Stamps-Baxter Music Company

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1 The Stamps-Baxter Organization
2 Stamps-Baxter Publications
3 Ideas Reflected in the Stamps-Baxter Songs
4 References
5 See also

[edit] The Stamps-Baxter Organization

The Stamps-Baxter Music Company was an influential southern music publishing company in the shape note gospel field. V. O. Stamps founded the company in 1924 and J. R. Baxter, Jr. joined him to form the Stamps-Baxter Music Company, which was based in Dallas, Texas, with offices in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Pangburn, Arkansas.

V. O. Stamps got his start working for the James D. Vaughan Publishing Company from which he got many of his business ideas.^[1]

They operated a music school which was the primary source of the thousands of gospel songs they published. The company issued several publications each year, paperbacks in cheap bindings and on cheap paper. Thus, the older books are now in delicate condition. These songbooks were used in church singing events, called “conventions,” as well as at other church events.^[2] They did not take the place of regular hymnals.

Among the country music and bluegrass "standards" that were first published by Stamps-Baxter are "Rank Stranger to Me," "Just a Little Talk With Jesus," "Precious Memories," "Farther Along," "If We Never Meet Again," "Victory in Jesus," and "I Won't Have to Cross Jordan Alone."^[3]

Another major part of the corporation was its sponsorship of gospel quartets that sang the company’s music in churches throughout the southern United States. At the end of World War II, they were sponsoring 35 such quartets. The company also had a quartet that sang on radio station KRLD in Dallas, beginning in 1936. This station would boost it transmitting power at midnight, so that it could be heard across the nation.

One additional part of their music empire was a magazine, Gospel Music News.

Each part of the corporation supported every other part, giving strength to the entire organization, until 1945, when Frank Stamps, younger brother of V. O. Stamps, left the organization to form the rival Stamps Quartet Music Company. At the same time, various quartets left Stamps-Baxter, so the end of the War coincided with the end of the company’s quartet sponsorship.^[4] Frank’s defection did not hurt the Stamps-Baxter company in the long run, although it did lead to some confusion among the public.

The Stamps-Baxter School of Music declined after World War II, but its successor continues to this day as an annual two-week summer workshop under the leadership of Ben Speer.^[5]

Stamps died in 1940, leaving the company to J. R. Baxter. After he died in 1960, his widow, Clarice Howard “Ma” Baxter, operated the company until her death in 1972.^[6] In 1974, the company was sold to Zondervan, which became part of the Benson Company in 1986.

[edit] Stamps-Baxter Publications

The “convention” song books typically included 140 songs. The first song would be on the inside front cover, numbered 00. The first song inside the book would be numbered 1-A, and the rest of the songs were numbered 1 through 138. Each book included four or five “old songs” (in the public domain): Newton’s Amazing Grace,” Mackay’s “Revive Us Again,” Stennett’s “I Am Bound for the Promised Land,” and Smith’s “America.” In addition, one or two songs from earlier Stamps-Baxter publications might be included. The other 134 songs had never been published before. The authors and composers of these songs were paid as much as $7.00 for each song. This was the only compensation they would ever get. ^[7]

The Stamps-Baxter company was careful to renew its copyrights. The collections, not the individual songs, were copyrighted, so that anyone looking up records for the songs must know in which collection it was first published. Under current U. S. copyright law, works published between 1922 and 1963 will not enter public domain until 95 years after their initial year of copyright if the copyright was renewed.^[8] Thus, a Stamps-Baxter song copyrighted in 1929 will enter public domain in 2024. There is also a spurious claim to copyright on these songs. On October 16, 1998, three coporations, Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., Stamps-Baxter Music, and Bridge Building Music, Inc., filed for copyright on “Glory Special & 19,618 other titles.” This large collection includes all of the Stamps-Baxter convention songs.^[9] This 1998 copyright claim is clearly not valid.

Following is a list of Stamps-Baxter “convention” books compiled from two lists ^[10], as well as a personal collection. Many of these books are available in the "Luther Presley Collection" in the archives of the University of Central Arkansas.^[11] The two lists disagree on some dates, and in those cases the title has been entered twice with (?) following the title.

1929 – Crystal Rays – Priceless Pearls

1930 – Glory Gleaner

1931 – Cheerful Chimes – Tuneful Praise

1932 – Singers Choice

1933 – Harbor Bells Number Two – Boundless Joy (?)

1934 – Boundless Joy (?) – Harbor Bells Number Three – Leading Light – New Day Spirituals

