Welcome to Hit or History Classics.

Seems as if this game has about run it's course. However, I thought I'd try to inject a little interest with this question. I know there are many Plainsmen fans that read our boards on a daily basis. Therefore, here's the question:

The Plainsmen recorded the song "Standing by the River" several times with several different bass singers. Which is your favorite version of this classic?

Rusty Goodman singing bass on "The Red Album"

Seals "Low Note" Hilton singing bass on "Plainsmen Go Heartwarming"

or

Jay Simmons singing bass on "Just a Little Talk With Jesus" (and for your purists, I know this was technically a Marksmen production . . . but play along with me. OK?)

Thanks for your votes and your discussion!

I loved Jay Simmons on "Standing By The River". Actually, I didn't get to see the Plainsmen much, so Jay was probably with the Prophets when I heard him singing that............

Another song that I enjoyed hearing Jay sing, if my memory isn't failing me, was "You Oughta Been There". The Plainsmen fans can tell me if I am wrong about that, but I am pretty sure that was Jay that I remember.

Jay was my favorite bass on the Prophets, one of my two favorite groups, .

Jay Simmons. And Standing By the River may have been their best "in person" song.

I don't have an answer to the question, but I hope that the game hasn't run it's course. I usually don't have a clue about the songs that you are talking about...... you know, with me being such a young pup LOL (at least I'm a young pup in SG loving years)........ but I love to read about it. And I always get SO thrilled when you bring in a song that I actually know.

I would love to have heard them do "God on the Mountain". I bet they would have torn that up live.

My vote is for Gerald Williams with the Plainsmen on a recording of a live concert in Tyler, Texas someone gave me! <smile>! I do not think Gerald did "Standing By the River" on an album with the Plainsmen. If I must stick with one of the options listed, I will choose Jay Simmons!
I agree Jonathan, I would love to hear their version of "God on the Mountain"! <smile>!

I'm a fan of both Hilton and Simmons, but I'll say Jay Simmons on that song. Rusty Goodman as a bass singer didn't do much for me. IMHO he was a true baritone that could sing a little bass.

I forgive Gayla for her comment. She has been under a lot of pressure lately. BUT, Jonathan needs to get back on his medications. The Plainsmen would have done a great job on the song IF they had done the stupid song. They just didn't have a Peg in the group. They just happened to have the most exciting lead singer that ever due a breath on this mortal plane. Besides that, anybody that would dedicate a Space Odyssey song to a Plainsman fan needs help anyhow.

So . . . what is your answer, Mineola?

:rollinglaughing:

Of course, the "red record" IS without a doubt the finest recording of a Gospel group I am aware of, and Rusty's abilities, I still must go with Jay"s job on it. I think that answering this queston is like asking which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead. Jack Pittman once told me that they actualy did the song before them, but after he heard The Plainsmen do the song, they never did it again.

Ole Jack is kinda stretching that one. I heard them sing it at a benefit concert for Joel Duncan just a few weeks ago.

:babyha:

No question about this one.

On the Seals Hilton version, they had to slow it down to a mind numbing crawl so he could hit the "low note". I think its 10 minutes long on that album, or it seems like it.

On the Rusty Goodman version, the harmony was great, but there was nothing about it that even makes it memorable in the annals of gospel music (other than the fact it just happened to make it onto the Red Album).

My opinion on the Marksmen version?

No one, and I mean no one EVER did that song like the Thurman Bunch, Jack Mainord and Jay Simmons version of that song. It didn't matter who was singing 2nd tenor/baritone, whether it was Dwight Hicks, Erman Bunch, Jerry Venable, Jerry Minshall or Howard Welborn.

That version was absolutely the most exciting quartet arrangement of that song ever done, by anybody, anywhere, at any time.

I don't think the Dove Brothers or Sig Sound could touch them, even today although if either of them did their best to try and copy the Plainsmen arrangement, it would be a guaranteed big hit and the reviewers would no doubt all be raving about their NEW and ORIGINAL arrangement.

One of the saddest days of my life was when I listened to Jack, Jay, Howard and (I can't remember who was trying to sing the tenor part), attempting to do it on the GOGR tape in 1993?

I cried for two days after I heard that.

Jay Simmons could have "tore up" :babyha: God on the Mountain as well as anyone.

Gold City now has Tex McCune "tearing up" "They That Wait Upon the Lord".

Compare Aarons version with the way Jay Simmons did it with the Prophets 40 years ago.

I rest my case. :harp:

P.S. Of course Jay had an advantage over Aaron, but I won't tell what it was!!! :whistling:

How about comparing Elvis Presleys version of Lord You Gave Me a Mountain with the Plainsmen version featuring Jerry Venable. :babyha:

Which version of Jambalya is the best?

The Plainsmen featuring Jay Simmons or Hank Williams? :D

There's a story behind that, Mark.

Mike LoPrinzi sang tenor with the Plainsmen that evening. They were on rather early in the program. Jerry Redd was scheduled to sing with the Plainsmen, but he wasn't around when they went on stage.

Every group knows well in advance when they will sing, how long they are to sing, what songs they will sing, so there should be no reason for a situation like this to happen. However, once in a while it does. (Can you say "Burman"??) :rollinglaughing:

Mike has a great vocal range and is a former Plainsman, so he stepped in at the last second to sing tenor with the group. He is a natural lead or baritone singer and a wonderful musician who filled in as best he could with his old group when needed.

If you will continue to watch the video after the Plainsmen, you'll see Jerry Redd singing a solo as he accompanies himself at the piano. By the time he made it to the auditorium, the Plainsmen were finished and Charlie graciously allowed him to do one number by himself.

That being said, I don't know that a different tenor would have salvaged "Standing By the River" that evening.

It wasn't Mike's tenor job. It was watching Jack without the power, Howard without the quality and Jay without the low notes.

John, it was torture. I felt so bad for them. It just tore my heart out.

I remember Jerry doing the next song and your right, he did a good job but he couldn't have salvaged the sound.

. . . and there's no "remixing" on the GOGR videos. You get it just as it came out of the live feeds.

I would love to hear the Simmons version. (I actually haven't heard any of them.) Is this the song that Big Chief wrote and the Cathedrals did?

I think it came out of a Stamps/Baxter song book.

I think you're thinking of "Trying to Get a Glimpse" Q-man.

Standing by the River was a Marion Easterling song.

You're right, John. I knew that. Geez! I could hear the tune in my head and thought the title seemed a little funny, but I found it on an internet search listing it as a title from the CD. :)

This is a great thread! :SGMR sign:

I have not heard "Low Note" or Rusty sing that song, but I have heard many quartets sing it through the years. I have never heard any group sing it like The Plainsmen Quartet with Jay Simmons on bass. What a sound! If it can get any better than that, I want to hear it. So, my vote is for The Plainsmen with Jay Simmons.