GHB Archives
Harold Lane Hall of Fame Updates
March, 2007
Gospel Harmony Boys founder and recent Hall of Fame nominee, Harold Lane
Well, friends, the choices for the Gospel Music Hall of Fame for 2007 have been selected. They include Joel Hemphill, Lou Wills Hildreth, Jimmy Jones, David Reece, James Sego, Archie Watkins, Anthony Burger and Roger Bennett.
Each of these are extremely worthy nominees, but unfortunately, we do not read the name Harold Lane among them. I'm confident that the deliberation process is not an easy one for those who have that responsibility. There are so many deserving and so few to be named each year.
Harold has dedicated his life to Gospel Music having founded the Gospel Harmony Boys, one of the longest serving groups in America today, in 1952. He also served significant tenures with the Homeland Harmony Quartet and 22 years with the famous Speer Family. Additionally, Harold has been one of the industry's finest authors, musicians and arrangers over the past decades having compiled several choral songbooks, orchestrated church hymnals and arranged for several of the top groups within the industry. He is also one of the industry's most proliferate writers having penned many, many song that have been recorded by gospel music's leading groups and are quickly recognized by every serious gospel music fan for the past 40 years.
No one is more deserving of the HOF honor than Harold Lane. His dedication to gospel music is unquestionable, his love for it is immeasurable and his contribution to it is invaluable, not to mention eternal. It's time. Consequently, we will continue our vigilance and seek his induction in 2008. Please submit your name to our webpage in support of Harold's induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Thanks for your support.
We will maintain this page of updates on this story.
Harold Lane Nominated to Hall of Fame
December, 2006
Harold Lane, one of gospel music’s most extraordinary writers, arrangers, artists and founder of the GHBs has been nominated for consideration into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007. We beg your support for his election to the Hall. Who is Harold Lane and what has he ever done, you ask?
- Harold is a singer, songwriter, musician and arranger whose career in, and contributions to, Gospel Music have spanned the past 55 years.
- In 1952, Harold formed the Gospel Harmony Boys, a professional group that continues to minister still today – 55 years later.
- In 1953, the GHBs quartet began one of America’s first Gospel Music TV shows that played every Sunday for over 17 years.
- He introduced gospel music to a national television audience when the Gospel Harmony Boys became the very first gospel quartet to ever appear on a national television network on “The Today Show” with Dave Garroway, in 1956.
- Harold left the Gospel Harmony Boys in 1956 to spend a short stint with Conner Hall and the famous Homeland Harmony Quartet only to return to his beloved GHBs in 1957.
- He began writing early in his music career and authored many songs sung by the great quartets of the day including The Statesmen, The Blackwoods, Wally Fowler and the Oak Ridge Quartet and many others.
- Some of Harold’s songs were first featured on early GHBs recordings, but appeared on numerous other recordings shortly thereafter. Such songs included “What Joy On That Shore”, “Looking Forward To The Day” and “I’ve Done What The Lord Said Do”.
- In 1967, Harold left the Gospel Harmony Boys and his career as band director at Wayne High School to join the Speer Family replacing the family’s famous patriarch, Dad Speer.
- Harold became renowned for his arranging while with the Speers. Brock Speer stated “Harold was so good with music. He set us apart in the industry. We would come on with a lot of wild harmony and chords and arrangements. He made us different from everybody else.”
- The Speer’s recording of Harold’s best known composition , “I’m Standing on the Solid Rock” holds the record for being the Singing News #1 song for the longest period of time.
- Another of Harold’s great songs, “What Sins Are You Talking About” reached an esteemed level of notoriety as the theme song for a National Network TV show, “The Hitchhiker” during the 1990s. Interestingly, the song was done instrumentally and not widely recognized. Only small segments of the lyric were ever sung during short intervals throughout the show’s series.
- Other famous Harold Lane songs reads like a list of Top Tens and include
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- Touring That City
- Thank You Lord
- He Was Willing
- Joy On That Shore
- But By Me Saith The Lord
- God Is Able
- The Church of The Living God
- Just Have Faith
- It Had To Be Love
- Cast Your Cares on Me
- It’s So Much Better
- Redeemed
- For many years, Harold wrote a series of articles for Singing News Magazine providing a pedagogical forum to help interested young artists learn the rudiments of music theory.
- He also edited a number of church hymnals and songbooks including: Heavenly Highway Hymns 2nd Edition and Gaither’s Christmas Homecoming Souvenir Songbook.
- Harold also published a series of six books titled “500 Hymns for Instruments” – with gospel music specifically arranged for church band/orchestral instruments.
- Harold continues his life long associated with the Stamps-Baxter School of Music where he has shared his knowledge and insights with young aspiring gospel artists for many years.
“Harold was so good with music. He set us apart in the industry." - Brock Speer
The artists who have had the privilege of working with, knowing or being mentored by Harold Lane have not only been challenged to push the envelope to improve our performance, but to follow in the footprints of the gospel music master himself and strive to improve the ministry of gospel music as well. Each of our professional lives has been enhanced because of our association with Harold Lane. Those of us who have experienced Harold’s dedication and commitment to Gospel Music, who have personally enjoyed the benefits of his contributions, and those of us with whom he has shared his love of the music, the people who sing it and the Lord, Jesus Christ whom we serve are truly blessed beyond measure. Gospel Music needs more innovators like Harold Lane. His music and arrangements have added a new dimension to four-part gospel harmony and the Gospel Music world is a much richer and sweeter sounding because of his contributions.
Dean Adkins, fellow Huntington native and long time supporter of the GHBs, has recently nominated Harold for consideration as an inductee into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007. We beg your support of Harold’s election to this prestigious honor. His worthiness cannot be overstated. His contribution to gospel Music cannot be valued. His dedication cannot be surpassed.
Help us help Harold attain the recognition he so richly deserves.
Add your name to the list and forward it to us. We will compile the names and provide them to the Board of Directors in a timely fashion. Thank you for your support.
Data compiled and written by Dr. Dean Adkins and Dr. Clacy Williams
More Information on Harold Lane
John Crenshaw's SGM Radio article.
Link to 1957 article reprint.
