Back to the places of employment, so many have taken away true retirement, and other perks that would make people want to stay. Some have fired people months or less before that person would start retirement. Things like that are not right. There was a time when if an employee took care of their employer, the employer would do the same. Now it is every man for himself. I gave over half of my life to a company (that had changed hands a few times) and have little to show for it. I didn’t like change and had no idea what else to do. I should have been out of there years before I was. I blame myself for that. However, the company started as one that although it underpaid, at least had some caring and concern about employees, to being bought by ones that gave good lip service, but little else. Each change did increase the pay to some degree, but that too came with a price and later worked against longer termed employees.

I don’t see how anyone could blame Jeremy for leaving Crystal River for Brian Free and Assurance. I mean if you have a chance to go from the Royals to Yankees and make more money, who wouldn’t?

Trevor: you are right, all decsions should be made with Christian humility and considering how it will impact the other group. I remember hearing of one very well known group manager/bass singer/emcee - who is not on the road anymore - wanting to hire someone from another group, but first he called the manager of the other groups to say “I’m gonna try and hire your_____singer.” and once he had the other managers permissions he proceeded to do so. that was considerate.

Some change is inevitable, and sometimes God opens a door of opportunity that must be taken. That may be the case with Jeremy Liles, who seems like a good guy and a good bass. He’ll be a good fit with Assurance. But others will join a group merely to use it as a stepping stone to another, better gig, and that’s not fair to the audience, the other members, or yourself. Yes, it’s a business, but our business should be done with Christian love and honesty.

I can’t blame anyone for wanting to better their situation whether the motivation is for a more comfortable living, more opportunity, or simply to find a more harmonious personality mix. I would suspect that most of the time people moving around comes back to the issue of money.

The issue of “loyalty” to one group is an interesting topic though.

blogger “James Hales” above says -” in the business world, loyalty isn’t what it used to be period. People used to stay in their respective jobs 20-30 yrs…now you’re lucky people stick around for 5 yrs. ”

Here’s a good question -I wonder how many group owners/managers cultivate and encourage loyalty with benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, merit raises, etc.

It is a known fact that some group owners/managers simply don’t have the good management/motivational skills to keep their employees happy. (i am not casting any dispersions toward CR or any other group mentioned in this post)
It takes more than money to keep someone happy. I know of a couple of people who have “jumped ship” for the proverbial greener grass, only to find out the reason the grass was greener on the other side of the fence was all the extra manure you had to walk in once you got there.

It seems that every time you buy a new CD from a group, someone has left and someone else has been added since their last project. Groups that have a constant turnaround run the risk of fans losing interest because it’s not the same group they originally wanted to hear. I’m sure the Cathedrals had to deal with this, especially in 1990-91 when Ernie and Scott came aboard, but they wisely released a “live” (cough, cough) album in which they did a bunch of their older material with the new members to get people comfortable with them.

The former SGM group the Oak Ridge Boys have the same four singers they did in 1973. Only change in 34 years was that Bill Golden left for a few years and then returned.

The Statler Brothers had only one change in a career of about 35 years and that was because of Lew DeWitt’s health problems.

The Cathedrals performed their final concert in 1999, which means that we’ll start our experiment with 2000 and go up until 2007.

Right from the start, we had two acts: Legacy Five & Ernie Haase Minus Signature Sound. From there, as many as 11 groups and 17 members have been directly or indirectly involved in group changes branching from these two acts. Without naming every single group or member involved, here is a summary of my findings….

L5, while fairly stable with four of the same original members (two of which were relatively new to the “big time”), is on their third tenor. One tenor got bitter and quit gospel altogether, another went solo, then joined another group, and the third joined, started to leave, then changed his mind.

Ernie was solo, then half-solo, half Old Friends tenor (which, I don’t care how you slice it, was pure novelty), then solo again, then started Signature Sound with Garry Jones (”Taco” from the peak Gold City years). Then less than a year into the group, Garry and Shane Dunlap (former owner of N’Harmony) left. Garry started his own group, which itself has already lost two members, and Shane went solo while working the occassional “Trio” date with Kirk and Anthony until Anthony’s death. Two more members were brought in to Signature Sound take their spots, both from other groups.

Not counting groups who lost members, gained members, or traded members, this is quite a bit of turnaround.

Oddly enough….the most stable lineup of the Cathedrals was from 1991-1999 with George, Glen, Roger, Ernie, and Scott!! Maybe it’s more a question of the group owner’s ability to KEEP talent. Maybe….just maybe George and Glen learned over the years how to keep members happy AND productive like good managers should do….

I know I’m old school…I’ve been with the company I’ve worked at for 10 yrs, and have no plans to leave. Great place to work, great pay, excellent perks and simply put, I’m very comfortable here. But, most people in the working force don’t stick around that long. I think the formula is pretty much the same in gospel music.

I think it truly boils down to money and what will make your life better (happier).

We, as fans, get too accustomed to the same people performing. Some of us liked Mercy’s Mark with its original makep and hated the change, but now enjoy the new group. Gold City now only has Jonathan Wilburn from the group that sang in 2001. The GVB only has Guy and Bill in the same time period. Change happens, but groups with good leadership and resources survive and prosper. That’s all that matters.