Mark IV
The Mark IV is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1969 International Quartet Champion.
Luck and the US Government - combined, of course, with the well-known Rector talent - won Morris "Mo" Rector his second International gold quartet medal in 1969. San Antonio's Mark IV was the champion that year, and C.O. Crawford had been the bass of the quartet since 1963. He was with tenor Franklin Spears, lead Al Koberstein, and bari Dale Deiser when they placed third in Los Angeles in 1967, and again - although he barely made it - when the quartet won the silver in Cincinnati in '68.
But C.O. was a State Department employee, subject to being sent on short notice to the Mideast or some other trouble spot for a few weeks or a few years. Rector, who had won his first medal with the Gaynotes in 1958, usually filled in for C.O. on shows while he was gone.
In 1968, C.O. made it back from Jordan just one day before the Southwestern District prelims, qualified with the quartet and won a silver medal in Cincinnati. A week later Uncle Sam called again. The message this time: two years in Morocco.
So Rector was the bass at the '69 prelims and again when Mark IV won the championship in St. Louis in July. C.O. later returned, Rector left, and the quartet filled engagements for several years before disbanding.
Most went on to other quartets or to even greater accomplishments - especially Franklin Spears, who became a justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
Quartet Members
Winning Members:
- Tenor: Franklin Spears (66-74)
- Lead: Allan Koberstein (64-74)
- Bari: Dale Deiser (62-74)
- Bass: Mo Rector (69)
Former Members:
- Bass: C.O. Crawford (63-68, 70-74)
- Bari: John McCord (62-64)
- Lead: Ben Binford (62-64)
- Bass: Mike McCord (62-63)
- Tenor: Charlie Ward (65)
- Tenor: Seth Moore (66)
- Bass: Pete Tomseth (70)
Contest Placement
Internationals
| 1963 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st |
District
Represented the Southwestern District.
- 1962 - 2nd
- 1963 - 4th
- 1965 - 2nd
- 1966 - 1st
Recordings
- Swing Low
- Anything Goes[1]
- Mark IV AIC Masterworks Series
Extended History
The Mark IV
written and researched by Grady Kerr
taken from Golden Memories - The History of the Southwestern District - pub 1996
Updated in May, 2020 by Mark Holdeman in coordination with June & Lisa Deiser. We thank the Deiser family for their generous contributions to this page.
The roots of this gold medal quartet come from several fine Southwestern District foursomes and include many outstanding singers. The story probably begins in San Antonio in 1962 with Dale Deiser, of the 1960 district champ Playboys, looking for a new quartet. He was able to recruit bari, John McCord, bass, Mike McCord (no relation) and lead, Ben Binford, all fine quartetters. This combination placed 2nd at the Fall SWD Quartet competition.
In the spring of 1963 they qualified for International contest at prelims in New Orleans, but only placed 40th in Toronto. The contest was a disappointment, however, they had fun at the convention singing with the Chordsmen who placed 4th. After the convention, Mike left to join the Checkmarks and C. O. Crawford replaced him in late 1963. The Checkmarks became Southwestern District champs a few months later with the Mark IV placing 4th.
The Mark IV were alternates to their “own” International (held in San Antonio) in 1964. Each worked on the convention committee helping with the auditorium as well as being the official mic testers. They disbanded by the end of the summer.
It just so happened that in that 1964 contest was a quartet from the Evergreen District called the Journeymen, with a young lead named Allan Koberstein. On enlisting in the Air Force, Koberstein was stationed, like many other San Antonio members, at Lackland Air Force base.
Meantime the Mark IV re-formed in 1965. Deiser switched from tenor to baritone. Charlie Ward originally sang tenor and in 1966, for a few weeks, tenor Seth Moore joined them and they went to prelims. They attempted to qualify but were again alternates.
Songwriter and friend Jack Stern asked the Mark IV and the Checkmarks (who often performed together as the Marksmen Octet) to record a special song for Lady Bird Johnson. Frank Bloebaum arranged it and some guitars were used for the instrumental background. One of Lady Bird's quotes was, “If the Lord be willin' and the creek don't rise”. Jack sent it to her in 1964 while she was still first lady, but he never heard back.
In 1966 The Marksmen had the pleasure of singing for Lady Bird Johnson during a dinner to honor her "Keep America Beautiful" project. They told the story and sang the song. It was the first time she had ever heard it and thanked each octet member personally.
