Ben Speer
   HOME





Ben Speer
Ben Lacy Speer (June 26, 1930 – April 7, 2017) was a singer, musician, music publisher, and record company executive. He sang for The Speer Family for most of his career. Speer later became the music director of the Gaither Homecoming programs. He was born in Double Springs, Alabama, the youngest child of Lena and G.T. Speer (affectionately known as "Mom" and "Dad" Speer to most people in Southern gospel music), who originally led the group, with Speer's siblings Brock Speer, Mary Tom Speer, and Rosa Nell Speer also participating. He died on April 7, 2017, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Performing career From starting to sing at age 2, Speer went on to a career that led to his being described on the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame website as "one of the most enduring and outstanding lead singers and piano performers in gospel music." During his years with the Speer Family, the group recorded more than 75 albums. In addition to singing and playing piano wi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Brock Speer
Brock Speer (December 28, 1920 – March 29, 1999) was an American gospel singer. He was a bass for the Speer Family Southern Gospel musical group and was a leader in Southern Gospel music. One might say that Southern Gospel music was Speer's life. David Liverett's book, ''This Is My Story: 145 of the World's Greatest Gospel Singers'', includes the following comments written by Speer's nephew, Steve Speer, and printed in the program distributed at Brock's funeral: Jackson Brock Speer was born in Winston County, Alabama, just two months before his father and mother began a singing group called the Speer Quartet. For the remaining seventy-eight years of his life, he was inextricably intertwined with that group. With only one exception -- World War II -- he sang with his family his entire life. Achievements and recognition Speer's academic accomplishments included a bachelor's degree in theology from Trevecca Nazarene University in 1950 and a master of divinity degree from V ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Florida Boys
The Florida Boys were a male vocal quartet in Southern gospel music. The group was founded in 1947 by J. G. Whitfield. Originally named The Gospel Melody Quartet, the group was renamed in 1954. From the 1950s until 2007, the group was led by Les Beasley as lead/guitar, Glen Allred as baritone, and Derrell Stewart at piano, and featured many notable tenors and basses. In 1999, the Florida Boys were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. The group, led by Charlie Waller in its later years, officially retired in 2016. History Roy Howard, the group's original lead singer, had a heart attack in 1951 and died shortly thereafter. Doyle Wiggins sang lead for about a year. When he left in 1953, he was replaced by Les Beasley. Beasley remained at the lead position through 1999, when he stepped aside and hired Josh Garner to fill the position. Beasley continued to play bass guitar and act as the group's master of ceremonies. Glen Allred joined as baritone in 1952 Glen had star ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Southern Gospel Performers
Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, Memphis-based passenger air transportation company, serving eight cities in the US * Southern Company, US electricity corporation * Southern Music (now Peermusic), US record label * Southern Railway (other), various railways * Southern Records, independent British record label * Southern Studios, recording studio in London, England * Southern Television, defunct UK television company * Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), brand used for some train services in Southern England Media * 88.3 Southern FM, a non-commercial community radio station based in Melbourne, Australia * Heart Sussex, a radio station in Sussex, England, previously known as "Southern FM" * ''Nanfang Daily'' or ''Southern Daily'', the official Communist Party ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




American Gospel Singers
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


2017 Deaths
This is a list of lists of deaths of notable people, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month (e.g., Deaths in ) and then linked below. 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 Earlier years ''Deaths in years earlier than this can usually be found in the main articles of the years.'' See also * Lists of deaths by day * Deaths by year (category) {{DEFAULTSORT:deaths by year ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