1935 – Harbor Bells Number Four – Thankful Hearts

1936 – Glory Dawn – Harbor Bells Number Five

1937 – Harbor Bells Number Six – Starlit Crown

1938 – Brightest Beams – Guiding Star

1939 – Gospel Tide – Joyful Songs

1940 – Comfort and Consolation – Golden Key (?) – Pearly Gates

1941 – Faithful Guide – Golden Key (?) – Pilgrim Songs

1942 – Lasting Peace – Blessed Hope

1943 – Heaven’s Lamp – Anchored Faith – Songs Supreme

1944 – Grateful Praise – Calvary Sings – Zion’s Call

1945 – Living Grace – Humble Hearts – Jubilee Spirituals

1946 – Rainbow Rays – Shining Path – Sentimental Songs

1947 – Sunlit Way – Highest Praise – Garden of Melody – Harmony Gems

1948 – Glory Waves – Silver Tones – Peaceful Echoes

1949 – Morning Light – Boundless Love – Chords of Love – Star of Hope

1950 – Better Songs – Sharon’s Rose

1951 – Crimson Glow – Precious Name – Melodies of Joy

1952 – Inspirational Melodies – Singers Pride – Solid Rock – Songs of Cheer

1953 – Harvest Songs – Celestial Songs – Gospel Ship – Songs of Joy

1954 – Chiming Bells – Carols of Love – Higher Ground – Joyful Melodies

1955 – Gospel Light – Shepherd’s Love – Heaven’s Banner

1956 – Happy Praise – Matchless Gift – Sacred Tones

1957 – Crowning Joy – Master’s Call – Melodies of Love

1958 – Living Gems – Silver Gleams

1959 – Perfect Joy – Golden Chimes

1960 – Dawning Light – Vict’ry Songs – Good Songs – Precious Abiding Peace

1961 – Holy Light – Saving Grace

1962 – Glory Bells – Endless Joy (?) – Gospel Way – Herald of Good Tidings

1963 – Endless Joy (?) – Temple Gates – Upward Way (?)

1964 – Upward Way (?) – Winning Songs – Chapel Chords (?)

1965 – Chapel Chords (?) – Morning Sunbeams – Redeeming Love

1966 – Harbor Lights – Wondrous Love (?)

1967 – Wondrous Love (?) – Redemption Songs – Radiant Gems (?)

1968 – Radiant Gems (?)– Chapel Bells – Glory Beams

1969 – Glory Beams – Harps of Gold – Eternal Praise (?)

1970 – Eternal Praise (?) – Supernal Joy – Gospel Songs (?)

1971 – Gospel Songs (?) – Glad Tidings (?) – Joyful Praise

1972 – Glad Tidings (?) – Gospel Praise (?) – Love Divine

1973 – Gospel Praise (?) – Songs of Zion – Sacred Gems (?)

1974 – Sacred Gems (?)– Saving Power

Stamps-Baxter of Zondervan

1975 – New Gospel Songs

1976 – Golden Songs of Glory – Gospel Songs of Cheer

1977 – Gospel Songs of Cheer – Songs of Rejoicing – New Songs of Praise

1978 – Songs of Victory – Songs of Jubilation

1979 – Praising Him – Joy in Singing

1980 – Sing a New Song – Voices in Song

1981 – Music is Ringing – Notes of Praise

1982 – Heaven’s Harmony – Sing for Joy

1983 – Songs of the Kingdom –

1984 – Christian Praise

1985 – Gospel Hymnal Volume III – Great Gospel – Praising His Name

1986 – Singing Together – Let All Rejoice

Stamps-Baxter of Zondervan/Benson Company

1987 – A Time to Sing

1988 – Divine Joy – Master’s Voice

1989 – Calvary’s Song – Joyous Praise

1990 – Matchless Love

[edit] Ideas Reflected in the Stamps-Baxter Songs

Based on a review of ten books from the 1940s and 1950s, we can say that the Stamps-Baxter songs reflected a limited theological scope. A clear majority of the songs dealt with going to heaven. The second most prevalent theme was individual salvation. In combination, these two themes were reflected in an overwhelming majority of the songs.

Some themes were surprisingly rare. Relatively few songs dealt with evangelism (the singer’s duty to spread the Gospel), the comfort that the Gospel offers for those who are distressed or bereaved, or the second coming of Christ. Given the presumed theological orientation of those to whom the books were marketed, it is surprising how few songs dealt with these three topics. Likewise, there were few songs that conveyed the theme of spiritual warfare. Because of the popularity of songs like “Onward Christian Soldiers” (not a Stamps-Baxter song), many people think Gospel music always emphasizes warfare.

There were a surprising number of songs about “mother,” especially about the hope of meeting mother in heaven.

Some of the songs about the singer having been saved made reference to the sinful life which the singer no longer followed, but in no case did the song specify what the sinful life involved. In other words, “morality” was not an emphasis in these songs.

Since “heaven” was the major concern in these songs, it is worth asking what the songwriters meant by heaven. The songwriters made implicit reference to just three New Testament passages: John 14:2 (“in my father’s house are many mansions” KJV), Revelation 21:4 (no more mourning, crying, or pain), and Revelation 21:15-21 (the heavenly city constructed from precious jewels). In addition, there are references to receiving a heavenly crown (Revelation 2:10 and 4:4). A review of three song books from the 1940s, Anchored Faith, Zion’s Call, and Living Grace, and three from the 1950s, Higher Ground, Matchless Gift, and Living Gems, revealed that more than 5% of all the songs in these six books made explicit reference to the hope of living in a “mansion” in heaven.

There are New Testament teachings about heaven that are not mentioned in these songs. Jesus’ only explicit teaching about heaven said that there is no marriage in heaven (Matthew 22:30, Mark 12:25, Luke 20:34-36), and it is not surprising that this does not enter into a Gospel song. It is more surprising that the songs do not use Luke 16:19-31, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. (Lazarus, the poor beggar, went to heaven, while the uncaring rich man went to hell.) Neither is there much reference to the other Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, who was called to life after he had been buried (John 11:1-44). There are quite a few songs that make passing reference to keeping “lamps trimmed and burning,” an implicit reference to Matthew 25:1-13, but the theme is never developed. Occasionally song writers express a hope to hear Jesus say, “Well done,” an implicit reference to Matthew 25:21, but this, again, is never developed. There is never any reference to the requirements for entering heaven laid out in Matthew 25:31-46. In other words, these songs express a limited view of “heaven.”