Left-over from the original Mark IV, Dale and C.O. grabbed Allan and by August of 1966 found Franklin Spears, baritone of the Playboys, ready to sing again, this time on tenor. This combination clicked and three months later, they won the Southwestern District quartet championship in Houston. They then set their sights on International competition. Thus began a steady rise to the top. In the 1967 International they placed a strong and thrilling third in Los Angeles.
C. O. worked for the State Department teaching English to foreign pilots and was at risk of being sent, on short notice, to the Mid-East. He returned from a 13-week assignment in Jordan just a day prior to the 1968 prelims. Luckily, the Mark IV qualified for International and placed second in Cincinnati. A week later, C.O. was told of his new assignment, two years in Morocco.
Mo Rector had moved to New Braunfels from Tulsa in December of '66 leaving behind the Gaynotes and 12 years of active quartetting. He had already filled in for C.O. several times. He now replaced him on bass. There was some speculation as to whether or not the quartet could maintain its momentum after placing second in 1968.
All four members were active members of the San Antonio Chordsmen chorus. Franklin had joined them in 1957. A dedicated public official, he had served the state of Texas as a State Representative, a Senator and was a well known attorney/district judge. Dale was drafted into the Army while in Oregon, was transferred to Fort Sam Houston and joined the Chordsmen in 1958.
After two years stationed at Fort Sam Houston, he retired from the service and began working for a member of the chorus' moving van company. Mo had joined in Okmulgee, OK in 1949 and joined Tulsa in '53. Allan started in Eugene, Oregon in 1958 at the age of 16. He was now the lead of a potential International champion.
Mo and the Mark IV qualified for the International and went from rehearsing 3 to 4 times a week to singing every night the month before the contest. They figured there were (including performances) 550 man-hours spent that month preparing for the contest. They were helped by coaches Lynn and Mike McCord, and top arranger Joni Bescos.
They took St. Louis by "storm" and impressed the Kiel Auditorium crowd by singing "I'd Give a Million Tomorrows", and "Piano Roll Blues". This gave them a commanding 120 point lead after the first round. In the end, The Mark IV won their gold medals by a 163 point margin.
The Southwestern District contingent also was thrilled by seeing the Houston Tidelanders come in second in the chorus contest. It had been eleven years since one of our quartets had won and the victory was sweet. The quartet, keeping with tradition, sang all night and then met with Society VIP's for a celebratory breakfast. They also had to appear on local TV and even sing. They admit the only one who still looked good was Mo who had forgotten to take off his stage makeup. It was only fitting. Mo had become the very first society member to repeat as a gold medalist.
They began their championship year singing all over. They set aside one weekend a month to stay home, but toured the country the other three. Following their win they sang for several Southwestern District chapters (Dallas Town North, Midland, Corpus Christi, Houston, and Baton Rouge and Austin). The Mark IV was dedicated to maintaining standards. They attempted to put as much work into singing in a corner after chorus rehearsal for a few fans as they would for an audience of 5000.
Like their predecessors, they preserved their songs by releasing two outstanding quartet recordings. In 1967 they released Swing Low. It featured many of their show tunes such as the Gaynotes' Cabaret, That's Life, Among My Souvenirs, Sam, the Accordion Man, and perhaps their most popular, I'd Give A Million Tomorrows.
In 1970 after winning, many fans were begging for another record. They answered with a trend setting album entitled Anything Goes. It was a very popular release and included songs like Don't Blame Me, It's Magic, the Carpenters' Close to You, Struttin' Down The Main Street of Dublin City, and That Lucky Old Sun.
Mo returned to Tulsa at the end of 1969 (and didn't appear on either record) and the quartet continued to travel and sing with bass Pete Tomseth filling in until C.O. returned from Morocco in the summer of '70 in time to perform with the quartet for their championship “swan song”, which included personalized lyrics to the nostalgic We Will Have These Moments To Remember, at the 1970 SPEBSQSA International Convention. Both C.O. and Mo performed with the quartet for the "swan song" performance.
Their last chord together was in Lubbock on April 20, 1974. C.O. was again transferred, this time to Iran, and Allan decided to move back to Oregon and his father's business. He did return in 1979 and sang with Dale in The Good Time Delegation for a year.
Around 1986 San Antonio held a special night at the Pearl Brewery. It was a reunion of old quartets and the Mark IV appeared. Many say they were as good as ever. The Mark IV had a very unique sound and much credit can go to Allan as an outstanding lead. His smooth voice, paired with C.O.'s low bass enabled the quartet to pitch 'em low and gave the quartet a wonderful dimension - one not yet equaled today.
