The Palmetto State Quartet | |
---|---|
Origin | Greenville, South Carolina, United States |
Genres | Southern Gospel |
Years active | 1946–2013 |
Labels | Skylite Records, Sing Records, Dawn Records, MorningStar Records, Cathedral Records, Sonlite Records, Peaceful Valley Records, Mansion Entertainment |
The Palmetto State Quartet was a professional Southern Gospel quartet that originated in Greenville, South Carolina, in the mid-1940s. In 1988 they received at a Singing News Fan Awards ceremony the Marvin Norcross Award for contributions to Southern Gospel over their career. Their song "Knock, Knock, Knock" was dubbed "number one radio single" by Singing News magazine in 2004.
The Palmetto State Quartet has had many members from many different backgrounds, some of which would become resourceful voices in the mainstream gospel music world. Quite famously, Hovie Lister joined the quartet for two years before bringing back his signature Statesmen Quartet the following year. Former member Jack Bagwell died on July 21, 2025. [1]
The Palmetto State Quartet began in 1946 with original members Jamie Dill (Piano), Woodrow Pittman (Lead), Clarence Owens (Tenor), Malone Thomason (Baritone), and Paul Burroughs (Bass). Soon after they started, the group was signed to do a thirty minute program which would air live on WFBC Radio in Greenville, South Carolina.
Between 1968 and 1971, while the quartet was going through some personnel changes, they did not tour as regularly as normal. The major blow occurred in 1987 with the death of original pianist Jamie Dill. Group ownership was then taken over by Jack Earl Pittman.
In 1989, the legendary Hovie Lister joined the group as pianist and Woody Beatty filled in for him before taking piano duties full time when Lister went back to his signature Statesmen. When Bagwell, Pittman, and Harold Gilley retired from the group in 1997, Beatty became the group owner. Subsequently, his son Kerry Beatty became the group owner when Woody retired in 2002.
Larry Strickland became the owner of the group when Beatty left in 2009. In early 2012, Strickland re-branded the group as a more country-styled vocal band, akin to Diamond Rio or Lonestar. By early 2013, they went back to being a traditional quartet, and sought to change their name as the group had not been based in South Carolina for some time. They held a write-in contest to solicit ideas for a new name, but shortly after the contest closed, Strickland announced his resignation and the disbanding of the Palmetto State Quartet. The remaining members did record one album under the contest-winning name, Glass Temple, but did not continue as a group after that.
https://www.sghistory.com/index.php?n=P.PalmettoStateQuartet