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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Quirky Yorba Linda gospel group tells loving fans good-bye
A gospel-singing quartet with a passionate following will retire after 38 years, but some of their fans still can't believe it.
By PAUL HODGINS
It was raining like the devil last Sunday night, but that didn't stop the fans from coming. They filled Yorba Linda's 1,100-seat Rose Friends Church nearly to capacity, children and elders in tow. Just in front of the chapel's wide stage, a technician adjusted a video camera on a long boom. This event was going to be recorded for posterity because it was special – the last of its kind.
A five-piece band warmed up the crowd. Excitement built. Kids tore up and down the aisles. "You're in for a real treat," one woman told her companion. Finally, to welcoming applause, a small door opened upstage and out walked the object of everyone's adulation: four normal-looking, middle-aged guys in suits that tended toward the brown/beige end of the color spectrum.
The Watchmen will never be mistaken for Led Zeppelin or John Mayer and his band. But in their almost 38 years of existence, this Orange County men's gospel quartet has built a following every bit as passionate and devoted as any rock star's. And Sunday's concert held a special poignancy for the group's fans: it would be The Watchmen's last performance in the church they've called home since 1983.
"It all started in the early '70s down at the Garden Grove Church of the Nazarene near the 22 freeway," said Dennis Zimmerman, one of The Watchmen's founders and its only remaining original member. "There were a few guys in the choir, and we all liked this kind of music – you know, like the Oak Ridge Boys."
The foursome wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms by the pastor, but they caught on. "He didn't discourage us, but he didn't encourage us either," Zimmerman remembered. "The word just started getting around that there's a quartet in Garden Grove. It kind of snowballed." Pretty soon, The Watchmen were singing far and wide: the national anthem at Angels games, medleys on TV shows, pre-event prayer services at racetracks – any place that could use their special blend of music, religion and low-key comedy.
The Watchmen sing gospel tunes in close-harmony, barbershop style. But it isn't just their skillful renditions of "Damascus Road" and "Until You've Known the Love of God" that draw the crowds. Over the years, Zimmerman and his colleagues (he estimates the group has gone through three basses, four baritones, three tenors and eight lead singers) have developed a rapport best described as gently insulting: they poke fun at one another before, during and after each number. "Their humor is an important part of their appeal," said Nate Wisely of Orange, a longtime fan. "These guys are funny."
"I have a dear friend, a pastor, who disagrees with me about that part of our act," Zimmerman said. "He thinks we should concentrate on spreading the word of the Lord through our music. But if we just sang, there'd be a lot fewer people coming to hear our message."
Quirky Yorba Linda gospel group tells loving fans good-bye
WATCHMEN: (L-R)Dirk Zwiebel, Dennis Zimmerman, Gregg Lancer, and Jon Ramsay of The Watchmen perform their last concert at their resident church, Rose Drive Friends Church in Yorba Linda.
ANDY TEMPLETON, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
BOWING OUT: This legendary OC male gospel quartet that is calling it quits this year after almost 40 years of performing at churches and baseball stadiums all over the country.
ANDY TEMPLETON, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
 Quirky Yorba Linda gospel group tells loving fans good-bye
CURTAINS: On Sunday, they performed the last concert they'll ever sing at their resident church, though they're still appearing elsewhere through the end of the year.
ANDY TEMPLETON, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
During Sunday's show, bass singer John Ramsay revealed himself to be The Watchmen's resident clown. He used his down-in-the-basement register to get some easy laughs, and he cracked a few jokes, too. After a pseudo-putdown from Zimmerman over his singing, Ramsay pretended to take offense. "We believe in second chances," Zimmerman said by way of an apology. "So did Hillary Clinton," Ramsay shot back. "Look what happened to her!"
Zimmerman said that The Watchmen have a full schedule planned for the next few months, but despite their continuing popularity he intends to disband the group at the end of this year. "It's not unlike sports teams," he said. "My guys have been with me a long time. They're involved with their church; they have families. No one is going to keep doing what they do forever. And the '08 quartet is the best we've ever had in 38 years. When any of these guys leave, I don't think I'm going to find people as dedicated or as talented. So why not end it on a high note?"
Zimmerman, who is retired from a career in sales and marketing, also wants to spend more time with his two children and his grandkids. "I'm 66. My wife is going to retire soon from teaching. I say let's go out in a very dignified, professional and God-honoring way."
Perhaps the years of travelling the country and singing year-round have taken their toll, too. Asked to share anecdotes about the group's best and worst times, Zimmerman paused. "Oh, there are so, so many. If you're looking for humor, I've got a million stories. If you're looking for near-tragedies, I can tell you about the time we came within a hairsbreadth of crashing our tour bus and killing everybody."
At intermission, fans crowded around two tables in the lobby that held piles of Watchmen CDs. Many couldn't believe that 2008 will be the group's last year.
"All the good groups like this are back east. I don't think I'll be travelling all the way there just to hear them," said Chuck Papez of Covina. "We've followed The Watchmen all over. It'll be sad to see them go."
Others predicted – out of wishful thinking more than anything else – that the foursome would live on somehow.
"Oh, I think (the retirement announcement) means that the group isn't going to be as busy," Wisely said. "They're scaling back, that's all."
"I think there's a chance that some of them might form another group," said Mary McCone of Victorville, who was busy selling Watchmen CDs at one of the tables. Zimmerman stood next to her, beaming. He probably heard her, but he said nothing. And how were the CDs selling? "Very, very well," she said, gesturing to the half-empty table.
Like many people who are part of a cultural phenomenon, Zimmerman was at a loss to explain how or why The Watchmen found their following.
"We're just four guys who really enjoy doing what we do and spreading the word. And we all have a lifelong love of music. I did my first recording at five years old back in Missouri. When my family moved to Michigan I went to Interlochen" (a prestigious music camp) "on a summer scholarship as a teenager. But other than that, I'm like the rest of them – God blessed us with some talent but we didn't make a big deal of it after high school and college."
Perhaps that's the secret behind The Watchmen's success: their unassuming normalcy. Inside their latest CD, "A Labor of Love," is a series of photos showing the quartet's members in casual surroundings. Zimmerman leans on a patrol car – he's a volunteer with the California Highway Patrol. Ramsay poses next to his pride and joy, a cherry-red 1964 International Harvester Travelall truck. Rick Gentry, a former Watchman, tinkers with a lawn mower in the back yard of his home in San Bernardino. Gregg Lancer reclines on the beach with his wife, two kids and the family dog.
Rock stars they're definitely not – and that's just the way The Watchmen and their fans like it |