C.O. retired and moved to Oklahoma City. He joined the OK Chorale, and later Music Central. He sang in Oklahoma Sound with Jim Massey as well as numerous other quartets. He passed away in October, 2012. In 2016, C.O. was named one of the top ten quartet basses of all time in the BHS magazine, “The Harmonizer”.
Allan relocated back to Salem, Oregon and worked for the school district there. He passed away on October 31, 2011.
Dale sang in many quartets over the years. He sang in the Good News Gospel Quartet with four other International Champions. They produced several CDs, music folios and learning tracks. They hosted the International Gospel Sing-Alongs in beautiful churches at International Conventions for 14 years. Along with his wife, June, he sang with Lynn & Mike McCord in Double Trouble and with Jan and Marcy Scofield in Mixed Company. Both of these groups were active for over ten years. In the 2016 "The Harmonizer" rankings of all time top quartet singers, Dale was given Honorable Mention among baritones. Dale passed away on May 4, 2018.
Franklin went on to become a Texas Supreme Court Justice retiring in 1991 following a successful heart transplant. He was named to the Southwestern District Hall Of Fame in 1988. He passed away April 10, 1996 at the age of 64.
Mo sang in many quartets throughout his long barbershop career. He was a prolific songwriter and arranger, whose music has been sung all over the world by numerous quartets and choruses. Mo was also named as one of the “top ten basses of all time” in an 2016 Harmonizer article. Mo was named to the Southwestern District Hall of Fame in 1989 and died December 6, 2003 in an automobile accident. He was 69.
The following is an interview with the quartet during their championship year. Many thanks to June & Lisa Deiser for providing this to us.
AN IMPROMPTU INTERVIEW WITH THE MARK IV - By Author Unknown
The other evening the Mark IV sang for the Texas Judicial Conference in San Antonio's new Convention Center. The Conference is made up of all the district and appellate judges in the state, including the Supreme Court Justices. Anyway, they loved it...possibly due in some small part to the fact that the Chordsmen Chorus and the Happy Jazz Band were also on the program. Also partly due, perhaps, to the fact that the audience was listening to a fellow judge sing tenor in an International Championship quartet.
After the performance, one of the judges came up to Franklin Spears...Judge Spears, that is...and apologized for getting him involved in an impromptu song fest at a previous meeting: "I had no idea you could sing like that - now I'm embarrassed!"
The performance also gave me the opportunity to corner all four members of the quartet, in the same place at the same time, for what passed as an interview session and a most fascinating one it was. In fact, we got swept out of the Convention Center and into an all-night Mexican restaurant to continue the discussion over guacamole salad, enchiladas and nachos.
There was a Mark IV quartet back in 1964 when the International Convention was in San Antonio. In fact, they were the alternates from the Southwestern District that year. They were also the auditorium committee during the convention as well as official mic-testers and ultimately got to sing more than any of the actual competitors! This combination disbanded for various reasons before the year was over.
In this same International a quartet called The Journeymen from the Evergreen District placed eighth with Allan Koberstein singing lead. Three months after the contest, Allan enlisted in the Air Force for four years and was stationed of all places, in San Antonio. Recognizing a good thing when they heard it, Dale Deiser and C. O. Crawford, remnants of the previous Mark IV, decided to give it another try and reorganized with Allan singing lead. The new combination sounded like it might have possibilities so they kept it going until August of 1966, when Franklin Spears joined the quartet as tenor. That's when things began to happen. Three months later the new Mark IV won the SW District Championship and they were on their way.
After qualifying for the International Contest in May 1967, they went on to earn 3rd place Bronze Medals in Los Angeles. A special remembrance from that contest was visiting with Bill Hanna of Hanna-Barbera fame which resulted in each of their children receiving an autographed drawing of one of the famous cartoon characters. The following spring, bass, C.O. Crawford was sent on a 13 week assignment to Jordan by his employer, the U.S. Government. As luck would have it, Morris Rector had moved to nearby New Braunfels the previous December and was prevailed upon to "fill in" for C.O. on the show bookings that had accumulated. C.O. made it back to San Antonio just one day before the SW District preliminaries where the Mark IV qualified and went on to capture the Silver second place medals in Cincinnati. A week later, C.O. got the word from Uncle Sam and was assigned to Morocco for two years.
