The Kingsmen Quartet
Current Members
Baritone: Alan Kendall
Bass: Ray Dean Reese
Lead: Chris Bryant
Tenor: Chris Jenkins
Current Album: Victory Shout
The Kingsmen History
The Kingsmen Quartet was founded in 1956 by three brothers, Raymond, Reece, and Everett McKinney. The McKinney Brothers were joined by Charles Collier who sang tenor for the first two years of the quartet’s ministry. There are three names that come to mind when you think of The Kingsmen Quartet. These individuals are Ray Dean Reese, Jim Hamill and Eldridge Fox. Baritone Singer Eldridge Fox became owner of the group in 1970 – 1971, he would later step down from singing baritone and focus on group management. Fox maintained ownership of the quartet until his death in 2002. At this time the Kingsmen quartet name was retired. This retirement lasted for two years until the name was turned over to long time bass singer Ray Dean Reese in 2004. Note: during this two year period the group continued to travel and was billed as the “Carolina Boys Quartet.” Reese is still the owner of The Kingsmen Quartet at the time of this writing.
The Kingsmen Quartet has a long rich history in southern gospel music. Members Ernie Phillips, Ray Dean Reese, Jim Hamill, and Eldridge Fox are all members of the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame. The Kingsmen have over a dozen singing news number one songs, and over 40 awards through the Singing News Fan Awards.
Group Members
Number One Songs
Aug. 1981 - Apr. 1982; June 1982: Excuses
Feb. 1984 - Mar. 1984: Saint's Will Rise
Dec. 1986 - Mar. 1987: Stand Up
Dec. 1991 - Jan. 1992: Go And Tell Somebody
May 1992 - Aug. 1992: Wish You Were Here
November 1993: He's All I Need
June 1995: I Will Rise Up From My Grave
May 2001: The Next Cloud
Apr. - May 2003: God Sits On High (as Carolina Boys)
May 2009: When God Ran
October 2010: God Saw A Cross
January 2012: He's Everything I Need
February 2015: Oh Yes I Am
August 2015: Battle Cry
October 2019: Victory Shout
Tenor
Charles Collier: 1956 - 1958
Frank Cutshell: 1958 - 1959
Jack Henderson: 1959 - 1965
Kermit Jamerson: 1965 - 66, 67 - 70
Jerry Reed: 1966 - 1967, 1970 - 1971
Johnny Parrack: 1971 - 1977
Ernie Phillips: 1977 - 83, 2012, 2016
Garry Sheppard: 1984 - 1993
Chris Collins: 1993 - 1998
Jerry Martin: 1998 - 2002
Derrick Body: 2002 - 2004
Jeremy Peace: 2004 - 2007
Harold Reed: 2007 - 2011
Chris Jenkins: 2012-2015,
2017 - Present
Josh Horrell: 2016 - 2017
Bass
Reece McKinney: 1956 - 1963
Calvin Runion: 1963 - 1967, 68-70
Jim McCallister: 1970 - 1971
Ray Dean Reese: 1967-68,
1971 - Present
Baritone
Raymond Mckinney: 1956-1965
Eldridge Fox: 1965-75, 1976, 1979
Squire Parsons: 1975 - 1979
Mark Trammell: 1979
Wayne Maynard: 1979 - 1983
Ed Crawford: 1983 - 1988
Parker Jonathan: 1989 - 2002
Tim Surrett: 2002-2003, 2004-2005
Jason Selph: 2003 - 2004
Tony Peace: 2005 - 2007
Bryan Hutson: 2007 - 2010
Randy Crawford: 2010 - 2018
Alan Kendall: 2018 - Present
Lead
Everett McKinney: 1956 - 1957
Louis McKinney: 1957 - 1959
Harold Bailey: 1959
Frank Cutshell: 1959 - 1971
Jim Hammill: 1971-1976, 1977-1996
Squire Parsons: 1976
Wayne Maynard: 1983 - 1984
Arthur Rice: 1984 - 1989
Tim Surrett: 1989-1996, 2003-2004
Bryan Hutson: 1996 -2001, 2010-11
Randy Crawford: 2001-03, 2010-11
Phillip Hughes: 2004 - 2010
Bob Sellers: 2011 - 2018
Chris Bryant: 2018 - Present
Piano
Charles Matthews: 1956 - 1957
David Young: 1957 - 1958
Martin Cook: Unknown
Eldridge Fox: 1964 - 1965
James Ward: Unknown
Ray Talley: 1954 - 1964, 1965 - 1971
Charles Abee: 1971 - 1973
Nick Bruno: 1973 - 1978
Anthony Burger: 1978 - 1993
Randy Matthews: 1993 - 1996
Tim Lovelace: 1996 - 1997
Andrew Ishee: 1997 - 2001
Nick Succi: 2001 - 2007
Cody McVey: 2009 - 2011
Justin Nehrkon: 2017 - 2018
Chris Bryant
Chris Jenkins
Alan Kendall
Ray Dean Reese