Our History, Our Music Exclusive
By Melvin R. Morris, Jr.
Melvin R. Morris Jr. is the primary bassist of the McKinney First Baptist Church, a position he’s held for more than 30 years. Melvin was born in Cushing, Oklahoma where he began playing bass at the age of nine. Weekends were spent traveling with his father Melvin R. Morris Sr.’s gospel group, The Flying Clouds.
Here Melvin describes his lifelong journey in gospel music and the lessons he learned from his father.
The Flying Clouds Gospel Singers began with my father, Melvin R. Morris Sr., George L. Williams, and James (Bucket) Williams. After moving to Cushing in the late 1960s, Alceed Thomas asked around his neighborhood if anyone wanted to sing quartet music.
Cushing was a small town, and its black neighborhood was even smaller. As everyone knew one another, it didn’t take Alceed long to locate a group of singers who loved gospel music. The group was completed with first tenor, tenor, baritone, and bass vocalists.
As my Dad was a singer and played lead guitar and bass guitar, there was a need for another bass player. Although Cushing had a small black community, the area was rich with small business owners, great athletes, and musical talent.
Well, they found a local young man named Floyd Irving that my Dad began to teach him how to play the bass guitar. Floyd quickly learned the quartet-style bass lines and the music for the group.
As a young boy, I idolized Floyd as the bass player for The Flying Clouds. I would help my Dad load equipment in preparation for their weekly rehearsal at my Aunt’s Holiness Church, just two and a half blocks from my house.
So now I’m sitting at rehearsals each week absorbing how each person sang their part and how my Dad and Floyd played their instruments to perfection. Each person in the group with the exception of Floyd could blend their voices together as background singers but each was talented in leading songs with passion and conviction.
It wasn’t long before this group of Godly men was sounding good and it was time to take the show on the road. They were already singing at local churches in the community: Mt. Olive Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, and yes, my Aunt Amie’s Holiness Church. As a child of four or five, I would sing along with the group while they rehearsed, standing alongside, learning the words until I knew every song.
The Flying Clouds Gospel Singers drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma most weekends performing at different churches throughout the city. Every time they sang in Tulsa, they got calls requesting they sing at other churches or event centers in town. Soon The Flying Clouds were known throughout Tulsa, and eventually the state of Oklahoma.
When I was nine, my Dad came home one evening and said, “Floyd decided to join the military and will be leaving in about three weeks. I want to show you some basic quartet runs on the bass.” My Dad worked with me to perfect the bass runs I needed to play most of the songs.
While watching and listening to Floyd play the bass, I knew how the bass line sounded for each song. Well, being I was at the rehearsals the last four to five years, I just needed to figure out the notes and how to play each song as Floyd did.
When someone today gives me a compliment about how well I play the bass, I tell them “God blessed me to play.” It wasn’t difficult for me to catch on at all. Within a few weeks, I was playing the bass very well even though it was a simple bass line my Dad showed me. I was beginning to add to what my Dad taught me and developing my own style of play.
In the early ’70s, I had a few of Earth Wind & Fire’s albums. I listened to these albums every day. I focused on the bassist of the group, Verdine White, and was very intrigued with his playing style.
Within a few months, I learned some of the songs from each album, and my skills as a bass player had increased beyond my belief. I practiced every chance I could aside from school, working for my Dad, or playing with friends.
I remember one day I was in our music room practicing and my Dad was passing by our music room. He stopped and came into the room. He asked me “Where did you learn how to play that?” I said to him “I’m learning it from the Earth Wind & Fire albums.” My Dad said, “How are you learning to play what you hear from the albums so fast and well?” Just nine years old, I said to my Dad “I listen and work on playing what I hear, Dad.”
I put the work in to become a bass player so that I could be a part of one of the fastest-growing quartets in the state. The group was so well known throughout Oklahoma and was increasingly being sought after in the bordering states of Kansas, Arkansas, and Texas.
At this point, I was privileged to learn first-hand what it’s like to go on the road. The group traveled every weekend singing to spread the gospel through songs and tell those lost about our Lord and Savior. The Flying Clouds became so well known that other professional groups that had done this longer than us and had records already available to the public were having The Flying Clouds open for them on a much bigger stage; groups like The Mighty Clouds of Joy, The Gospel Crusaders, and The Five Blind Boys to name a few. These quartet groups were known all over the US.
The second time The Flying Clouds was on the program with The Gospel Crusaders, the manager of the group asked my Dad if he would be willing to allow me to live with his family. He stated he would make sure I went to school, got a good education, and would even put me through college if that was my desire. My Dad talked to me about the proposal and said if I wanted to pursue this opportunity, he would support it and that it was my decision.