Once again Mo Rector was asked to fill in...this time for a bit longer. Mo had joined the Austin Chapter when he moved down from Tulsa and had sung with the chapter chorus, The Chord Rangers, at the International Chorus Contest in Cincinnati. Now several factors made it necessary for him to transfer to the Chordsmen - not the least of which was his new quartet affiliation. Now with Franklin Spears on tenor, Allan Koberstein on lead, Dale Deiser on baritone and Mo Rector on bass, the Mark IV qualified in the spring of 1969 and went on to St. Louis to pick up all the marbles. As Franklin reported afterward to the chapter: "This is really what it's all about!"
To say that being an International Champion brings about a few changes in a person's well-ordered life is probably the biggest understatement since Noah said, "It looks like rain." When I asked what their other hobbies were they all got sort of a far-away reminiscent look and thought for a few minutes before Dale said, "Well, let's see, I used to bowl quite a bit and swim and hunt. And I seem to remember doing some flying at one time." Franklin admitted to winning a couple of tennis championships in school and later in the service, as well as swimming, golf and a great deal of reading. "But I don't do any of that anymore." Allan said he did a lot of hunting and fishing back home in Oregon and was quite a good skier but South Texas has never been known as a particularly good place for skiing. Mo says he spends his leisure hours "cataloging bird calls, mountain climbing and on rainy weekends I practice my karate." (Ha -Got a big picture of that!!!)
Actually, all four men would qualify as very active Barbershoppers even apart from their quartet activity. They all sing in the Chordsmen Chorus; Dale and Franklin do quite a bit of coaching; Allan has become interested in trying his hand at arranging; and Mo has been known to place notes on paper in a more or less logical sequence from time to time! Both Dale and Franklin served in various chapter offices over the years and still serve on committees. Franklin joined the Chordsmen in 1957 and Dale in 1958. Allan started his barbershopping career in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 16. That was in 1958 and his father, Al, was also a member of the chorus. Mo was a charter member at Okmulgee, Oklahoma in 1949 and joined the Tulsa Chapter in 1953. In 1954 he filled in on bass with the Gaynotes, a trial period lasting some twelve years. He appears to have become a fairly adequate bass "fill-in" since he ended up winning an International Quartet Championship twice while "filling-in."
Both Franklin and Mo began their singing careers in choirs in the Church of Christ, where a capella is the rule. In both cases their choir activities logically led to quartet singing and just as logically to barbershopping. Mo quickly become involved in all forms of music, finally ending up with the Gaynotes - but that's another story. In the meantime, he has arranged, disarranged, composed and decomposed more than 500 songs for quartets and choruses throughout the Society. Many of these have been published. He was a HEP faculty member for 5 years and served in some 50 schools from chapter to the International level. In addition, he served as president of the Association of International Champions for two years, president of the Tulsa Chapter (whose chorus he directed for 10 years), vice president of the Southwestern District and coach of the "pre-Rector" Mark IV. He's also been instrumental in the chartering of some eight chapters in the Tulsa area. Because of its rich German heritage, the town of New Braunfels is a singing community, and maybe someday...
In what they laughingly refer to as their "private lives", the Mark IV are much like any other Society foursome in a variety of background and personal history. Franklin is a civic leader in every sense of the term. Twice a member of the Texas House of Representatives, he was elected to the Texas Senate in 1961 and served until 1967. Narrowly defeated for Attorney General of Texas in 1966, he was elected Judge of the 57th Judicial District in 1968 and presides over the nine District Courts of Bexar County (San Antonio). He's an Elder and past chairman of the Board of Deacons, Covenant Presbyterian Church; former Jaycee director, YMCA past director; member of the executive committee of local Boy Scouts of America and member of the Sportsman's Club of Texas. In 1962 he was named "Outstanding Young Man in San Antonio". And that was even before the Mark IV. Odd. Every now and then he checks in at home and gets a "who was that?" from Jo Ann and the three boys: Scott, 16; Carleton, 11 and John Adrian Lucius, 2.
Allan’s career has been taken up mainly with the Air Force and the Mark IV, both rather time-consuming. He's been a management trainee for a large department store chain and a salesman for an office furniture company, but his real ambition is to get back to school and get his degree in music in order to pursue a professional musical career. He's still single, but looking. (Even listed "looking" as one of his hobbies.)
