Accession Number: 109
Cash Gospel Quartet Collection
1950s-1960s
2 Linear Feet

Access and Use

Provenance: The collection was given to Berea College by Audrey Hamm and the surviving quartet members on August 31, 2007.

Access: There are no restrictions on the collection other than federal copyright regulations.

Preferred Citation: Cash Gospel Quartet Collection, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, Ky.

Related Archives

• John Lair Papers, 1930-1984, SAA 66

Overview

This collection documents the radio performing career of the Cash Quartet from Rockcastle County, Kentucky during the 1950-1960s. The collection consists of radio program sound recordings, written program song lists, published song books, photographs, and printed personal appearance programs.

History

The Cash Quartet was formed by Walter Cash (1929- ) around 1956 in the Ottawa community of southern Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Other members were his wife Reba (1937- ); sister, Joanne (1936- ); and R.H. Hamm (1919-1986). They were all members of the Ottawa Baptist church—currently the Ottawa Missionary Baptist Church. They were one of the many amateur gospel groups that were an integral part of Kentucky’s local music culture and thriving gospel scene during the twentieth century but who were not interested in commercial recording.

They began performing over Renfro Valley’s WRVK shortly after it went on the air in 1957 as part of a program called the Sinclair Sunday Serenade sponsored by the local Sinclair Oil distributor. They were heard regularly on WRVK through the late-1960s. They also performed occasionally on John Lair’s Renfro Valley Gatherin’, which was carried by Louisville’s WHAS and other stations. They also sang frequently at local and regional monthly sings and singing conventions in Kentucky, especially those in Pulaski and Laurel Counties, and continued such work after they stopped radio performing.

Series Description
2 Manuscript Boxes

This series consists of an oral history interview transcript, photographs, and printed personal appearance programs.

This series consists of a published song book, Cash Quartet Favorite Songs, two loose leaf song books consisting of pages from published works, and written radio program song lists.

This series consists of 10 reel-to-reel audio recordings of Cash Quartet singing, mostly in radio program format with commercials for various Rockcastle County, Kentucky Sinclair Oil service stations. The recordings have been digitized for preservation and CD copies are available for listening.

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