Local musician to be inducted into Gospel Music Hall of Fame

Chuck Long, owner of C Long Music Company in Kennett, will soon be receiving a once in a lifetime honor. On Nov. 7, Long will be inducted into the Texas Gospel Music Museum and Hall of Fame in Dallas, Texas. The museum is located at Dallas Baptist University.

In the late seventies, Long was a member of a part-time group called United Sound, which was based in Memphis. One night while playing in Oklahoma, his group was on the bill with a gospel group called The Mercy River Boys that came from a small town in East Texas. When he left the stage, one of the members of the group pulled him to the side and told Long that he really liked his work. The bass player for their group was about to quit and they were looking for someone to take his place.

Mercy River had just released their first album titled Breakout and were signed with the Christian record label Canaan. Long accepted the invitation and soon after moved to a small town called White House, Texas, just a few miles outside of Tyler, Texas.

"I played with the group on and off during 1979-84," Long said. "There were times I would have to take off for family things."

Long started out as the bass player, moved to lead guitar, and eventually became general manager for the group.

That first album, Breakout, had the group nominated for the Top 5-gospel album of the year and nominated for a Grammy in Best Gospel Performance Traditional Category in 1980.

"We were also on the Singing Music news charts for 29 weeks straight," Long said.

Group members were: Jack Christian, Calvin Christian, Danny Bob Smith, E. D. McKissack, Wayne Christian, Joe Don Womack, Frank Horton, Dan Hollis, James Christian, Rusty Oxford, Bettie Hairgrove Christian, Rickey Adams, Gary Goss, Dickey Gilchrist, Dan Hollis, Kevin Bailey Ronnie Ricks, Chuck Long Scott Thibaut, Billy Brooks, Bill Horton, Emory Atkins, John Mays, Mike Ramsey, John David Aultman, Ronnie Ricks, Johnny Pope, Galen Sawyer, Jim Hughes, Jack Christian.