Otis Leon McCoy

Otis Leon McCoy (February 17, 1897 – March 27, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter and music teacher. He was the president of Tennessee Music and Printing, the publishing company of the Church of God, and he wrote hundreds of Southern gospel hymns.

Otis Leon McCoy
Born(1897-02-17)February 17, 1897
DiedMarch 27, 1995(1995-03-27) (aged 98)[1]
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, music teacher
RelativesThomas Jackson Denson (grandfather)
Seaborn McDaniel Denson (great-uncle)

Early life

McCoy was born on February 17, 1897.[2][3] His grandfather was Thomas Jackson Denson and his great-uncle was Seaborn McDaniel Denson.[4] McCoy learned to play the Sacred Harp from his grandfather,[3] and he was educated at the James D. Vaughan School of Music in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.[5]

Career

McCoy was a singer-songwriter of Southern gospel. From 1923 to the 1930s, McCoy was a member of the Vaughan Radio Quartet, a band whose members included Adger M. Pace, William Burton Walbert and Hilman Barnard.[5] In 1942, McCoy joined the Homeland Harmony Quartet, whose members included James McCoy, B. C. Robinson, and Connor Brandon Hall.[2] Over the course of his career, McCoy wrote hundreds of Southern gospel hymns, including Keep On The Firing Line and Heaven Bound Train.[3]

McCoy worked for the James D. Vaughan Publishing Company in Lawrenceburg.[6] In 1931, he became the founding president of Tennessee Music and Printing, the publishing company of the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee.[6] He served again as its president from 1934 to 1945, 1947 to 1952, and 1958 to 1961.[3]

Death and legacy

McCoy died in 1995.[3] He was inducted into the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame in 2003.[7]

References
  1. Otis L. McCoy gravestone
  2. McNeil, W. K. (2005). Encyclopedia of American Gospel Music. New York: Routledge. p. 188. ISBN 9780415941792. OCLC 260090518.
  3. Vaughan, Benson (2018). The Influence of Music on the Development of the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee). Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. pp. 67–70. ISBN 9781532633348. OCLC 1045104734.
  4. Karlsberg, Jesse P. (Spring 2017). "Genre Spanning in the Close and Dispersed Harmony Shape-Note Songs of Sidney Whitfield Denson and Orin Adolphus Parris". American Music. 35 (1): 94–132. doi:10.5406/americanmusic.35.1.0094. S2CID 192842602 – via JSTOR.
  5. Goff, James R. (2002). Close Harmony: A History of Southern Gospel. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. p. 117. ISBN 9780807853467. OCLC 469931653.
  6. Goff, James R. (2002). Close Harmony: A History of Southern Gospel. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. p. 158. ISBN 9780807853467. OCLC 469931653.
  7. "Otis Leon McCoy". Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
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