Dale is originally from Indiana, via Oregon where his parents still live. He was musically inclined at an early age and played trumpet in the high school band when he was in the 6th grade. He also played baritone and E flat sousaphone and bass is a German Band called "The Hungry Five", who had a 15 minute radio program on a local station. He sang in his first barbershop quartet in the 8th grade and in high school with the "Minor Chords" who had a great time singing at community functions, talent shows and especially serenading the girls' dorm at Pacific University. A two-year stretch with Uncle Sam at San Antonio's Ft. Sam Houston is what brought him to this part of the country. He liked the town, the Chordsmen and June, now Mrs. Deiser, and decided to stay. June was a Sweet Adeline and her quartet, The Gem Dandies were 7th and 9th Place International Medalists. Dale and June now have four youngsters: Lisa, 7; David, 5; Stacy 1-1/2 and Tina, 7 months. All show signs of strong vocal chords and lots of "ham". Dale works at the Belknap-Global Van and Storage Company for Lee Belknap, another Chordsmen.
Mo was born in Crystal City, Texas. (Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls.) The family moved to Oklahoma when Mo was 7 and he has spent most of his life - at least up to now - either singing or teaching singing. After attending college in Oklahoma and California, he returned to Tulsa where he met and married Jean Ann. "It was a big barbershop wedding", he says, "complete with afterglow!" Three weeks after the wedding he joined the road company of Music Man with the Frisco Four and had a three year, 45 city "paid honeymoon." The birth of son Mark (now 7) in Philadelphia signaled the end of Show Biz for the Rectors and he returned to Tulsa to join an engineering firm. Janine Adele, 4 and William Riley, 1-1/2 were born in Tulsa. Mo started the Jiffy Jingle company as a part-time affair writing and producing radio and television commercials. In 1967 the family moved to New Braunfels to go into partnership with his parents in Rector's Travel Center, a large restaurant, motel, grocery, souvenir shop and truck stop complex. The Y Cafe was a "must stop" for barbershoppers traveling the I-35 corridor where they were welcomed by Mom Rector to ring a few chords and enjoy a hot meal and a slice of her delicious pecan pie! Mo is now with a construction equipment company in New Braunfels and a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Optimist Club, Jaycees and Elks Lodge.
What's it like to sing with an International Champ? Well, the guys figure they probably spend as much time waiting for connections at O'Hare Field as they do with their families, but that's just an "a vocational hazard". Dale recalls the time they got back to San Antonio after singing the Peoria show and discovered that no one had any money - not even a blank check. They couldn't even bail their cars out of the lot...and it was 2 am. They finally called Roy Barnes, who is the District Manager of Braniff Airlines and a Chordsman, who was sound asleep at the time and he came down and got them out of hock. In the meantime, Mo had gone to Tulsa, found himself in the same fix, took a cab (for which he couldn't pay) to the car rental agency of former Gaynote, Howard Rinkle, borrowed $5.00, took the cab back to the airport and paid for the cab and his parking fee. Sure pays to know the right people.
Or there was the time they were enjoying the Miami hospitality of Ruth Ann and Dale Strang on their boat in the bay, finally realized the time, raced for the airport and discovered they had no tickets. A frantic call to the motel turned up nothing. So, they had to buy new ones and then found their reservations had been cancelled. This was March 6th and they just received their refunds for the lost tickets last week! Airline names withheld to protect the guilty.
Then there was the Attleboro Show. Last year at 10 pm on the Friday before Christmas, Dale received a frantic call from the Attleboro show chairman saying that the Nighthawks had been scheduled for their show the following night but someone had been taken ill and they couldn't make it...were the Mark IV available? Dale said they had nothing booked but he'd have to check with the rest of the guys. Franklin and Mo were both out and Allan had no phone at the time. Finally Dale got in touch with Franklin who said he had planned to go hunting the next day, but it was all right with him if the rest could go. Mo finally checked in with an OK. At midnight and after trying a bunch of unsuccessful ESP on Allan, Dale went out looking for him and found him! Since it was Christmas season at the store where Allan worked, he'd have to check with his boss in the morning. Dale had just about given up at mid-morning the next day when he was paged at one of the local stores. Allan could go! Call Franklin and Mo! Mo had to pack and get to the airport (30 miles from New Braunfels) in less than an hour! Made it! Changed at Chicago an New York and were met at Boston with a private plane for Attleboro. The arrived at the show during the performance and just had time to change before going on stage!
About the most tiring time they had, predictably, was at the International in St. Louis. They finally quit singing at 7:00 am Sunday, had breakfast with the International "brass" and a TV appearance at 10:30 am. The one who looked the best was Mo...he still had on last night's makeup.
