Carl Hitt of Holiday Island will present “The Rhodes Show and The Morris Family, A Musical Showcase” from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, at the Holiday Island Country Club Ballroom, 1 Country Club Drive in Holiday Island.
Tickets for the one-nightonly, limited seating show are $15. They are available at Ms. Kitty’s Thrift Shop at Holiday Island, The Holiday Island Chamber of Commerce or by calling Carl Hitt at 479-409-4846 or emailing him at dreamquest111@gmail.com.
The show features Sandra, Donna and Gordon Rhodes, who were members of “The Rhodes Show” that aired weekly on WMCT-TV, Channel 5 in Memphis from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s.
In the 1960s, Sandra and Donna Rhodes sang backup vocals at Sun Records, Stax Records and HI Records in Memphis for rock’n’roll, R&B and soul artists Elvis Presley, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Etta James and others. That work resulted in their induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame on Sept. 27, 2024.
In 1967, country singer Skeeter Davis introduced Sandra and Donna to Chet Atkins, who signed them to a recording contract with RCA, and they cut an album titled “The Lonesome Rhodes: Sandy & Donna.”
In the 1970s, Sandra and Donna linked up with saxophonist Charlie Chalmers, and they formed the backup vocal group, “Rhodes, Chalmers, and Rhodes (RCR).” At Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., they backed up and became friends with many famous singers, which led them to Las Vegas and Cesars Palace, where Sandra and Donna did stage shows with Liza Minnelli, Paul Anka, Wayne Newton and Mac Davis, who opened for Jack Benny. Their friendship with Paul Anka landed them a job backing up Frank Sinatra on one of his recordings.
In the mid-1970s, RCR left Las Vegas and returned to doing session work at various recording studios in the South. Then Brenda “Bear” Barnett joined Sandra and Charlie as “Rhodes, Chalmers, and Barnett (RCB).”
In 1977, Criteria Studios in North Miami, Fla., hired Sandra, Donna, Charlie and Brenda to back up the Bee Gees and Andy Gibb.
In the early 1980s, TNN called Donna to Nashville to hire and become a member of the backup singers for a new network show called “Nashville Now.” The live talk show, hosted by Ralph Emery, aired nightly from 1983 until 1993.
When backup singer Ned Wimmer quit the show, Donna hired her future husband, Craig Morris, a native of Piggott, Arkansas, to take his place.
After “Nashville Now” ended, Craig joined the singing group 4Runner until it disbanded. Then he became Loretta Lynn’s keyboard player. In 2023, 4Runner reorganized with Craig and his son Sam as group members.
The show also features singer, Gordon Rhodes, and Craig and Donna’s son and daughter, Sam and Savannah Morris Coplin. Savannah yodels like former western singer Patsy Montana.
Sandra, Donna, Brenda, Craig and Sam are not only singers but songwriters. In 1981, Conway Twitty hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart with “The Clown,” written by Sandra Rhodes, Brenda Barnett, Charlie Chalmers and Wayne Carson. In 1983, The Oak Ridge Boys hit No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart with Sandra, Brenda, and Charlie’s song “Alice Is In Wonderland.”
