They have over 9 Grammy's, 27 Dove Awards and have sold over 60 million albums. Bill Gaither has commented that the Blackwoods are the one and only group that has stayed the test of time. Bill Gaither, also, commented that the plane crash that happened on June 30th 1954 was the one pivotal event that changed the face of Gospel Music for ever and this concert would be a memorial for those died in t
hat plane crash. That day, the Blackwood Brothers Quartet arrived by airplane into Clanton, Alabama to sing with the Statesmen Quartet at the airport hangar there as a commemorative event to help celebrate the annual Chilton County Peach festival. The Blackwood Brothers at that time were at the pinnacle of their career…earlier that month, they had achieved nationwide fame and notoriety by their appearance on the very popular Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts television program, where they had won the talent competition the night they appeared. Their 45 RPM single of the songs they sang on the show, “The Man Upstairs” b/w “How About Your Heart” was selling briskly at that time. They were the first gospel group to perform on national TV, and were reaping the benefits of that appearance. Just two years prior, in 1952, the Blackwood Brothers had formed a professional partnership with the Statesmen, and it was working out for good for both groups by that time. The popularity that each group enjoyed was also unprecedented for a gospel singing group. Together, their “team” was the top attraction in gospel music by far at that time. It seemed that the sky was the limit for the Blackwood Brothers. Sadly, they were soon to learn how true that indeed was.
1954 Blackwood Brothers posing in front of their plane
L-R: James Blackwood, RW Blackwood, Jack Marshall, Bill Shaw, Bill Lyles
It was also in 1952 that the Blackwood Brothers had decided to use an airplane to get to their concerts, reasoning that that means of travel would be much more convenient and less fatiguing than riding in the large automobiles that they and other gospel groups were using as their main means of transportation. The time they saved flying allowed them to spend more time with their families in Memphis, Tennessee. Blackwood was the group’s pilot, and bass Bill Lyles was the navigator and co-pilot. On the day of the concert, R.W. decided it would be prudent to conduct an afternoon test flight, since the runway was narrow and had no lights, and it would be dark when the group left Clanton to return to Memphis. The usual practice in those days was to have cars turn on their headlights to illuminate the runways of such airports so pilots could see where they needed to go. and Bill would have a passenger for their test ride…18-year old Johnny Ogburn, the son of the Festival’s director, had his parents’ permission to ride with them. After the initial safety checks were done, the plane took off without any problems…as they circled the airport, the direction of the wind had ominously changed…and the people who had assembled to watch them looked on in surprise when they noticed that the plane was coming in to land on the opposite end of the runway where they were planning to take off that night. On the approach, there was a hill the plane needed to clear to land on the runway safely…after numerous attempts to clear the hill safely to land without success, R.W. tried once more. On his last attempt, the plane’s engine stalled. As R.W. fought to get the plane under control, it suddenly dived straight upward before the engine finally stopped. The gathered crowd below was becoming more anxious at the plane struggled, and when the engine stalled and the plane came hurtling down toward the runway, they gasped in collective fright as they watched the inevitable result. The plane hit the ground with a sickening thud and burst into flames immediately. As it did, James Blackwood saw R.W. still strapped in his pilot’s seat, and in panic, rushed toward the plane in an effort to save his nephew and the others. Attempts at rescue would have been futile, since there was so much fire engulfing the plane. Still, James was determined to do what he could, endangering himself in order to try to get to the bodies that were being burned in the wreckage. As James drew nearer to R.W., he felt someone pick him up and literally carry him to safety. James’ cries of “Let me go!” were not heeded, and his frantic kicks and efforts to escape were to no avail. Years later, James would learn that it was Jake Hess who had physically removed him from the scene, and Jake’s reward for his heroism was a sore and badly bruised body from the struggle. All three passengers of the plane perished. Autopsies revealed that R.W.’s and Bill’s necks were broken immediately on impact, and Bill’s body was found under the plane’s instrument panel, while R.W.’s remained strapped in the pilot’s seat. News of the crash spread quickly. Walter Winchell brought the news to his audience right away, as did CBS radio and television, along with Arthur Godfrey. America was in shock at the news. It was left to Hess to deliver the sad news back to James’ family and pastor in Memphis…and then, to take James back home to Memphis. James Blackwood was in unspeakable grief and shock. All the way home, through a continuing mask of tears, he told Hovie Lister and the other members of the Statesmen (in whose car James was going home to Memphis) that he would not sing again…that he could not go on as a result of the tragedy. Lister tried to give James as much courage as he could, calmly reminding James that he was loved and that life must go on for the living. The grief of gospel music fans was almost as great as James’…the funeral for R.W. and Lyles was held at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis…and the crowd of some 3,000 + mourners made even that fine auditorium seem tiny. And significantly, although they sat in a separate section from the majority of the mourners, the number of black people in attendance was large…and striking. It was a testament to the universal appeal of gospel music and its’ message to all people, regardless of social position or skin color. Fortunately, the group had not scheduled any more concerts for a two month period. This allowed James time to ponder what to do next. It didn’t take him long to decide that he would indeed go on…that the Blackwood Brothers Quartet would keep on singing. There was one engagement left to fulfill, in Fort Worth, Texas. James gathered tenor Bill Shaw and pianist Jack Marshall, and with the help of R.W.’s younger brother Cecil, and the Statesmen’s bass singer, Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington, the group made it through that concert. Wetherington and Kent Higginbotham, bass singer with Cecil’s part-time quartet, the Songfellows, filled in at various times during the period of transition, as did Cecil himself.
