Oct. 9, 1971: The Keystones

 

Superstar alert! See the Footnote: 

Oct. 9, 1971 

Riding the Gospel Circuit 

Keystones Make Buffalo Their Base,

Travel the Country by Bus 

        “Years of time have come and gone

        Since I first heard it told

        How my Jesus would come back to earth again.

        If back then it seemed so real

        Then I just can’t help but feel

        How much closer His Coming is today.

* * *

        For the sins of the times are everywhere,

        There’s a brand new feeling in the air.

        Keep your eyes upon the Eastern sky,

        Lift up your head, redemption draweth nigh.” 

        That’s “Redemption Draweth Nigh.” And The Keystones belted it out behind Joe Bonsall’s tremory tenor at least twice this week at the International Gospel Music Convention, saving it for last because it’s the one that brings crowds to their feet.

        “When you say gospel,” Joe says, “most people think of a hallelujah tent meeting. But our type of Nashville-oriented gospel has a bit of everything in it. It’s part country, part pop and part traditional.”

        New to the Northeast, country gospel’s been popular in the South and Midwest since the 1950s and there are maybe 75 groups riding buses hundreds of thousands of miles a year in the national gospel circuit.

        “We don’t promote a religion and we don’t promote any special church. We’re entertainers more than anything else,” Joe says. “But I think there’s a real message here that people can take and apply to their lives.”

* * *

THE KEYSTONES are second cousins to the gospel singers you hear late at night on AM radio, coming in from someplace like KXEL, Waterloo, Iowa.

        But they’re modern cousins. City cousins. Their hair falls over their ears. Their clothes are bright and stylish. And they carry a sound system that would rival a few rock groups.

        Last year The Keystones went down to Nashville just to see the gospel conference, getting in only because they had passes from their friends, the popular Oak Ridge Boys.

        But this time they were one of some 50 groups with a performers’ booth of their own. They left Buffalo early so they could park their soon-to-be-sold bus near the convention hall. They’re picking up a newer bus in Nashville as well.

* * *

ALL OF which goes to show how far The Keystones have risen in the last year.

        And since it was Joe Bonsall’s first year of managing and promoting them, he’s proud of it as he sits in the group’s upper Elmwood Avenue office behind the sign singer David Will made for his desk: “Bouncing Bonsall: The Big Boss.”

        The year also has seen them sign with a major Nashville gospel talent agency. Their first album is out on Superior Records – an established Nashville gospel label – after six previous albums on Majestic, a custom pressing outfit in New Jersey.

        And bear-like pianist and musical arranger Garland Craft has an album all his own.

        “The group has worked hard for this and some of us have sacrificed a whole lot,” Joe says, “but it isn’t going to our heads now. We still go out of our way to be friendly to people.”

* * *

LOCALLY, the year will hit a climax Thursday, Oct. 28, when The Keystones put on a gospel show in Kleinhans Music Hall. Joe expects 2,000 people.

        Appearing with them will be The Singing Rambos with Dottie Rambo, a leading gospel songwriter; J. D. Sumner and The Stamps, and The Orrells, a young Detroit group.

        Until then, The Keystones will be touring churches, high school auditoriums, civic halls and Sunday morning worship services in New England, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

        They appear next Tuesday in Andover High School and Oct. 26 in Wellsville High School.

        They don’t do many church services. Sometimes it’s because older parishioners object to the group’s hair or the use of drums. But the main reason is fatigue.

        “When there’s a Saturday night sing that lasts until 3 a.m.,” Joe says, “you don’t feel much like singing the next morning.”

* * *

AFTER a performance, they load their equipment – including a pair of Voice of the Theater speakers – into the luggage compartment of their bus.

        While one of them drives to the next city, the others relax in the lounge behind him or sleep in one of the three bedrooms in the rear until they reach a motel at their destination. Last year, they traveled more than 125,000 miles.

* * *

THE GROUP moved here from Mechanicsburg, Pa., near Harrisburg, about 2½ years ago. Five live in Kenmore, the sixth in Fort Erie, Ont.

        “It was just too crowded down there,” Joe says. “We had offices in the Hymntone Building with three other quartets. And one of them had the area pretty well tied up.

        “We figured Buffalo would be a beautiful spot. There’s good access to New England and the Midwest and Canada – we do a lot of work in Ontario – though it’s a little far from Nashville. And there’s not one group of our kind in New York State.

        “We all like it here. Actually, we aren’t here that much because we’re on the road all the time, but our wives like it.”

