Dottie Rambo: The Gifted Songwriter of the Twentieth Century (Part 9)

My Altar



The New Beulah Hand



Stand by the River



I Just Came Into His Presence



Father Dear I'm Coming Home



Sometime around either 1963 or 1964, one of the members of the Gospel Echoes left the group because she married an evangelist.  As a result of Shirley Bivin's departure, that created a void for a soprano in the group.  Buck and Dottie brought in Pat "Jones" Green to replace Shirley Bivins.  However, there was a huge problem: Pat couldn't sing the parts.  Buck and Dottie would be rehearsing with her the parts she was to sing time and time again.  They rehearsed for weeks.  They were scheduled to be singing in an upcoming concert with the Statesman and the Goodmans.  On one particular day, Reba, Buck and Dottie's daughter, told them that she knew their songs and she knew how to sing them.  So Reba demonstrated before Pat how the part was to be sung.  It was through that process that Buck and Dottie recognized how talented Reba was in singing.  Buck had finally asked Reba to consider singing as a replacement for Shirley Bivins for temporary.  Reba consented.  As it turned out, a replacement never was found and Reba sang with Buck and Dottie on a regular basis until sometime around the mid-70's.  However, there was one change they needed to make.  Buck and Dottie never was satisfied with the group titled, "Gospel Echoes."  They decided since they were Rambos to call their group "The Singing Rambos."  Then approximately 6 years later they shortened it and later called themselves "The Rambos."  They started singing as The Singing Rambos around 1964 when Reba was 12.  A year later, they recorded their first album with Benson Company in Nashville, Tennessee with the Heartwarming label.  It was around 1964 that they moved to Nashville.  I would guess they moved there because they wanted to be close to the recording studio where they recorded their albums.  Over the years they would record several albums with Benson. 

In 1964 The Singing Rambos were singing in churches at the time.  They weren't a very well-known group yet.  The Rambos sang in churches when they first begun as the Gospel Echoes in the early 1950's.  However, they didn't sing nationwide in major concerts.  Dottie started gaining publicity for her songwriting when Jimmie Davis paid Dottie $3000 dollars to publish her songs.  Her songs were in demand when singers became aware of her songwriting.  But the group as a whole wasn't a major southern gospel group until 1964 when The Singing Rambos visited the National Quartet Convention for the first time in Memphis, Tennessee. They came as spectators not expecting to sing.  However, J.D. Sumner from the Blackwoods, if my memory is correct, said, "I hear you can all sing a little bit."  Dottie replied, "They say we can sing a little bit.  He said, "Let me hear you sing a little bit."  So they stood of in a corner and sang acrapella and Sumner was impressed.  So later the Rambos performed on a stage with a crowd of hundreds of people for the first time ever.  They sang one of Dottie's brand new songs entitled, "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need."  The crowd enjoyed their singing.  What was so marvelous about their singing was the fact the Rambos didn't use a bass singer in the group.  Theory had it that in order to be classified as a genuine southern gospel group, you needed a bass singer.  The Rambos consisted of Dottie, Buck, and Reba.  However, they harmonized exceedingly well.  They would become one of the biggest powerhouses ever in gospel music.  Their sang using inverted harmony.  They helped each other out.  Whenever the lead became too high for Dottie, Reba could pick up where Dottie left off.  There were times they would switch parts, too.  They all sang together and it provided a melodious harmony among the trio. 

As a result of their performance on the National Quartet Convention in 1964, they were booked at all types of singing conventions and other types of singing outlets.  They would even sing in State Fairs.  Life for the group changed.  As a result of that convention, Buck booked concert dates for the next year for this new group. 

Next week I'll be discussing the background behind two of Dottie's songs, "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need" and "In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul."

I've Seen All This World



Don't Take My Cross Away (solo by Dottie Rambo on her album "Good Ole' Days)