As far as their discography goes . . . the early Melody Boys Quartet didn’t release many commercial recordings. Most were 78 rpms on the Gospel label.

To me, the most interesting parts of the story Gerald tells are the ones where he simply lays the facts out about what it was like to be a member of a gospel quartet during the 1940s and 1950s. It may have been a “golden age” musically for the genre, but for the rank and file singer, in some cases it was anything BUT golden.

There is so much romantic talk of “ministry” and how “glorious” life on the road must be for a gospel singer, when in reality, there can be a good deal of stress and tension involved in making gospel music a life’s career. And as Gerald tells so eloquently and with the dignity he has been well known for during the past 60 years, the financial and material rewards weren’t all that lucrative.

And Gerald was not really a “star” in the genre in those early days. In that respect, his story is more instructive for most of us, because quite frankly, most people will never be a Jake Hess or a JD Sumner or a Hovie Lister…or anyone like that who stands out above the crowd. Gerald’s story really shows what it would be like for most people who choose to make gospel music a career.

But more to the point, Gerald’s story is important for gospel music fans to know because it was people like him who built the gospel music industry as it exists today. Without the dedication of people like him, there would be no “southern gospel” genre that we enjoy and love so today. For anyone interested in what being a traveling gospel singer was like during one of the genre’s most exciting and defining eras, or for that matter, even today, Gerald’s story is a must read.

And when people read it, they may better understand why Gerald did a “mighty lot of singin’” through the years, and why he continues to do so today. For being a gospel singer for a lifetime has little to do with recognition, “stardom”, or anything else that can come with having a relatively high profile…and in that respect, Gerald is no different from Jake, JD, James, Glen, or George…or any of the other leading figures of the genre.