Who replaced JD Sumner as bass singer for the Sunshine Boys?

© CMG SGMRadio.com 2007

Johnny Atkinson?

Maybe Joe Davis

Burl Strevel.

I agree, it was Burl Strevel.

I don't know who the replacement was...but I'd sure like to have that car...

JD wrote in his book tht Johnny Atkinson replaced him but didn't stay long before being replaced by Burl Strevel. He said about four years later the group went into pop music and changed their name.

What was the new name?

The Diplomats

Dean

Lots of interestig answers this morning.

Johnny Atkinson is correct as is the name "The Diplomats". Interesting that they sang gospel under the name "Sunshine Boys" and performed in Vegas both as the Sunshine Boys and the Diplomats (or Floor Mats as Ace often said).

I already had this trivia saved and put in a folder for a new trivia on another forum. so I agree the replacement was Johnny Atkinson and the Sunshine Boys new name was the Diplomats.
John beat me to the punch(lol)but I think he has a good trivia. Good work John and Norm.

Here was the trivia I was going to post-with answers.

When J.D.Sumner left the Sunshine Boys to join the Blackwood Brothers, who replaced J.D.?

About four years after J.D. left the Sunshine Boys, the quartet quit using the name "Sunshine Boys" and went into pop music for about ten years until 1968, when they finally quit as a full-time group.

1. What name did the Sunshine Boys use after they quit sing the name "Sunshine Boys"?

2. Who replaced J.D.Sumner as bass singer?

Ans.-1. The name the Sunshine Boys took was "Diplomats."

Ans.-2. Johnny Atkinson replaced J.D.


In The Life and Times of J.D. Sumner

Did the Diplomats make any recordings? If so, what kind of pop material did they sing?

I see Eddie Wallace donated papers on the Sunshine Boys to the Georgia State Library. Have other SGM artists made such donations?

I'm having trouble giving the link to the Wallace-Georgia library site. You can get to it by doing a Google search for Eddie Wallace Sunshine Boys Georgia Library,

Is this the website link you wanted Norm?

Eddie Wallace Papers

Kattie

Thanks for the link. I never learned how to do provide a shortened link like that.

I think all of their recordings were done as the Sunshine Boys. They did record a couple of secular numbers during their Vegas years:
Scottie 1307 My Love My Love/If You Still Want Me (Ray Stevens, Jerry Reed backup musicians)
Nashville 5175 I'll Take Care of Your Cares/Grab a Little Sunshine
Gee Gee 104 The Summertime/Spring Has Sprung

A typical program for the Diplomats would be some spirituals (I Wanna Go There, Dry Bones, Saints, This Ole House, Noah), western songs (Tumbleweeds, Rag Mop, Ghost Riders, Streets of Loredo), show tunes (Old Man River, Mack the Knife, Gonna Build a Mountain), standards (Tennessee Waltz, I Left My Heart in San Francisco, September in the Rain), and pop songs (Anytime, It's a Sin to Tell a Lie, Moon River, Ramblin' Rose, Sixteen Tons, Hey Look Me Over), along with some instrumentals and comedy.

I'm not aware of any commercial recordings, but I have heard some of their live performances from this era.

Here's a picture of them at the Golden Nugget:

In an earlier post on this thread, Norm stated:

"I see Eddie Wallace donated papers on the Sunshine Boys to the Georgia State Library. Have other SGM artists made such donations?"

Well... I know I'm taking liberties here by taking the "SGM artists making donations" theme in a broader direction,
but it reminded of when I made the comment to James Blackwood that he must have more closet space in his home than the average family to house all those suits he wore while performing onstage over the course of his 60 year plus career. And one would think that James would have most likely been able to wear a suit from most any period of his career at any time and it would still be a perect fit (wish is something I wish I could say).

Anyway, to make a long story even longer... James said that closet space wasn't really an issue because he didn't have as many suits as one might think. He said that his wife Mim had made many donations to Goodwill on a regular basis through the years, and that those donations always consisted of several of his suits each time.

I thought to myself Boy oh Boy, I would have been willing to pay a bundle to own some of those suits that James gave away! Wouldn't you?

Well... that recollection may not have been as important as Eddie Wallace donating papers on the Sunshine Boys to the Georgia State Library, but it brought up a fond memory of talking with James through the years, and of his special "donations"
;~)

Howard

James was a small persone but there are few who could fill his shoes or suits as a singer. I heard Jake say one time that people say that a lot of singers tried to sing like him but not many tried to sing like James cause they couldn't.

Jake's wife did exactly the same thing with Jake's suits...took them to the Goodwill or Salvation Army stores. He told me that story himself, and I told him the exact thing that you said. I would have paid a lot of money to have those suits! I have a friend who has the maroon suit he wore on one of the Statesmen Return Trio albums.

The Big Chief's daughter told us at GOGR one year that her Mother had kept all of the Chief's suits. She also still has the various paper towels and "hanger papers" that the Chief wrote songs on. Oh how I would love to have some of that stuff!

I actually have the maroon tux ensemble that Jake wore on The Legendary Statesmen Return, a yellow sweater, a tie and a wig. They're not for sale!

I have several of Easmon Napier's cigarette butts. They are not for sale either.

The car pictured in this post is a 1958 Caddy..Eddie Wallace todl me they bought this car when the new models came out in August of 1957 ($8900)..They kept it one year, traded it in on a 1959 Caddy Limo ($11,033) , kept that one one year and sold the '59 to a funeral home in Jacksonville, FL. They then bought a Mercedes bus..they kept that bus 3 or 4 years and then sold it to another gospel group for $1,000 ...but never got paid for it....I'd like to have any of those 3 vehicles in my garage today...

:rollinglaughing:

Are they inside a Pearl bottle?

Pearl???

:rollinglaughing:

Must have been Episcopalians!