This remembrance of bluegrass and gospel legend Earl Wheeler is a contribution from Randall Franks, a former bandmate of Wheeler’s in The Marksmen Quartet. Franks is also noted as a fiddler, author, and actor.
American music singer Dr. Earle Wheeler, 84, (1940- 2024) of Murrayville, GA, died October 31, 2024 of heart failure following an accidental fall, according to his son Mark Wheeler. The legendary singer who impacted three music genres – southern gospel, bluegrass, and country – was performing on tour in Texas when a fall caused a broken second vertebra. He was hospitalized prior to his passing, Mark said.
Contributing over 500 career recordings to American music, Wheeler amassed over 20 career awards across three musical genres, including three Dove Award nominations. He attained numerous chart songs, including several #1 songs, including Sound the Battle Cry, He’s Still Setting My Place at The Table, Potter’s Wheel, and Preach the Cross.
Wheeler had led Hall of Fame members and multiple award-winning Marksmen Quartet since 1967.
He shared his unique voice, and earnest faith-inspired perspective, from stages and pulpits since 1954. Initially, from the pulpit of his grandfather’s church in Georgia, then to J.G. Whitfields All Nite Sings, the Grand Ole Opry, The Warren Roberts Show from Atlanta, GA, and The Huff Cook Gospel Sing from Bristol, VA, and the southern gospel staple, The Gospel Singing Jubilee. Earle, who had a Doctor of Music and a Bachelor of Theology degree, spread the gospel through music to millions around the world.
As a youth, singing with the Wahoo Baptist Church quartet in Murrayville, GA, in 1961 he formed The Gospel Hearts, recording three albums, appearing in concerts with the Blue Ridge Quartet, Chuck Wagon Gang, Oak Ridge Quartet, Kingsmen, the LeFevres, the Harmoneers, and on television.
Earle rebranded his group in 1967 to The Marksmen Quartet, beginning a history that continues producing hit songs and numerous awards. Earle continued his rise in southern gospel music producing 12 more albums before shifting his musical direction. In the early 1980s, Earle received a unique invitation to bring his quartet and perform on what was then one of the South’s largest bluegrass festivals in Dahlonega, GA, produced by Norman Adams. With Earle’s stage mastery, four voices – Earle, Mark Wheeler (guitar), Keith Chambers (mandolin), and Rob Gillentine (bass), The Marksmen Quartet became the first established southern gospel quartet to crossover into the bluegrass genre.
Their appearance was explosive, yielding newfound fans and bookings from promoters from across the country. That explosive response from audiences was often spurred by Earle’s performances of Get Away Jordan and I Want to Go There. Within a short time, The Marksmen found themselves included among the elite acts of bluegrass, joining the Grand Ole Opry’s Birthday Celebration in 1987, a decade earlier as a southern gospel star, but this time as a bluegrass artist.
They then had a performance for the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Legends of Bluegrass Concert in 1988. In a span of a few years, Earle had brought his southern gospel quartet from an unknown in bluegrass circles to bluegrass legends, appearing alongside Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Jim & Jesse, The Lewis Family, and The Osborne Brothers. Their efforts garnered them nine Gospel Bluegrass Band of the Year Awards once such an award was created.
While in southern gospel, it is not unusual for singers or MCs to break into a short gospel message around a song or the moving of the Spirit, that potential message was a huge fear among bluegrass promoters. Their secular audiences wanted music and entertainment, not “preaching.” Earle helped to break down that barrier, as a skilled MC. He read audiences well, flooding his shows with humor and music by choosing songs that moved with the Spirit to serve as God’s message. His approach and professionalism opened doors for those that followed.
His next greatest contribution for bluegrass came when he encouraged the creation of the genre’s charting system initially modeled after southern gospel ,helping create the opportunity for new stars within the style.
His acceptance in bluegrass also yielded a transition and acceptance into the country genre, performing side by side with their biggest stars, still performing in the same fashion, just finding new audiences for four voices and their unique songs. The group would win five Country Gospel Group of the Year Awards. They won Two Country Music Video Awards for Grandpa Was a Farmer and Wagon Tracks.
In 1991, Earle and his Marksmen appeared on televisions’ In the Heat of the Night CD, Christmas Time’s A Comin’, providing both backup vocals to star Anne-Marie Johnson on Little Drummer Boy, and being featured alongside TV Legend Carroll O’Connor on Jingle Bells. His wife Shirley also created the cover art for the project, produced by Marksmen fiddler Randall Franks.
While opening up new performance opportunities for southern gospel artists, Earle never left his gospel sound behind, still appearing in concerts, charting songs on radio, and remaining active behind the scenes. He and The Marksmen were among the founding members of the Southern Gospel Music Guild. The Marksmen obtained Gospel Music Association Dove Awards nominations for God’s Masterpiece (2008), Blue Ridge Mountain Memories (2010), and This My Crowd (2013).
Many of The Marksmen’s recordings were penned by Earle, his son Mark, or other Marksmen members. Some others among their hits were He Is I Am, Wagon Tracks, Meet Me in Heaven, and Testimony on Aisle Five. Earle’s song Redemption Day was popular for him, and for The Hoppers. The Cathedrals also found a hit in the Marksmen’s recording of The Prodigal Son. The Kingsmen, Gold City Quartet, and Wendy Bagwell & the Sunliters, and countless other acts, have also recorded songs from their catalog. The Marksmen Quartet is an inductee of the Lone Star State Country Music Association Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame.
The Marksmen currently includes Earle’s son Mark Wheeler, Dawson Dyer, and Darrin Chambers.
Earle is survived by his wife Shirley, his son Mark (Joy), and his grandchildren Will, Sarah Grace, and Cana, and current and former members of The Marksmen Quartet.