* * *

DURING concert intermissions, their records are on sale. That’s because gospel albums aren’t widely distributed (only three outlets in the Buffalo area, all Christian supply stores) and because gospel groups aren’t paid as well as regular entertainers.

        The records are simple and straightforward – like country music without the lush Nashville production.

        In their latest album, “Right On,” their pleasant neo-barbershop harmonies slip into some interesting variations. A tasteful steel or electric guitar augments Garland, bass guitarist Tommy Wagner and drummer Leroy Patch.

        “The main way of promoting our kind of music is word of mouth,” Joe says, “and there’s CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network.”

* * *

WORD OF mouth worked in Springfield, Vt. Two years ago, they played in a little church to a small audience. They’ve been back four times. The fourth was last Friday and 800 persons were there.

        “We played all by ourselves and we must’ve sang for about 2½ hours,” Joe says. “We got a couple standing ovations and sold a thousand dollars worth of records.”

        On stage, The Keystones draw songs from their most recent albums and build the show into a series of emotional peaks. Finally, the singers are exuberantly pulling off their yellow suit jackets and Garland is bobbing and weaving and making faces from the piano.

* * *

THEY’VE done surprisingly well in high schools. Joe produces a copy of a newspaper article about three well-received concerts Sept. 16 for students in Perry, Letchworth and Warsaw high schools.

        “I feel The Keystones have helped a lot of young people who are searching for things,” Joe says. “What we try to show them is that you can live a good, clean, wholesome life and still enjoy yourself. I like to think we’re getting something done for the Lord.” 

The box/sidebar:

All-New Group 

Pertinent information about The Keystones:

        David Will, 28, lead singer, native of Benton Harbor, Mich., married, two daughters.

        David Holcroft, 20, baritone singer, native of Belleville, Ont., married.

        Joe Bonsall, 23, tenor singer, native of Philadelphia, married.

        Garland Craft, 22, piano, native of Kinston, N.C., single.

        Tommy Wagner, 22, bass guitar, native of Menomonie, Wis., married, two children.

        Leroy Patch, 33, drums, native of Minneapolis, two children.

* * *

IT BEGAN in the early ‘60s in Southeastern Pennsylvania as The Keystone Gospel Quartet and it lasted five years. In 1967, two of the original members reorganized the group. Joe joined it shortly afterwards and the others have been picked up during tours.

        The Keystones shortened their name when they abandoned the traditional gospel setup – quartet backed by piano – last year after the departure of the sole surviving original member, Richard Sterban, now with The Stamps.

        So like many modern gospel groups, they added more instrumentalists. Tommy and Leroy, who is David Will’s brother-in-law, joined during a Midwestern tour last year.

* * *

DAVID HOLCROFT was a trumpet player who met The Keystones at a Toronto youth canvass for Protestants in Quebec. They got on well. David rode with them for a month and was ready to offer to drive the bus for free just to stick around.

        Instead, he joined another gospel group, met his wife there, toured the country for nine months and wound up watching The Keystones again one night in Peterborough, Ont. They were missing their baritone singer.

        “They said, ‘Hey, Dave, can you sing baritone?’ I wanted to more than anything in the world. As a kid, I used to go to all-night sings in Toronto and look in awe at the quartets, just like other kids look at hockey players. It was kinda like my dream.”

* * * * *

PHOTO CAPTION: The gospel-singing Keystones, from left, front, bass guitarist Tommy Wagner and drummer Leroy Patch; second row, singers David Will, Joe Bonsall and Dave Holcroft; back row, pianist Garland Craft.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Less than two years after this article, Joe Bonsall ascended to the top of the gospel music firmament, the Oak Ridge Boys. Already there was his former bandmate Richard Sterban. Many gold and platinum albums later, they’re still with the Oaks. Joe sang the lead on their biggest hit, “Elvira,” and Richard was the bass voice that tickled your doo-wop receptors in the chorus.

        Singer David Will moved on in 1974 to a high-profile gospel group, the Statesmen, and then sang lead for the Imperials, who won 17 Dove Awards and four Grammys. He is a founding member and lead singer of their successor group, Classic Imperials, who are still going strong.

Keyboardist Garland Craft joined the Oaks backup band in 1975, rode their transition from gospel to country, went on their tour of Russia with Roy Clark and was part of their first chart-topping recordings. He left the group in 1981, had a band called Cedar Creek (a chip off the old Oak, I reckon) and retired from the road in 1999 to focus on writing more gospel tunes. His Facebook page indicates that he’s friends with gospel musician Chris Golden, son of the Oaks’ William Lee Golden.