Dickie Mathews
Bobby Strickland
Lawrence Welk Show on ABC TV
Chattanooga musician Dickie Mathews nearly made it to national television but those plans abruptly changed in the fall of 1953.
The West Virginia native started playing the piano as a youngster at the age of nine and accompanied many Southern Gospel groups. Mr. Mathews’ first love was Southern Gospel Music and he was an accompanist at several national quartet conventions. Mr. Mathews, who settled in Chattanooga, even backed up Jimmy Dean, Stuart Hamblen and played for Elvis Presley one night when his pianist didn’t show up.
In a wide ranging radio interview Sept. 25, 2005, Mr. Mathews said after working for several Gospel groups, he got a job playing piano in 1952 for Bobby Strickland and the Crusaders Quartet.
Mr. Mathews said the Crusaders, formed in 1950, were very popular doing concerts and revivals across the East and South. Group leader Mr. Strickland once sang tenor with Hovie Lister and the Statesman and was well known among Gospel Music enthusiasts. Mr. Strickland, a native of Sand Mountain, Al., was a fan favorite. The quartet had a regional radio program sponsored by the Florida Citrus Commission and represented by J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Mr. Mathews said the Thompson agency had reached an agreement with ABC Television in 1953 for a weekly Saturday night quartet program.
Mr. Mathews said before going to New York to sign the contract the quartet took a few days off to be with their families in Alabama. The pianist said he chose to remain in Chattanooga where the group was in revival at Park City near Rossville. That weekend Mr. Strickland was killed (Sept. 24, 1953) in a tragic automobile accident near Birmingham. Mr. Mathews said the dreams of the remaining members were shattered and it was very hard to understand at the time. The quartet continued singing without their leader for several months but eventually decided to disband to seek other jobs.
Mr. Mathews said the advertising agency must have had a backup plan because a few days after Mr. Strickland’s death they announced a contract signing with ABC TV for the Lawrence Welk Show which premiered, July 2, 1955. Mr. Mathews said as he watched the Welk show he thought, “That could have been our group on national TV and at the time we didn’t understand why God had other plans for our lives.” The Welk program ran on ABC from 1955 until going into syndication in 1971.
Mr. Mathews said during his time of accompanying the Crusaders their most popular song was “My God Is Real.” Mr. Mathews said Mr. Strickland would talk about meeting a young Elvis backstage at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis while the Crusaders sang there. Mr. Mathews said Mr. Strickland never knew how popular Elvis would become. Mr. Mathews learned later how much Elvis liked to hear Mr. Strickland and the Crusaders sing “My God is Real.” Elvis even included the song in his RCA Victor Gospel Album.
Mr. Mathews was part of the Southern Belle Riverboat Ramblers on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga for several decades and worked for the Chattanooga Funeral Home for 25 years.
Mr. Mathews, who died in 2015, was inducted into the Gospel Music Piano Roll of Honor in early 2000. Mr. Strickland was inducted into the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2003.