As long as there are fans of southern gospel music, there will be debates over which group or which singer is the best, and with quartets, there will always be debate on what singer was the best one on his (or her) part.

Last month, I featured London Parris, a man whom many (though certainly not everyone) regard as the finest bass singer ever.

This month, I will tell the story of a man whom many consider one of the finest lead singers in gospel quartet history, whose name is often mentioned by older fans alongside that of Jake Hess and James Blackwood. While one can argue that in terms of skill and proficiency, he belonged in a class with those distinguished gentlemen, the sad part of this man’s story is that he didn’t sing long enough to demonstrate what he could have become as a singer.

I speak, of course, of a man who sang with London Parris for two very eventful years with the Rebels Quartet, and who (with Ed Hill) established one of the finest quartets of the 1950s and 1960s, the Prophets Quartet - Jay Berry.

Let’s tell the story of Jerry Berry, born June 4, 1940 in Cash, Arkansas, and who moved with his family to the St. Louis area when he was quite young. St. Louis has long been a hotbed for a wide variety of music, including gospel quartet music. And young Jerry, like so many of his generation who came from God-loving, church-going families, became a gospel quartet fan early on.

In Jerry’s late teens, he met up with another aspiring young singer, a gifted young baritone named Ed Hill. Jerry was already singing lead for a local quartet known as the Kings Men, and Ed joined the group himself after a while. The two were enthusiastic about starting a professional quartet, but the rest of the Kings Men were older and had no interest in life on the road as a gospel quartet.

Jerry and Ed went to work to realize their dream. Ed got a hold of a friend of his that wanted to sing tenor, a big man who sang in a distinctive falsetto voice named Lew Garrison, and Lew was interested.

Both Jerry and Ed were huge Statesmen fans (who wasn’t among quartet lovers of the 1950s?) and when the Statesmen would come through St. Louis, they would talk with the Statesmen about their ambitions, and the Statesmen encouraged and advised the youngsters on what they should do to become a top quartet.

In fact, the Statesmen’s famous bass, Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington, recommended a cosuin of his, R.C. (Randy) Taylor, to sing bass for the Kings Men. And Statesmen lead Jake Hess recommended a young pianist named Gary Trusler, who had played with the Harvesters in the recent past.

Thus organized, the Kings Men, at the advice of the Statesmen, moved to Knoxville, TN, and renamed themselves the Prophets Quartet. Jerry decided to use his nickname, Jay, at that point as well.

The Prophets developed quickly, and by the end of 1959, they had become one of the hottest up-and-coming quartets on the gospel music scene. There were the inevitable personnel changes, as there were with many of the gospel quartets of that day, but the Prophets signed on to the Sing label for their records, and their career really took off.

Their success was due in no small part to their handsome young lead singer with the big voice and friendly personality. The combination of Jay Berry’s looks and voice, Lew Garrison’s distinctive tenor, the group’s innovative arrangements, and Ed Hill’s smooth baritone and business savvy made the Prophets one of the top quartets in the business by the early 1960s.

Wouldn’t you know, though, that once the Prophets had hit the “big time”, their talents would attract the attention of the other top quartets. The Rebels Quartet of Tampa, FL had been on the lookout for several years for a lead singer who would stay with them and keep them at their position as one of the handful of groups just below the Blackwoods and Statesmen at the top of the gospel quartet business. For several years, they had been using their multi-talented pianist, Jimmy Taylor, as their lead singer as well.

By 1963, the Rebels had their eyes and ears on Berry, and finally they made him a financial offer he simply could not refuse. Although Berry was close to his friends and songmates in the Prophets, he chose to accept the offer from the Rebels, and almost immediately he became one of that quartet’s most beloved lead singers ever.

