Chuck Wagon Gang

The Chuck Wagon Gang is a Southern Gospel vocal group that has been singing live, on radio and on television for more than 85 years. Founded as the Carter Quartet by David P. "Dad" Carter, his son Ernest (a.k.a. "Jim"), and his daughters Lola ("Rose") and Effie ("Anna"), the group began singing on Lubbock, Texas radio station KFYO in 1935. In 1936, they switched to the larger station WBAP in Forth Worth, Texas, where the group began hosting its own show under the name The Chuck Wagon Gang. Sponsored by the Bewley Mills flour company, their radio shows lasted for 15 years, apart from brief interruptions during World War II. The group's repertoire originally was a mix of ballads, folk, western, and popular songs of the day, interspersed with one hymn or gospel song each day, but gospel turned out to be most popular with their audience, and at some point the group began to focus exclusively on Southern Gospel music. In 1936, the group signed on with the American Record Corporation (ARC) and cut its first records at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, on November 25 and 26, 1936. These first 22 titles were still a mix of Gospel and Western songs. In 1939, when CBS purchased ARC, the company also took over the contract with the Chuck Wagon Gang. Over the next 39 years, the Gang recorded 408 titles for the Columbia label, and at some point it became Columbia's number one selling group with over 39 million in record sales.