The Jordanaires Step to the Forefront With 'Believe'

The Jordanaires Step to the Forefront With 'Believe'

By Rob Patterson

You can't hear Country Music - or the last 50 years of pop music - without hearing The Jordanaires. Since joining the Grand Ole Opry in 1949 and then starting to sing with Elvis Presley in 1956, the quartet has, by their best reckoning, sung with some 2,500 artists on about 30,000 songs. They've appeared on more Top 10 hits than any vocal group in music history, and the cumulative sales tally of albums they've sung on exceeds 2.6 billion.

After more than a half-century of making music, The Jordanaires are still pushing forward. Their new release Believe on Madacy Records is a 26-song collection of bluegrass hymns.

"We've done everything from classical to hillbilly to children's songs to pop," said bass singer Ray Walker, who joined in 1958. Although the foursome began as a gospel group, Believe is their first bluegrass recording. The Jordanaires today are Walker and Gordon Stoker (who joined in 1950) along with newer members Louis Nunley (who joined in 1991) and Curtis Young (who joined in 2000).

The original group formed in Springfield, Mo. in 1948 and featured brothers Bill and Monty Matthews, Bob Hubbard and Culley Holt. Neal Matthews (no relation) joined in 1953 and the Jordanaires lineup of Walker, Stoker, Hugh Jarrett and Hoyt Hawkins remained for 24 years.

When it comes to who The Jordanaires have backed, "it's almost easier to say who we haven't recorded with than name everyone we've worked with," noted Walker with a chuckle. In addition to their long association with Presley on his recordings and movies since 1956, they can be heard on classic sides by Patsy Cline, Jimmy Dean, Johnny Horton, Loretta Lynn, Rick Nelson, Jim Reeves, Conway Twitty and many others. They're still active with contemporary artists, including Kenny Chesney, Billy Ray Cyrus, Vince Gill and Pam Tillis.

"I always looked at it as a service," explained Walker of the professionalism that helped The Jordanaires earn induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. "We always worked as hard for a newcomer as we would for someone already established."

They are an integral part of the "Nashville Sound" and they might well be the longest running members of the Nashville studio recording "A team." Member Neal Matthews (who passed away in 2000) even developed the Nashville numbers system of musical notation that is still used in studios worldwide.

After decades doing much of their work behind-the-scenes, The Jordanaires are also enjoying great popularity these days on the concert circuit. However, says Walker, "I'm just so happy we didn't have to be stars."

After they had a hit with "Sugaree" in 1957, "Cliff Stone at Capitol Records said, 'Guys, you can go the star route if you want to. We have enough material to do that. But stars come and go. And if you'll be faithful to the backgrounds that you do so well, it'll feed you the rest of your life.'"

"We didn't want it," Walker said of stardom. "We are family oriented, not superstar oriented," and their constant studio work over the years allowed them to stay close to home. "We really honestly and truly revere those people who will get out there and take the slings and the arrows and the pressures of being superstars and keep us working."

One big factor in taking the music made by The Jordanaires from the studios to the world has been radio. Walker recalled one week in the early 1960s when they were on 82 of the Top 100 Country songs. Now, the arrival of satellite radio has given them another boost.

"I've done seven to 10 interviews in the last three or four months for radio," Walker reported. "Some of them have been for XM and Sirius. The great thing is that some of the young DJs now have been listening to the backgrounds and want to know who's there and then they call and want to talk to us about the backgrounds. I hadn't done seven radio interviews for 10 years. But they are starting to come around."

He is glad to see that the new radio outlets are interested in the history of the music they play. "It seems like they're not just taking what's thrown out there. They're going into the history, what brought us here. And if they look back at the last 50 years, we have to be there," noted Walker.

Their association with Presley certainly boosted the group's fortunes. They performed on many of Presley's songs including No. 1 hits "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," "Jailhouse Rock," "Are You Lonesome Tonight," "Return to Sender," and many more.

"After Elvis hit so big, the calls were just unbelievable," said Walker. "It didn't just start and then pick up. It started in a flood." For decades, the group would have sessions scheduled from the morning well into the wee hours of the night. The Presley connection spread the fame of The Jordanaires, but what is less known is the key role the group played in the development of Presley's style. But Presley knew it.

One day at a soundtrack recording session in Hollywood, he told them. "He said, 'Guys I've never said this to you before, and I should have. And I may not ever say it again. I just want you to know that I know that if there hadn't been a you there wouldn't have been a me.' That's his exact words," recalled Walker. "And he was going further back than working with us. He was talking about the inspiration he got hearing us sing on the Opry and following the spiritual records. He had them all."

No doubt Elvis would have enjoyed Believe, which includes the Presley family favorite "Angel Band" and the song by The Jordanaires that first brought them to his attention, "Dig A Little Deeper."

The album's producer, Steve Ivey, noted how "when you start working with guys like them, you really understand why they are so successful. They're just amazing, they really are."

"I really wanted to honor them and their career and what they've done," Ivey added." All four of them are just great gentlemen. Even in recording, there's not one ounce of tension. Literally every time we got together it was a great time. They walk in the room totally prepared. And once you work with them you understand why they are legends."

For Walker, 47 years as a Jordanaire has created countless wonderful memories. But when asked his favorite one, "We're making them every day," he said. "My favorite thing about the quartet for me is whenever we get together. My favorite memory for all these years is leaving the house and coming together with these guys in what is truly a fellowship."

And for all the awards and honors The Jordanaires have won and multiple Halls of Fame they are members of, it's still the contact they've made with everyday folks that means the most, concluded Walker. "The greatest honor that the quartet has ever received has been a personal letter from someone who just gave an instance where we made their life better."

On the Web: www.jordanaires.net

July 12, 2005

The Jordanaires with producer Steve Ivey. (l-r) Gordon Stoker, Curtis Young, Steve Ivey, Louis Nunley and Ray Walker. Photography courtesy of IMImusic