It was only fitting that the first three national quartet champions came from Oklahoma, the birthplace of the society. But it was another 20 years before another "hometown" quartet would win the gold. That quartet, The Gaynotes, began singing in 1954 when Howard Rinkel and John Loots (formerly of Magic City Four/Burt's Plenty-Aires quartet) joined forces with tenor Larry Stayer and bass Dick Galloway. Their very first contest was the 1955 regional held in San Antonio where they attempted to quality for International. They placed a very respectable 5th but did not quality. Soon after, Galloway moved away and a talented young bass with a crew cut, Mo Rector was asked to join. They went to district competition in November of '55 in El Paso and came in a strong second to the Lads of Enchantment. The next May they again failed to quali~ for Int'l placing third in the 1956 regional contest held in Tulsa. By this time they were a very popular show

quartet and had already traveled 75,000 miles and sung for 250,000 people. Stage savvy and picked to win the district crown, The Gaynotes showed up in Houston in November of 1956 ready to win. They did! Unfortunately, Larry had already decided to retire from the busy life of singing in a quartet. Tulsa chorus member Harold Jones was asked to join the foursome. Prior to their winning the district championship, Harold, not having sung in an active quartet, attended a rehearsal with a tape recorder. During that evening he just listened, recorded their 13 song repertoire and took notes. After the contest, two short weeks after Harold made his tape, the new combination got together, and much to the others' surprise, Harold had already learned all the songs and was ready to sing on shows. The new combination must have worked because at the next regionals, they came in second and qualified for their first International contest. It was in Los Angeles The Gaynotes surprised

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