Any of my friends will tell you that the one thing I am not is brief! What do you expect of a Baptist preacher, anyway? But I'll try, just the same. The Challengers really began as a trio, I believe in the early '80's and consisted of two ladies, Beverly Robertson singing soprano, Faye Crews singing alto, and myself (Ronnie). There were several personnel changes in the early years (and later) as we lost Beverly and added a male lead singer, then a bass. The group at that time consisted of Gary Cooper as second tenor (lead), Faye Crews as alto, Ronnie Lemmons as baritone and Jack Carney as bass (Jack is the gentlemen who named us The Challengers). In 1987 we became an all male quartet and recorded our first album (project) in 1989 called "Feelin' Fine." That recording, which was our first with Gerald Wolfe Productions, is no longer available. The group consisted of Ronnie Lemmons as first tenor, Gary Cooper as second tenor (lead), Ed Jackson as baritone, and George Carneal as bass. By the way, we have the honor of being the first group that Gerald Wolfe ever did a custom recording for. Shortly after that our bass singer, George Carneal, left the group and a fellow by the name of Ronnie Pugh (you may have seen him on the Nashville Network when they did a special about Ernest Tubb). Ronnie stayed with us for five years. During that time Gary Cooper left and David Porter came on board. Ed Jackson also left (to form his own group) and Eloise Gaither came in to sing alto and contralto. I dropped from first tenor (whew!) to baritone/tenor. The group during this time recorded two more projects: "I Remember The Day" and "He's A Personal Savior." David Porter then left us (he moved to Chattanooga) and Mark (Big Dog) Segroves came on as our lead singer. Ronnie Pugh, as the father of a fine new son left the group to spend more time with his family and we begain singing as a trio. We recorded two projects as a trio, "It's His Righteousness" and "He Died For Me." In 1999 George Carneal called and asked about returning to the group and began driving up from Bessemer (just outside Birmingham) Alabama to sing with us. In April, 2001, Bro. George had a motorcycle accident on his way to practice. As a result, he had to have his spleen removed, He had an accident as a result of heart blockages and had to have 6 heart bypasses. Bro. George's recovery from that surgery was very slow, and he has decided not to return to the group. After a year and a half, he continues to gain strength slowly and is feeling much better. Though we miss him, we feel that his decision is probably the right one. Thanks for continuing to lift him up to the Lord.
We received shipment on our latest recording ,"It's Heaven," in July of 2001 and we're very pleased with the good job that Gerald & Company did for us. (see "Recording Projects" page for more information). We are eagerly looking forward to singing in your area sometime soon - just as soon as you contact us for scheduling - and we hope you will soon!.
I guess I'm really the old man of the group - certainly I'm the only original one left. They sometimes tell me they'll have to shoot me before I'll quit!
We've just recently added a new member to our group, a young man (early 30's!) named Wayne Bush. Wayne is playing bass guitar with us and doing some singing. (We've started doing some live music, with me on keyboard.) Wayne is proving himself a valuable addition to the Challengers. Be sure to welcome him next time you see us in concert.
I do want to mention our former band members. Tom Neese played bass guitar with us nearly from day one up until about 1998 when he retired from the group. He says he was getting too old, but I can't keep up with him today. I was our keyboard person for years, although while we were a male quartet, a young man by the name of Charles Couey played keyboards with us for a time. Then, a year or so before Ronnie Pugh left us, a young fellow named Ricky Baker came to play for us and stayed about two and one half years. He could and still can burn a keyboard up! He lives near Dothan, Alabama now. Scott Taylor was with us during most of the time frame that Ricky played keyboards. He was our guitar picker and trumpet player extrodanaire. Scott plays now in Heaven's orchestra. During this time my son, James-Michael Lemmons played drums for us. Today we sing primarily with tracks, although very occasionally I will do a little keyboard work. Hope I didn't wear you out. Come back again soon; this pages changes from time to time. Bye!