What gospel music personality was the voice of "Otto the Orkin Man"?

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J.D.Sumner

I looked this up and found the commercial on youtube. I'll guess Bob Thacker.

I listened to that same commercial on youtube but it doesn't sound like JD or Thacker to me....

JD in his book "Gospel Music is My Life" said he recorded "Otto the Orkin Man" commercials in 1952 in Atlanta.

Then again JD said in the book he beat out Bill Shaw and Wally Varner in writing the best song with the title "On the other Side of Jordan." We learned the other day that couldn't have been the case as Wally was not with the group at them time the song was written.

I know J.D. said it was him, but the You Tube commercial sounds like Canchik after using helium to me. ;)

I have a few sunshine boy 78's with J.D. on them and that could be him. Hard to say.

I also read that J D did this but that does not mean that someone else could have done it later. 1952 was a long time ago and companies do change their commercials from time to time.

I listened to that YouTube commercial all day and can't figure it out!!!!

JD wrote in the revised edition of his book (1994) that those Orkin commercials with his voice were in use for 20 years or more.

JD is correct.

I went to youtube and listened, it sure does not sound like J D. Could it be that he did another one for radio spots?

Radio is where I used to hear J.D. do that commercial before J.D. joined the Blackwoods, and I didn`t know it was him until I read it later-that was before I even knew what a computer was.`-so I`ve known this for years, and I believe the videos of Otto The Orkin Man on YouTube were recorded later.

I had no clue this commercial was on youtube, but after listening to it, I have no doubt it's JD.

That commercial on YouTube is not the one that I remember. To me it doesn't sound like JD at all. The other one does sound like JD. It didn't have the bugs bombing the houses. Also the words are different. On the other one the last line was, "When termites are swarming be sure to take warning--call Otto the Orkin man." It was a much lower voice, although nowhere near JD later , lower stuff.

The JD Sumner of 1950 sounded much different than what many of us may remember.

I wish I had a way to post some of JD's earliest recordings with the Sunny South and the Sunshine Boys. You could then hear the similarities.

You mean before all of the low voice enhancers had taken effect? ;)

John, you may be correct and I have not heard any Sunny South recordings with J D but I have heard the old Sunshine Boys with him and I could very easily pick him out when he was the bass. Also, what KLB said about the Orkin commercial, I remember those exact words from watching them as a child in the 50's and I don't remember the one that I looked at on youtube and I think the reason is that the other one had that low voice which as a kid that went to all night sings as far back as I can remember the bass voice would get my attention. I wish someone had access to the other commercial that KLB was talking about for us to compare.

KLB.......that is the one that I remember, too. I don't remember the voice, but I definitely remember that commercial......which means it may have been the early version.

Joe, I don't have any way to substantiate this, but JD's version might have been a little later than this one. This one has the air raid alarm alerting that there is a termite attack. Otto then shoots them out of the air. With World war II and the air raid warnings and drills being still fresh in the minds of the public, using that particular angle in the advertising would make sense. The other one, that sounded more like JD, was a bit less ominous. It was serious with termites swarming, but it was much lighter tone than the air raid commercial. The Wikipedia says that Orkin's first TV ad was done in 1954. I assume that means actually aired. JD said he "cut those commercials" in 1952. He didn't say for sure that they were TV commercials or when they were actually aired. They could have been on radio and later adapted to TV. Who knows? I'm just trying to find a way that old JD might have really been right all along. Like Gomer sticking up for cousin Goober, he may have been ugly, but he wasn't stupid. I hope somebody finds an old OTTO The Orkin Man clip that sounds like JD and that is marked 1952.
I can't wait.

I finally listened to this commercial yesterday. It sounds like JD. He sounded like that in the early 50's.

Thanks for sticking up for me here, Ben. I know you know JD's voice from the time he joined the Sunshine Boys until he passed away.

Several responses on this thread has frustrated the dickens out of me. :pullhair:

I don't know John, when you and I listened to the Cathedrals doing "Thank You Lord, For Your Blessings On Me" I know I heard Steve Lee on the lead and you heard George Amon. ;)

Note* We were both right and I think John will get the joke.