Bad Boy of Gospel Music: The Calvin Newton Story

by Russ Cheatham

Overview

"I messed up," Calvin Newton lamented, after wasting thirty years and doing time in both state and federal prisons. "These were years of my life that I could have been singing gospel music." During his prime, he was super-handsome, athletic, and charged with sexual charisma that attracted women to him like flies to honey. By his late teens he had been recruited by the Blackwood Brothers, the number-one gospel quartet in the world. In his mid-twenties while he was singing with the Oak Ridge Quartet, Newton's mighty talent and movie-star looks took him deep into hedonism -- reckless driving, heavy romancing, and addictive pill popping. As 1950s rock 'n' roll began its invasion of gospel, he and two partners formed the Sons of Song, the first all-male gospel trio. The Sons of Song turned gospel upside down with histrionic harmony, high-styled tuxedos, and Hollywood verve. Their signature song "Wasted Years" foreshadowed Newton's punishing fall. This prodigal-son biography looks back at the destructive lifestyle that wrecked a sparkling career.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604735918
Publisher:	University Press of Mississippi
Publication date:	03/05/2010
Series:	American Made Music Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	342
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Russ Cheatham is an associate professor and coordinator of the criminal justice program at Cumberland University. His work has been published in Bluegrass Unlimited and Music Row Magazine.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Prologue	xi
1.	Ancestors	3
2.	Big Boy	9
3.	Bible Training School	19
4.	Headed Straight to the Top	29
5.	Singing like an Angel, Fighting like a Demon	43
6.	Advice from Two Sources	53
7.	In the Army	59
8.	Wild and Crazy	63
9.	The Battle of the Bands	73
10.	Touring and Recording	79
11.	The Slide	87
12.	A New Era	95
13.	A Matter of Style	103
14.	The Magic of Their Singing	115
15.	Ralph Carmichael--A Contract with God	123
16.	The Fat Lady Sings	131
17.	"We Sang at Every ... Pig Trail in the State"	139
18.	Gentlemen Songsters off on a Spree	149
19.	Picking up the Pieces	161
20.	From Rock 'n' Roll to Rock Bottom	173
21.	Searching	185
22.	Wonder Woman	197
23.	Wedding Bells and Prison Cells	201
24.	If I Had Wings	211
25.	Musical Chairs	223
26.	Gospel Fried Chicken	235
27.	Still Magic after All These Years	239
28.	Making Money	243
29.	Awakening	251
30.	Colson and Parole	263
31.	Out of the Depths	273
32.	The Holy Accident	287
33.	Redemption	297
34.	Wasted Years ... Why?	305
35.	Sunset	313
	Discography/Videography	319
	Sources	327
	Index	331