It helped that Berry was able to take the material he became famous with as a member of the Prophets with him to the Rebels. In 1959, he wrote a memorable song called “He Set Me Free”, which became popular in gospel music primarily due to Jake Hess’ rendering of it with the Statesmen. There are some who maintain that the best version of that song was done by Berry himself, first with the Prophets, and then with the Rebels. In any case, Berry’s version of it with the Rebels helped seal his popularity with his new group, as did another song he helped make popular with the Prophets, “No Disapppointments In Heaven”, a Blue Ridge Quartet number that Berry made “his” with his exciting, strong voice.

With Berry, the Rebels’ popularity soared. With his dynamic lead vocals, Parris’ bass stylings, Taylor’s piano playing and excellent arrangements, and tenor Horace Parrish’s heartfelt singing, the Rebels arguably reached their peak in popularity during the years Jay Berry sang lead for them.

The Rebels had always had the nickname “The Friendliest Quartet”, due to their warm personalities both on and off the stage. Berry fit in exceptionally well with the Rebels, not only vocally, but in terms of his personality. He was loved not only by his fellow singers in the Rebels, but by the group’s loyal, devoted fans as well.

But by 1964, things began to unravel professionally for Berry, he began to develop throat trouble, which for a singer can be deleterious to one’s career. The songs Berry sang so effortlessly became difficult for him to perform.

The source of Berry’s throat problems has never officially been made known, but many singers and fans believe that part of the problem may have occurred because of the change in Berry’s vocal workload as well as the different vocal arrangements he had to sing with the Rebels as opposed to the Prophets.

The Rebels had long been one of the busiest quartets on the circuit, and when they sang, it was loud and often. In addition, their songs were usually done in lower keys than those of the Prophets. With the Prophets, because of the high falsetto range of Lew Garrison, their lead singers usually sang in a higher than usual range. But with the Rebels, since they had the extremely low bass of Parris, as well as the much lower ranges of Parrish and baritone John Mathews, the keys they sang their songs in were much lower than those of the Prophets.

Thus, according to this theory, the heavier workload combined with the lower vocal range took its toll on Berry’s voice.

Finally, by 1965, Berry realized his singing voice was disappearing, and he told the Rebels that he would have to leave the quartet to save his voice.

Naturally, this alarmed the Rebels, who had begun to rely on Berry for much of their fan appeal. Taylor offered to change the arrangements to compensate for Berry’s struggles, but Berry rejected that idea. He felt that if he could not sing the songs the way the quartet’s fans were accustomed to hearing them sung, he would be hurting the group if he stayed at a level that he felt was less than his best.

So reluctantly, Berry left the Rebels to return to the Prophets, in hopes that being back in his former surroundings might rejuvenate his singing voice.

If real life were like the movies, Berry would have regained his vocal strength and power, and he would have sung so well that the Prophets would have risen straight to the top of the gospel music world and stayed their for as long as Berry continued to sing with them.

Alas, sometimes life can be more cruel than the movies portray it. Berry never did regain his vocal prowess, and eventually was told by doctors that if he didn’t stop singing, he would risk permanent loss of his voice. So, by 1967, Jay Berry, considered for a number of years one of gospel music’s top lead singers, was out of gospel music as a performer.

From there, Berry first tried the automobile sales business, and was pretty good at that. Then later, he tried the insurance business, and was even more successful at that. So happily, Berry was able to provide a good living for his family, and eventually retire happily, healthy, and well off.

Today, Jay Berry is a happily retired grandfather, living near St. Louis. He has a daughter who teaches, and one that is a nurse. The latter daughter’s husband is a youth minister, and his other son-in-law is a music minister. His son is a representative for a pharmaceutical company, and he has five grandchildren.

Happily, God has provided Jay Berry with a happy, fulfilling life. I’m sure he would not trade the results of his life for anything. But for many gospel music fans who remember his stirring, legendary singing, perhaps it can’t be helped to wonder what might have been if Jay Berry had been allowed to keep singing the gospel music he loved so much, and fully realize the dream he had while still in his teens in St. Louis.

I would like to thank Jimmy Taylor, Ed Hill, and Dean Adkins for their invaluable help in preparing this article by contributing their time, attention, and resources.

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