Doing a little follow up today regarding your suggestions as Gospel music's best emcees. The input from Danny's Diary readers has been quite strong, with many e-mails offering names that hit a wide time spectrum. Here's the list of the Top Ten vote-getters...
1. George Younce. Hands down winner. His name appeared in nearly every e-mail that I received. In fact, there were only about 6 e-mails that didn't include George.
2. Gerald Wolfe. A lot of experience with the master (see above) and the natural gift it takes to be a good emcee made Gerald the leading currently active emcee.
3. Jim Hamill. This former Kingsmen legend nearly took away the No. 2 position from Gerald (one vote DOES make a difference). Certainly one of the best stage generals ever to be a part of Southern Gospel music.
4. Tony Greene. The comments that appeared most with his name can be summed up as "has the ability to read an audience quickly and can adapt his program in a blink of an eye." And, if you've ever stood on stage, you realize that is a lot easier said than done.
5. Michael Booth. A lot of people mentioned that Michael has the potential to be one of the best-ever. He's still "fine-tuning" his approach, so it will be most interesting to see what is in his future.
6. Sam Goodman (Happy Goodmans). To be honest, here was one I was not expecting. However, he is certainly deserving of being on this list. He was good at reading the audience - and was excellent at knowing when to be funny (and when not to be). By the way...just this past week, I was able to obtain a video of a 1974 Happy Goodmans concert that was taped in Texas (I think). The quality was not all that great (this WAS the early 70s, after all), but it was sufficient to see why people chose Sam as one of the best emcees.
7. Jerry Goff. He's more or less made a late career of being an emcee. I do want to know, though...just where does he keep his list of jokes? I've never seen him get into a situation where he's been at a loss for something witty to say. The ability to think quickly on his feet has sustained him well across the years.
8. Elmo Fagg. I admit it - I never saw this one coming. And, to be honest, I never saw him in person, nor can I think of any instance when I've watched a video where Elmo did anything other than sing. But, many people said in their e-mails that Elmo was one of the best.
I will add this: In an interview I did with George Younce years ago, George mentioned to me that he learned how to work the stage from Elmo (they were in the Blue Ridge Quartet together). An e-mail from Dean Adkins prompted my memory of this. Elmo, according to many people, had the knack for saying just the right thing at just the right time.
9. Steve French. All those years at Dollywood, working in front of people who might not necessarily have come to hear Gospel music, has afforded Steve the opportunity to tweak the balance necessary for working Southern Gospel and secular audiences at the same time. He'll admit that his style is "country as cornbread" many times, but it works - and it works well.
10. Peg McKamey Bean. Somewhat a surprise to some, I suppose. But then again, if you really watch what she does, she's one of those people who can change a program on a minute's notice and never miss a beat. Many of you apparently agree with that statement as her name appeared on the e-mails enough to make the Top Ten.
Honorable Mention:
Roger Bennett was two votes away from the Top Ten in this list. No surprise at all that he was a favorite.
Here are the other names (in no certain order) that appeared in your e-mails: Aaron Wilburn, Hovie Lister, Ronnie Hinson, Brian Lester, Dale Shelnut, Kirk Talley, Tracy Stuffle, John Matthews, Randy Shelnut, Tim Surrett, Earl Galloway, Eric Bennett, Martin Cook, Kenny Bishop, Tim Riley, Bill Gaither, Mark Trammell, Parker Jonathan, Ronnie Booth, Larry Riddle, Jeff Stice, Les Beasley, Tim Lovelace, Mark Bishop, Jeff Easter, Tony Peace, Jonathan Wilburn, Scott Fowler, Brian Free, Ernie Haase and Daniel Riley.