1930 Births
Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on January 1, 2257, at . * January 26 – The Indian National Congress declares this date as Independence Day, or as the day for Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence). * January 28 – The first patent for a field-effect transistor is granted in the United States, to Julius Edgar Lilienfeld. * January 30 – Pavel Molchanov launches a radiosonde from Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg, Slutsk in the Soviet Union. February * February 10 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launch the Yên Bái mutiny in the hope of ending French Indochina, French colonial rule in Vietnam. * February 18 – While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh confirms the existence of Pluto, a celestial body considered a planet until redefined as a dwarf planet ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Footnotes
In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of text at the bottom of the page, at the end of a chapter, at the end of a volume, or a house-style typographic usage throughout the text. Notes are usually identified with superscript numbers or a symbol.''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) p. 709. Footnotes are informational notes located at the foot of the thematically relevant page, whilst endnotes are informational notes published at the end of a chapter, the end of a volume, or the conclusion of a multi-volume book. Unlike footnotes, which require manipulating the page design (text-block and page layouts) to accommodate the additional text, endnotes are advantageous to editorial production because the textual inclusion does not alter the design of the publication. H ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Southern Gospel Music Association
The Southern Gospel Music Association (''SGMA'') is a non-profit corporation formed as an association of southern gospel music singers, songwriters, fans, and industry workers. Membership is acquired and maintained through payment of annual dues. The SGMA was formed in 1994, and states that its primary goal is "to preserve, protect and promote Southern Gospel Music, its history and heritage". The Southern Gospel Music Association operates the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame in Pigeon Forge, a popular Tennessee tourist town, and also hosts the Southern Gospel Music Awards. The Hall of Fame and Museum was opened at the Dollywood theme park in 1999. Leadership of the SGMA is vested in a 23-member board of directors. The SGMA is responsible for the nomination, selection, and induction into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame. History The Gospel Music Association (GMA) was founded in 1964 to promote Gospel music. It was created as an extension of the National Quartet Conven ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Stamps-Baxter Music Company
The Stamps-Baxter Music Company was an influential publishing company in the shape note Southern gospel music field. The company issued several paperback publications each year with cheap binding and printed on cheap paper. Thus, the older books are now in delicate condition. These songbooks were used in church singing events, called "conventions," as well as at other church events, although they did not take the place of regular hymnals. Among the country music and bluegrass "standards" that were first published by Stamps-Baxter are "Rank Strangers to Me", "Just a Little Talk with Jesus", " Precious Memories", " Farther Along", "If We Never Meet Again", "Victory in Jesus", and "I Won't Have to Cross Jordan Alone". Stamps and Baxter operated a music school which was the primary source of the thousands of gospel songs they published. Another major part of the corporation was its sponsorship of gospel quartets who sang the company's music in churches throughout the southern Unit ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Ivan Parker
Ivan Ray Parker (born December 21, 1957) is an American Southern Gospel singer. Musical career Ivan Parker was raised in Sanford, North Carolina, where his father was a pastor in a Pentecostal church.Best of Ivan Parker review
In 1982, Parker joined the Singing Americans, and in 1983 he became lead vocalist of the -winning group the Gold City Quartet. As a member of Gold Ci ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Gospel Music Association
The Gospel Music Association (GMA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of gospel music. As of 2011, there are about 4,000 members worldwide. The GMA's membership comprises a network of artists, industry leaders, retail stores, radio stations, concert promoters and local churches involved with the wider Christian music industry. History The GMA was founded in 1964 to promote gospel music. It was created as an extension of the National Quartet Convention, a convention devoted to Southern gospel that had been operating since 1956.Cusic, Don, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music: Pop, Rock and Worship''. ABC-CLIO, 2009, pp. 223-224. Its founding board included Don Butler, Cecil Blackwood, Cecil and James Blackwood, Vestal Goodman, Charlie Lamb, Don Light, and J.D. Sumner, and its first president was Tennessee Ernie Ford. In its early years, it faced competition from the United States Go ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mary Speer
Mary Tom Reid (née Speer; June 13, 1925 – September 16, 2014) was an American southern gospel singer who sang with the well-known Speer Family Gospel Choir from the 1920s until her official retirement in 1954 and again from the 1980s until the group's official retirement in 1997. She also sang with the Gaither Homecoming Series from 1995 until her death. Early life Mary Tom Speer was born on June 13, 1925, in Double Springs, Alabama, the youngest daughter and the third of four children born to George Thomas "GT" Speer (March 10, 1891–September 7, 1966) and Lena (née Brock) Speer (November 4, 1899–October 6, 1967). She had two brothers, Jackson Brock (December 28, 1920–March 19, 1999) and Ben Lacy Speer (June 26, 1930–April 7, 2017), and one sister, Rosa Nell Speer (September 22, 1922–May 16, 2017). Her parents formed the Speer Family Gospel Choir in 1921 (''see more information below''). Career The Speer Family The Speer Family was for ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]