Wally Fowler
| Wally Fowler | |
|---|---|
Fowler in the 1980s
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Wallace Fowler |
| Also known as | The Man with a Million Friends |
| Born | February 15, 1917 |
| Origin | Adairsville, Georgia, USA |
| Died | June 3, 1994 (aged 77) |
| Genres | Gospel, country |
| Occupation(s) | singer, songwriter |
| Years active | 1935 – 1985 |
| Labels | 4 Star Records, Decca, Starday, Pickwick, Dove, King, Nashwood |
| Associated acts | The Georgia Clodhoppers The Oak Ridge Quartet Tennessee Valley Boys |
John Wallace "Wally" Fowler (February 15, 1917 – June 3, 1994) was an American Southern gospel music singer, manager, and music promoter and businessman. He founded the Oak Ridge Quartet, a gospel act that eventually became the Oak Ridge Boys; and popularized all-night gospel sings. An accomplished songwriter in both the country music and gospel fields, Fowler's composition "Wasted Years" became a gospel music standard. He was known as The Man with a Million Friends and Mr. Gospel Music.
Born near Adairsville, Georgia, Fowler's father was the cotton king of Bartow County, Georgia until the Great Depression left him broken both in health and financially. Fowler then worked in a florist shop to support the family. He began his professional career at age 18, singing baritone with the John Daniel Quartet from Alabama. The group moved to Lubbock, Texas, where he began to write songs and first sang his popular "I'm Sending You Red Roses" (a No. 2 hit for Jimmy Wakely in 1944) in Dallas. In 1940, the quartet relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where they appeared on the Grand Ole Opry on WSM-AM.
He then struck out on his own, forming a country music group, Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers, which included Chet Atkins on lead guitar. They performed on WNOX-AM in Knoxville, Tennessee and became regulars on Mid-day Merry Go Round. Fowler later formed his Harmony Quartet, which sang in weekly concerts for children at nearby Oak Ridge, which led to Fowler renaming the group the Oak Ridge Quartet. The group consisted of himself, Lon "Deacon" Freeman, Curly Kinsey and Johnny New.
Fowler moved to Nashville, and from 1946-50 became a regular part of The Prince Albert Show segment of the Grand Ole Opry on NBC Radio. In 1948, he launched his first all-night gospel sing, popularizing a format that would blanket the South over the next two decades. Originating from Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium and later taken to other major cities across the region, each show featured many of the day's premier Southern gospel quartets. Fowler's innate promotional genius took gospel music to a much larger audience than ever before.
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