The Homecoming phenomenon Bill Gaither began got off to its spontaneous start when one of the old-time gospel singers persuaded Eva Mae LeFevre to sit down at the piano after the group finished its guest spot with the Gaither Vocal Band. That was about 18 years ago.
One by one, singers from that assemblage passed on to the heavenly choir: Hovie Lister, Jake Hess, J.D. Sumner, James Blackwood, Brock Speer, George Younce, Glen Payne, Buck Rambo, Howard and Vestal Goodman. The list of alumni grew longer as more old-timers participated in later video tapings.
Eva Mae was one of the survivors. No surprise there; her father lived past 100. But on May 18, a month after a bout with pneumonia and the discovery she had fractured a hip, she was reunited with her beloved husband Urias, his brother Alphus and her son Pierce. No doubt the LeFevres once again are singing together somewhere up there.
She had been singing and playing the piano since her childhood days at her father’s church in South Carolina. When she married Urias LeFevre in 1934, they formed the LeFevre Trio, which became the LeFevres when their sons Pierce and Mylon joined them. The group at various times included such well-known names as Janet Paschal, Jimmy Jones and Rex Nelon.
During his time with the LeFevres, her son Mylon penned the much-lauded gospel song, “Without Him.” He later forsook gospel music to do his own thing, but he returned to the fold. He is now a minister.
She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1978, the first living woman member, and a decade later was the first gospel music inductee in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
Retirement wasn’t her thing, even as her body began refusing to cooperate. Only a year ago she had made an appearance at the Gaither Family Fest in Gatlinburg, Tenn. I got a picture of her with Bonnie.
The outspoken Eva Mae always spoke her mind. I once heard her take the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley to task when the piano bench at the old Medinah Temple didn’t suit her. She’d tell it like it was, whether about her family or about one of her friends in the industry, including Gaither.
She was 91 when she died. And she never minded telling her age, as one of her famous cracks illustrated. “It’s like being pregnant,” she’d say, “it’s going to tell on you sooner or later.”
Her piano-playing style was unique, and her flawless alto voice gave the LeFevres the unique sound they carried throughout the four decades they were on the road. One of the earliest prominent mixed groups in the industry, they were a defining influence in gospel music.
Now, as she once quipped on a Homecoming video, she’s up there waiting for Gaither to join her so she can pester him through the rest of eternity.
Jim Bailey’s column appears on Wednesday. He can be reached by e-mail at jameshenrybailey@earthlink.net.
