The Ultimate Collection

The Ultimate Collection

For nearly four decades, The Happy Goodmans brightened the world with their Gospel songs. They were founded in Alabama in the 1940s by Howard and Gussie Goodman. Over the years, they expanded and changed membership until finally becoming a quartet composed of Ruth, Sam, Rusty and Bob Goodman. They were later joined by Vestal Goodman and the only non-Goodman, tenor Johnny Cook. The Happy Goodmans? popularity grew so much that a category had to be created in the Grammy Awards for Gospel Music. In 1968, The Happy Goodmans won the first Grammy for a Gospel album by a Gospel group - no other artist or group had garnered this achievement. The Happy Goodmans also won the same award ten years later, in 1978. In 1969 with the founding of the Gospel Music Association and the Dove Awards, the Happy Goodmans were honored with multiple awards, in addition to Vestal being named the first Female Vocalist of the Year for the 1969. The group recorded 15 number-one singles and played over 3,500 shows. They were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1998.