At the age of 12 years now, I did not want to move away from my family, school, and friends. I knew that would be a challenge for me to personally overcome. It just wouldn’t work in my favor mostly due to my love for my family and friends and I was already known in the area for being a pretty good basketball player.
The Flying Clouds was doing very well within the quartet sphere of gospel music. Our popularity has grown even more by now. I was also new to all the fan mail I was receiving. Our home address was also the booking address. The more we traveled the more mail I received.
With most groups of any kind, sometimes there are changes. Mr. George Williams had decided to step away from singing with the group. At my young age, no information was shared with me. The old cliché back in the day for young people applied to me: “Stay out of grown folks’ conversation.”
Mr. George Williams was an awesome lead singer. As stated previously, Cushing was full of raw talent. This is when Mr. Jerry Owens joined the group as our baritone singer. Just like the other members he could lead songs too after a little coaching during rehearsals.
I remember one of our longest trips was made to Jackson, Mississippi to sing at a church. We also did a prelude at the radio station before the concert later that evening. This trip to Mississippi was an eye-opener for me as I had never been around that many black people in one setting. Cushing, Oklahoma was approximately 4,000 to 5,000 people total.
A couple of months after the Mississippi trip my Dad expressed to the group that we needed to produce a record. We had nothing to sell when on the road at all these different churches or venues. I remembered my Dad, Melvin Morris, Sr. praying about songs to put on this record.
Within a month or two my Dad had written two songs and the group began working on the songs until the vocals, lead vocals, and music reached perfection. I remember going to a studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma one evening and we finished recording the songs late that night, working out any kinks to reach a perfect recording.
I could not believe at the age of 12 I had accomplished so much as a musician being a part of The Flying Clouds Gospel Singers. We had our record produced and we purchased a few hundred copies to sell while on the road.
We were well known by now with our first record and it was time for a better wardrobe. A trip was made back to Tulsa clothing stores to find a couple of matching suits for the group. I loved this newfound stardom coming from a small town.
Not long after that we added another local talent by the name of Keith McKinney who would be another one of our tenor voices. Just like all the rest, Keith could also lead songs. The decision was made that we needed another guitar player to assist my Dad when he was playing and leading songs. It was Darrell Muse from Guthrie, Oklahoma located approximately 45 minutes from Cushing.
His Dad was the Pastor at my Aunt’s Holiness Church. He wasn’t a local like the rest of us, but he was at the right place at the right time. This was good for the group adding three young and talented pieces to the puzzle.
I played bass guitar and traveled with The Flying Clouds Gospel Singers until graduating and left to play basketball on a scholarship at Murray State College. The group continued singing and traveling for quite some years afterward. Eventually, time and age caught up with several of the group members and retirement was nearing rather quickly.
While in college I was introduced to the lead guitar. I had watched my Dad all those years play the lead guitar so I knew it was different than playing bass guitar because it had six strings instead of four strings on the bass. A classmate began teaching me chords and again being a fast learner, it wasn’t long before I was playing songs and riffs, I never imagined. My Dad was very impressed when I came home in the summer months.
One of my biggest blessings came on March 19, 2016. It had to be God opening the door for me because of how it transitioned. I saw some new equipment advertised online that I had never seen or heard of and was curious about the specifications of the equipment. I found a contact number for questions and availability of this new equipment called Trickfish Amplification that had recently hit the market.
One day out of curiosity I decided to call and find out more about their new bass speakers and amp heads. That’s when a man named Richard Ruse answered my call and after the first five minutes, it was as if we had known each other for years. This brother was so down-to-earth and pleasant to talk to. Richard was one of the four key inventors of the Trickfish bass cabinet equipment.
By the end of our conversation, Richard knew quite a lot about me and my history as a bass player. He asked me what state I lived in and I replied “Texas, just outside of Dallas.” That’s when he asked if I would like to be an endorser of his equipment and with no hesitation, I said yes. He emailed me a profile sheet and the rest is history. I’m so blessed to be listed among some very talented and professional bassists.
For the last 37 years, I’ve been the bassist for The McKinney First Baptist Church. I’m so grateful to serve currently with some awesome and anointed brothers like Kerry Madison (lead choir director, organist, and vocalist), Steve Avery (keyboards, lead vocalist, and choir director), Aaron Florez (drummer and percussionist), and Jonathan Russ (keyboards and organist in training).
