DALE SHELNUT
Dale Lawrence Shelnut
1935 - 1983
Inducted 2001 - Southern Gospel Music Association Hall Of Fame
Few individuals ever sang a Gospel Song with the innate feeling of Dale Shelnut.
Born July 29, 1935, just outside Guin, Alabama, Dale began his career in 1951 with the formation of the Rhythm Masters. In 1960 he joined the Tennesseeans Quartet but he became best known as lead singer for the Dixie Echoes and as a regularly featured soloist on the Gospel Singing Jubilee television program.
Always a crowd favorite, Dale took control of the Dixie Echoes in the late 1960s and for the next fifteen years kept them atop the industry as one of Southern Gospel's finest quartets. He passed away suddenly in 1983 but not before making an irreversible contribution to the heart and soul of Southern Gospel.
The statement's below are by Jerry Kirksey, former Editor-in-chief of the Singing News Magazine.