Radio format. The studios and offices are on East Chestnut Expressway in Springfield. KWTO is powered at ...

in Springfield, Missouri. In 1947, they appeared with

Red Foley Clyde Julian "Red" Foley (June 17, 1910 – September 19, 1968) was an American musician who made a major contribution to the growth of country music after World War II. For more than two decades, Foley was one of the biggest stars of the gen ...

on ''The Prince Albert Show'', the nationally broadcast portion of the ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

'' in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. Matt and Jack left in 1948 to become full-time preachers, and were replaced by Bob Hubbard, also a minister, and bass singer Cully Holt. They first called the new group the Melodizing Matthews, but changed the name to

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...

, after the Jordan Creek in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. They signed with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, and recorded secular music under the name The Foggy River Boys (after a nickname for the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

). In 1952, piano player Gordon Stoker replaced Bill Matthews as first tenor, Hoyt Hawkins replaced Hubbard and Neal Matthews Jr. (no relation) replaced Monty Matthews, forming the version of the Jordanaires who went on to back

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

1950s group

The second iteration of The Foggy River Boys formed in Springfield about 1954 with Charlie Hutton as lead vocalist, with brothers Bill and Monty Matthews,

Warren Holmes Warren Holmes (born February 18, 1957) is a Canadian former professional hockey player who played for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League, as well as a number of American Hockey League and International Hockey League teams. Hol ...

as bass vocalist, and

Bill Hedrick The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in California were held on November 2, 2010 to determine who would represent California's various California's congressional districts, congressional districts in the United States House ...

as piano accompanist. By the end of the first season on the ''Ozark Jubilee'', Charlie Hodge had replaced Charlie Hutton, Don Taylor had replaced Warren Holmes, and

Newman Miller Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A * Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer * Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people * Al Newman (born ...

had replaced

at piano. Hodge was replaced by George Richardson in 1958. They were signed to

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

and also recorded on the

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

, Starday, and Foremost Records labels. They backed

Fess Parker Fess Elisha Parker Jr. (born F. E. Parker Jr.;Weaver, Tom.Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers p. 148 (McFarland 2012). August 16, 1924 – March 18, 2010),(March 18, 2010Daniel Boone Actor Fess Parker Dies at 85" ''CBS ...

Homer and Jethro Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...

, Red Foley, and

Bobby Lord Robert Lester Lord (January 6, 1934 – February 16, 2008), better known as Bobby Lord, was an American country music artist popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Lord was born January 6, 1934, in Sanford, Florida, but grew up in Tampa. ...

. Les Roberson, replacing Monty Matthews, joined in 1957. That year, they changed their name to The Marksmen, which by then consisted of Roberson (baritone), Richardson (lead), Earl Terry (tenor), and Don Taylor (bass). Robertson, Richardson and Terry were from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

; Taylor was from

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

. They were regulars on ABC-TV's ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...

'' from 1955 to 1960, and also appeared on '' The Eddy Arnold Show'' in 1956 and NBC's ''

Five Star Jubilee ''Five Star Jubilee'' is an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's '' Jubilee USA'', was the first network color television series to originate outside ...

'' in 1961. In May 1957, they performed on NBC-TV's ''

Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for h ...

Show'' and

Cliffie Stone Clifford Gilpin Snyder (March 1, 1917 – January 17, 1998), professionally Cliffie Stone, was an American country music, country singer, musician, record producer, Music publisher (popular music), music publisher, and radio and TV personality ...

's ''

Hometown Jamboree ''Hometown Jamboree'' was an American country music radio and television show simultaneously broadcast each Saturday night by KXLA radio, Pasadena, California and KLAC-TV/KCOP and KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, California beginning in 1949. Synopsis T ...

'' in Los Angeles.Sachs, Bill "Folk Talent & Tunes" (April 29, 1957), ''

The Billboard The Billboard () is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier. It was discovered in November 1934 by a Secon ...

'', p. 58

1940s group

1950s group

References

Further reading