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Story by Carey Reeder | Photos Contributed by Blackwood Brothers Quartet

After 70 years since their plane crash shook the nation, an exhibit was held in Clanton to remember the Blackwood Brothers Quartet members that lost their lives in 1954.

The exhibit at Senior Connection in Clanton, The Blackwood Brothers Exhibit: A 70th Anniversary Commemoration of Tragedy and Triumph, showcased unique and rare photos of the plane crash that cut short two lives in one of the most iconic gospel music groups of all time.

The exhibit officially opened on June 29, and a presentation was held that included guest speakers and musical performances by the Blackwood Family of the group’s most beloved songs. The exhibit was made possible by Lynn Carter in conjunction with The Friends of Alabama State Archives Fellowship.

“The City of Clanton just embraced us for this exhibit, and I cannot thank them enough for their support,” Carter said.

Those in the Blackwood family and those close to them who attended the exhibit opening included Ron, Shelly, R.W. Jr., Donna, Terry and Billy Blackwood, Andrea Blackwood Carter, Bill Lyles Jr. and Charles Yates.

“For a specific generation that grew up with the Blackwood Brothers, that was a very significant and emotional event for not only Clanton, but for Chilton County,” Billy Singleton, Clanton City Council member and longtime Chilton County resident, said. “I would asked people what they remembered about it, and it was almost like everyone had that moment frozen in their memories and they knew where they were when they heard the news.”

The group formed in 1934 in Choctaw County, Mississippi during the Great Depression, and the original members of the quartet included brothers James, Doyle and Roy Blackwood, and Roy’s son, R.W. Blackwood, Sr. The group quickly gained fame and appeared on radio and television throughout the southeast, even catching the eye of Elvis Presley who admired the group.

The group turned to air transportation to and from shows as their popularity increased, and from 1952-1954, the group owned a number of different airplanes before purchasing a 10-passenger, twin-engine Beechcraft Model 18. R.W. Blackwood, Sr. served as the pilot of the aircraft while Lyles served as co-pilot and navigator.

By 1954, the group had some members retire or leave the group. On June 30 of that year, the Blackwood Brothers group consisted of James Blackwood, R.W. Blackwood, Sr., Bill Shaw, Bill Lyles, Sr. and Jackie Marshall, and they traveled to Clanton for the seventh annual Chilton County Peach Festival. This came just a short time after the group won the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts competition on national television.

On the last night of the Peach Festival, two widely known gospel groups — the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen, were scheduled to perform in the recently converted hangar at the Clanton Airport. The hangar was turned into an auditorium and concert hall with a stage for crowds to watch the 1954 Peach Festival events.

“Entertainment the likes of which Chilton County has never seen before is in store until Wednesday night, June 30th,” The Union-Banner newspaper said in the days leading up to the event.

Singleton wrote an article in 2014 for The Clanton Advertiser that showcased the crash on its 60th anniversary, and he recalled some of James Blackwood’s testimony about the flight on June 30 from Gulfport, Mississippi to Clanton.

“There is nothing in God’s world more beautiful than Alabama’s woods and hills in early summer. The landscape, dressed in lush green, and the light blue haze that shadows the peaks, gives you a feeling of awe at the magnificence of God’s creation,” Blackwood said in Singleton’s article. “Cruising at 6,000 feet, the motors of our plane were humming a soothing, muted lullaby. Wisps of fleecy, white clouds were here and there around us.”

The group landed in Clanton at noon, and they were greeted by hundreds of fans in Chilton County. While the main performance was not until 7 p.m. that night, the group performed a short show during a luncheon shortly after they arrived. Among those who greeted the group upon their arrival was J. Archie Ogburn, a civic leader in Chilton County and the original chairman of the Chilton County Peach Festival.

