Inducted 1977
JAMES STEPHEN WETHERINGTON
(1922 – 1973)
James “Big Chief” WETHERINGTON was the talented and debonair bass singer for The Statesmen Quartet during the group’s most prolific years, 1949 – 1970s.
One of Southern Gospel’s all-time great bass singers; James Wetherington is remembered not only for his rich bass voice, but also as a man of class and dignity.
James Wetherington began his career in the late 1940s singing with the Sunny South Quartet and then with the Melody Masters. In 1949, he became the bass singer for The Statesmen Quartet and it would be with that legendary group that his name would be forever etched in Gospel Music history.
When Wetherington joined The Statesmen, group leader Hovie Lister suggested James needed a nickname. Paying homage to his Cherokee Indian heritage, and his tall, lean, statue, Wetherington became “Big Chief” and the endearing name became part of Southern Gospel history. His friends and close associates shortened the nickname even more, to simply “Chief.”
Wetherington was a Georgia native, and excluding temporary relocations with The Statesmen, made Georgia his home. While known to his many fans as the personification of a rhythmic bass singer, he was also devoted to his family and home church, where he spent many years as the choir director. Big Chief was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Navy. Wetherington was an accomplished song writer who penned the classics Our Debts Will Be Paid and Trying to Get a Glimpse. In addition to singing with the famous Statesmen, he did a lot of work leading choirs, including the Golden States Choir, with whom he recorded two albums. A key member of The Statesmen for 24 years, Chief continued to entertain and delight audiences until his untimely death during the week of the National Quartet Convention in Nashville in 1973. Wetherington, who had been dealing with illness for a short period, suffered a heart attack in his hotel room the day after The Statesmen had performed at the Convention; he was a few days short of turning 51. As a side note, in Memphis in the 1950s, an unknown teenager, Elvis Presley, was an adamant and envious fan of Southern Gospel music, especially the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen quartets. Although not a bass singer, Elvis became forever captivated by the group’s bass singers, J.D. Sumner with the Blackwood’s and Big Chief with The Statesmen. “Big Chief” Wetherington was one of a handful who set the standards by which all other bass singers are still judged. James Wetherington was inducted into the Southern Gospel Association Hall of Fame in 1997. Note of interest – When Elvis Presley’s fame exploded, he became controversial for his physical gyrations. One of his signature moves was the rhythmic shaking of his leg, something he picked- up from watching Wetherington. Content from: Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, The Music Men by Bob Terrell (1990), Murray’s Compact Encyclopedia of Southern Gospel Music (2020), adapted/edited/additional writing by GMA Hall Of Fame staff member Jon Robberson Sr. (September 2021)
