After going to see the Cathedrals in person several years ago, I came home
and wrote the following tribute. I was amazed that night at their incredible
sound and staying power and I was literally astounded to realize how much
these men had meant to me over most of my entire life. I wrote from my heart
about a young Joey who drove all by himself down the Pennsylvania Turnpike to
Lancaster from Philadelphia to hear one of his favorite Quartets .

I was fortunate enough to have had this article published in a popular Gospel
Music periodical but what has meant more to me than ever was that The
Cathedrals loved the piece. I was with Glenn Payne right before God took him
Home to Glory. He told me that he love me and he told me that this piece was
the greatest article ever written on The Cathedrals. He had a framed copy at
home on his wall. As of this writing, Glenn is singing with the Angels and
George Younce keeps hanging in there despite a plethora of health problems. I
pray for him every day and I ask for you to do the same.

They were the greatest of them all!! (JSB 2/28/03)

I first heard The Cathedral Quartet sing when I was seventeen years old. I'd
just graduated from Frankford High School in Philadelphia, PA. The year was
1967. My Dad had just had a debilitating stroke at age 35 and was
rehabilitating in a veterans hospital, or else he would never have let me
take such a trip. I loaded up my 1959 Chevy Impala with snacks and Pepsi and
headed off to York, PA, on a rainy Friday afternoon after work. A three hour
drive, all by myself. I simply loved gospel quartet music. Some Christian
kids in my neighborhood had turned me on to such groups as The Couriers, of
Harrisburg PA, and The Blackwood Brothers, Statesmen and, ironically enough,
The Oak Ridge Boys. (I had only been to two live gospel shows at this point.)

I watched the Cathedrals on Rex Humbard's weekly Cathedral of Tomorrow show,
and somehow found two of their albums in a downtown Philly record store. They
were "The Cathedral Quartet with Strings," and "The Cathedral Quartet with
Brass," on Heartwarming records. (I still believe that these two records are
some of the best, and most ambitious gospel music ever recorded.)

Anyhow, I drove and drove, half scared to death of the turnpike, rain, and
trucks, and arrived at the York High School auditorium at a little past eight
thirty. I ran through the parking lot, bought a ticket, and sat down in the
back of the packed auditorium just as the local, part time group (I forget
their name) finished singing.

Then the Emcee introduced The Cathedrals. They entered from stage left
wearing bright green sport coats and white pants. Danny Koker sat at the
piano, adjusted his gooseneck microphone stand, turned and greeted the
audience. He said that it was an honor to sing there that night and that it
was the prayer of all the Cathedrals that "Jesus would pass by as they sang
and bless the hearts of all who came." Then after a first class piano intro,
the four men began to sing "Since Jesus Passed By, Oh What a Difference,
Since Jesus Passed By."

I sat stunned in my seat. These guys were simply incredible. The tall guy
singing tenor was not Bobby Clark, as on my records, but nevertheless a great
tenor named Mac Taunton. Koker sang baritone as he played piano, and the
other two guys just blew my mind. The smooth lead singer was Glenn Payne, and
the extraordinary bass singer was George Younce. There was no way I could
know at that point in my life just how much these men would mean to me in the
years that would follow, which includes writing these words that you are now
reading thirty-one years later. I drove Home to Philadelphia that night
believing in my heart that I had just heard the greatest gospel singing group
of all time, and I still feel that way today.

The next year, my little part time singing group, The Faith Four, hosted the
Cathedrals in Pennsauken NJ. I rented a church, paid the guys their flat rate
for that time period (I think about $400.00) and invited them back home to
Philly for an after the show dinner at my home. They accepted.

They drove that bus right down my street and ate my mother's meatballs right
in my house. They were the most gracious men I had ever met. Before they left
they sang a few songs for my disabled father. The mighty Cathedral Quartet
were actually singing in my Philadelphia rowhouse living room.