At around 6:15 p.m. that night, R.W. Blackwood, Sr. decided he and Lyles would make a test flight to get a feel of the runways. The group had to return to Memphis following the Peach Festival concert, so a night takeoff was planned. In 1954, the Clanton Airport consisted of two sod runways — one laid in an east to west direction and the second in a northwest to southeast direction, with neither of the two having lights along the runways. Johnny Ogburn Jr., the son of the Peach Festival chairman, joined the two on the plane for the test run.

The plane taxied to the end of the runway and took off into the air. The plane had to land in the opposite direction of their landing at noon due to the change in wind direction since their arrival. This meant the plane had to fly over a small hill during the landing approach, and after clearing it, the pilot would have to reduce speed and lose altitude quickly enough to touch down and stop.

The plane took off into the evening sky and it circled the field many times before trying to land. It cleared the small hill, and R.W. Blackwood, Sr. lowered the nose to land, but the plane was going too fast and he had to climb in altitude to try to land for a second time. On the second landing attempt, the plane cleared the hill again, and R.W. Blackwood, Sr. began a “side-slip” maneuver to scrub off speed and lose altitude quickly. The plane touched down, but bounced back into the air, and R.W. Blackwood, Sr. applied power to climb in altitude again.

The crowd watching on the ground below began to sense the plane was in danger. When R.W. Blackwood, Sr. climbed for the second time, the place entered a vertical climb, remained suspended in the air briefly and then dove violently into the ground below.

Singleton spoke with late Clanton Mayor Billy Joe Driver for his 2014 article on what he remembers from that tragic day as he sat in the bleachers in the hangar waiting for the performance to begin.

“From my seat, I could see the airplane as it approached for landing. Although I couldn’t say why, it just didn’t look right to me,” Driver said in Singleton’s article. “I could see the airplane as it began to climb. It appeared to go straight up into the air. It looked like it was going to do a loop maneuver, but it nosed down and descended into the ground. At first, I thought it was some kind of prank, but all of a sudden people were running out of the hangar onto the landing field. We just couldn’t believe what had happened. It didn’t seem real.”

Turmoil ensued at the airport, and all three occupants of the airplane — R.W. Blackwood, Sr., Lyles and Ogburn Jr., died in the crash.

Singleton compared the Blackwood Brothers death in the gospel music community to the death of Buddy Holly in the rock and roll music community, and how the trauma from the event reached across the United States, and even internationally.

“This was an event for a specific generation that occurred here that they will never forget,” Singleton said. “There was such an outpour of community support … I think it is important that we remember those things, remember those events and remember those people that were involved. I never want us to forget those events and people that make us who we are.”

Following the crash on June 30, 1954, more than 1,000 people gathered at the Clanton Airport, and all of the money collected for tickets to the Blackwood Brothers concert was donated to the families of the victims. Although refunds were made available, no one asked for one.

Two days later in Memphis, thousands of fans gathered at the funeral service for R.W. Blackwood, Sr. and Lyles. On the same day in Thorsby, Ogburn was laid to rest at Thorsby Baptist Church. Following the accident, the surviving members of the Blackwood Brothers group, and those who witnessed the crash in Chilton County, were overcome with grief. James Blackwood stated that the group would never perform again, and in Chilton County, organizers expressed concern about the future of the Peach Festival as well.

However, five weeks after the accident, the Blackwood Brothers and their family decided their work in music would not stop due to the accident. On August 4, 1954, a Blackwood Brothers concert was held at the same hangar at the Clanton Airport where the accident took place. Cecil Blackwood and J.D. Sumner stepped in to fill the spots of the deceased members, and more than 5,000 people attended the concert, which was the largest crowd for a singing event in Alabama at the time.

In June 2001, the Clanton Lions Club put a pavilion around the memorial that sits at the Clanton Airport to remember the accident and the victims. Hundreds of visitors to the memorial stop by from around the country every year to keep the memory of those alive, just like Cole and Carter have done with their 70th anniversary exhibit.

Now, in 2024, the Blackwood Brothers family are continuing their musical careers and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet is still going strong, and the Peach Festival notched the 77th installment in its history. While both parties carry on, the memories and victims from that day in 1954 still remain in their thoughts.