Generally, the quartet says they've had fine treatment from their various hosts. The lapses have been few and they shall go unrecorded. The wives fondly remember receiving red roses from the Louisville Kentucky Thoroughbred Chorus thanking them for allowing their husbands to be on their show that weekend. The best auditoriums they've sung in have been the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, the Pasadena Playhouse and Chicago's Auditorium Theater. But the all-time best acoustics were in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Austin. They also recall the time they sang in Wichita on one side of a thin wall while the Monkees were performing on the other.
They've sung for the cast of "Viva Max" (Peter Ustinov, Pam Tiffin, Jonathan Winters, Harry Morgan, John Aston, etc.) while they were filming at the Alamo in San Antonio and they followed Ernest Tubbs who had just done "Walking the Floor Over You". They're never missed a show, even though they arrived at the Western Hills show in Cincinnati at 9:15 and went on stage at 9:20. Other than barbershop audiences, they've sung for the Christian Ministers Conference, State Teachers, doctors conventions, milk producers, Texaco dealers, Rotary, Kiwanis and a couple of area peanut festivals, a San Antonio-sponsored travel show in Fort Worth and the Yoakum, TX Chamber of Commerce. They also shared the stage with The Brothers Four at the Anacacho Room of the historic St. Anthony Hotel. They were also on the Wednesday night Fun-Tier programs, a summer 7 week series put on jointly by the San Antonio Kiwanians and the Chordsmen featuring the chorus, the Happy Jazz Band and the Mark IV, alternating with the SW District Champion Smilin' Irish also from San Antonio. This year the show played for almost 10,000 people. From the Ft. Worth show they got a booking to sing on a Gospel Show in Laredo...from the fried chicken circuit to the tamale circuit!
As with any International Champion, the work to maintain the standard is even more demanding than in attaining it. During the last quarter, the Mark IV estimate they've learned some 35 songs and put in something like 540 man-hours of rehearsal time. They had some special words of praise for their coaches, Lynn and Mike McCord, and particular thanks to Lyle Pilcher for all his help. One of their most unforgettable experiences was having breakfast one morning not long ago with the Confederates at the home of another "Southern Sympathizer" Renee Craig.
There have been two especially heart-warming experiences recently when they were honored with an appreciation party given by the Chordsmen and were each presented with a 2'x3' reproduction of their Harmonizer cover photo from St. Louis. They were also thrilled to have their photo displayed in Hipp's Bubble Room, a favorite hangout for barbershoppers and famous celebrities who visited the Alamo City.
"We've done about 20 shows in the last quarter" says secretary Dale, "but we still have a couple of open weekends available if anyone wants us." They've made and sold out one record, "Swing Low" and are seriously considering making another one in their spare time.
To the experienced listener, the Mark IV have a quality of greatness which is not always present in International champs, unfortunately. It can probably best be put into words by saying that whenever they get together to sing a song, whether it be for an audience of 5,000 or over in the corner after the chapter meeting for themselves and a casual listener or two, they do the very best job they are capable of. There are no "throw-aways". Maybe this is what is meant by taking their fun seriously. Let's hope that it will always be thus and that the Mark IV will have a long and rewarding reign..."if the Lord be willing and the creek don't rise".
###
Additional facts:
Franklin Spears went on to become a Texas Supreme Court Justice.
The Gold Medallion that was on the International Competition stage in St. Louis when the quartet won was claimed by the quartet and brought back to San Antonio on top of Dale's vehicle. It was originally built by a barbershopper (father-in-law of Jim Henry, bass of the Gas House Gang and Crossroads Quartets) for the St. Louis Competition. The Medallion was restored by Merlin Sunde and Gary Groot of San Antonio and transported to Nashville Headquarters to be displayed at the Toronto International Convention by BHS Historian Grady Kerr in his Champion memorabilia of the past 75 years. This project was sponsored by Sterling Quartet, The Marcsmen, Hill Country Chorus, The Heart of Texas Chorus and the Chordsmen.
The Mark IV produced a second album "Anything Goes".
Pete Tomseth from Oregon stepped in to sing bass with the Mark IV between Mo and the return of C.O. from overseas.
The Society and the Association of International Champions honored the Mark IV on the 50th Anniversary of the Mark IV's championship at the 2019 International Convention in Salt Lake City. June and three of the Deiser children were there to celebrate this special tribute.
All members of the Mark IV have gone on to their heavenly reward and are no doubt filling the heavens with their rich barbershop sound!
Gallery
Click photo to enlarge
External Links
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