I don't believe I slept for a week. You must realize that I was just eighteen
at the time, and these men helped me set a course for my life. I met them at
a crossroads, and they drew me closer to God, not only through their music
but by the example they set. Within a year I would be struggling along
singing full time with The Keystone Quartet where I would be until 1973 when
I joined The Oak Ridge Boys. As God continued to lead, our little Keystone
group worked with the Cathedrals many times over the years. I would sometimes
ride on the Cathedral bus, and sit up late at night talking with George about
the art of singing. He taught me how to sing better. How to breathe, how to
color the tone "green," because green helped you to project. He shared his
testimony with me, and became the single biggest influence in my early
twenties.

After I joined the Oaks our pathways continued to cross, our friendship grew,
and I have been constantly blessed and amazed over all of these years by
these remarkable men.

About a year ago, all of the Oaks and our families went to see The Cathedrals
at our local Baptist church. There was George and Glen, in their seventies,
singing greater than ever.

They were surrounded by the finest tenor singing today, Ernie Haase, and an
incredibly talented and charismatic young man named Scott Fowler and keyboard
wonder Roger Bennett. All of the ingredients were still in place: The great
harmony and dynamics, the pure singing that keeps them at the pinnacle of
Gospel Music in the 1990s. This is an amazing accomplishment and a further
tribute to Glenn Payne and George Younce.

It has not been an easy road for these elder warriors. Only a traveler like
myself can really appreciate the incredible price that one pays for years
upon years of getting on board a tour bus and pounding out a billion miles,
as these men have done. The toll that it takes on body, heart, and mind is
quite staggering.

George and Glen are devout family men and that definitely raises their level
of sacrifice. They've been blessed with beautiful, loving, supportive wives,
children and grandchildren who have all spent an eternity of nights alone
while daddy is singing at a civic arena, a high school auditorium or at The
First Church of "Somewhere in America."

And although constantly surrounded by people (promoters, preachers, radio
guys, and gospel music fans by the thousands), you still find yourself
amazingly alone most of the time. Whether it be in a motel room, backstage,
on a plane, or curled up safely in your bunk of the bus with the curtains
pulled closed, you are always reflecting upon the years behind and the miles
up ahead. You love to sing, but, "Oh, God, how you miss those kids!"

This is where men of God such as Glen Payne and George Younce have had a
tremendous advantage. They know they've been "called" to sing. They know that
their lives and talents have been totally responsible for drawing people
young and old to Jesus Christ. They are more aware of the constant presence
of God's mighty Angels who protect them, and of The Holy Spirit who
constantly guides their hearts and anoints their music.

These are men who walk the walk and talk the talk. They know that God has a
keen understanding of their humanity and loves them dearly, and has blessed
them and their families tremendously for the sacrifices made, "TO SING FOR
HIM!"

Duane Allen of the Oaks relates a story of a night years back when he was
asked to roast Glen Payne at a banquet. You know how a roast is, you're
supposed to get up there and make fun of the honoree by telling embarrassing
stories and such. Duane recalls stammering around behind the podium and
finally admitting to the audience, "I cannot think of a bad word to say about
this man. He is simply the best singer in the world." Then he just sat down
to an incredible applause.

George Younce and Glen Payne have held the banner high for all of these
decades. I am only one of thousands of people who have had their life
permanently enriched by their ministry. They are truly American Treasures!

While on my way out of town recently I heard on the radio that George and
Glen would retire at the end of 1999 and The Cathedrals would be no more. I
pulled over and cried for a while, then called George. After over fifty years
of singing, it seems that Glen and George just looked at each other and
decided that it was time.

On May 18th, the Oaks were invited to take part in a farewell concert and
tribute to The Cathedrals at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. A thousand
memories raced through my heart as I listened to these old friends sing
together for the last time. Sitting in the Ryman at age 51, I had an amazing
flashback of a young Joey staring wide eyed at these same men on another
stage years ago.

My thoughts on the way home from both concerts were much the same. I believed
in my heart that I had just heard "The Greatest Gospel Quartet of All Time!"


Joe Bonsall, Oak Ridge Boys, May 19, 1999