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Here is an excerpt of an email I recently sent to the Gospel Music Association office.
I have removed some of the names in question.

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:21:47 -0700
To: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Subject: 1971 Dove Awards Program

Sandy,
Thank you for returning my phone call.

Many years ago I heard that no Dove Awards were given in 1971, but I never really knew why. So a few months ago I began to do some research.

Here is what I have found.

1. There was an awards show in 1971. The awards were given and then recalled later that week.

2. At the 1970 National Quartet Convention, the GMA held a meeting with all the top artists' managers. The GMA was still new, and was not doing well. The artists and their managers were asked to sign up new members for the GMA at all of their concerts for the upcoming year. And that's what all the artists did.

3. The Blackwood Brothers were one of the most successful acts of the day. They drew the biggest crowds and signed up the most people to the GMA. So in 1971, it was really no surprise that they won in just about every category in which they were nominated.

4. After the awards were given, J. D. Sumner (of the Stamps Quartet), and Paul Downing (of the Downings) and some others, brought accusations of voter cheating against the Blackwood Family. They claimed that Cecil Blackwood and James Blackwood (both of the Blackwood Brothers) signed up their pets as GMA members.

5. Cecil and James admitted that they did sign their up their pets. But the assumption of the accusers was, that if they did this, they must have signed hundreds of phony members. These assumptions were never proven, to my knowledge. J. D. Sumner, Paul Downing, Cecil and James Blackwood have all passed away. But according to members of the Blackwood Family, Cecil and James only had three pets between them, hardly enough to make a major difference in the outcome of the votes. The Blackwood family maintains that other than the three pets, there was NO stuffing of the ballot box. What Cecil and James did had been done in previous years by the Oak Ridge Boys and The Imperials. That's where they got the idea.

5. The votes were certified by the accounting firm of Ernst and Ernst.

6. James wanted to keep peace in the industry so he agreed to return the Blackwood Brothers awards. But the GMA asked for ALL awards to be returned, and the records stand to this day that NO AWARDS were given.

7. There were several winners that evening who knew nothing of this scandal, and were forced to return awards. I have found two artist that refused. They still have their awards.

8. The Blackwood Brothers went on to win many more Dove Awards through the years, and in 1998 were inducted into the GMA Hall Of Fame. Apparently, all was forgiven, or never proven.

Attached is a copy of the 1971 Dove Awards Program.
Here is a list of the winners.

Best Instrumentalist: Billy Blackwood

Best Album Photo Artwork : MY GOD AND I (Blackwood Brothers, RCA Records)
(This was awarded to the Photographer, no name credit appears on the album)

Best Graphic Layout: AMAZING GRACE (Blackwood Brothers, RCA Camden Records) (This was awarded to the graphic artist, but again I cannot find their name credit on the album)

Best Back liner Notes: MY GOD AND I (Blackwood Brothers, RCA Records) (Also no credits listed, so I don't know who the award was given to.)

Best Television Program: Johnny Cash Hour

Gospel DJ: Sid Hughes

Gospel Songwriter: Bill Gaither

Song of the Year: THE KING IS COMING

Special Award: Wendy Bagwell for HERE COME THE RATTLE SNAKES (Canaan Records)

Special Award: Uncle Alf and Urias LeFevre for 50 YEARS OF GOSPEL MUSIC

Female Vocalist: Sue Chenault (Dodge) (Sue refused to return the award and still has it. She also won the same category for the next three years. Donna Blackwood of the Blackwood Singers was also nominated, but did not win.

Male Vocalist: James Blackwood (James would win this honor six more times)

Best Record Album: MY GOD AND I (The Blackwood Brothers, RCA Records)

Most Promising New Talent: Kay Blackwood (She also refused to return her award and still has it)

Best Mixed Group: The Blackwood Singers
(Although nominated several times, this was the Blackwood Singers only win. James pulled family rank on his nephew and insisted that R.W. Blackwood return the trophy.

Several managers of mixed groups were upset by this win. The Blackwood Singers worked mostly Fairs and Festivals. They did not work the Southern Gospel circuit like the other groups nominated did. Those who opposed the Blackwood Singers win argued that the they should not even be in this category.

I believe that since the hired accounting firm certified the votes, they should stand.

I believe that a huge mistake was made by the GMA 38 years ago by recalling these awards. Many people paid for GMA memberships that year just to have voting rights in the Dove Awards. Unless the GMA returned EVERY member's money, then the votes need to stand as certified by Ernst and Ernst.

I would like to ask that ALL of the 1971 Dove Awards be re-instated to every winner, or living members of their family at the 2010 Dove Award Telecast.

Thank you,
Daryl Williams

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