Gerald Williams founder of the Melody Boys

The Melody Boys Quartet was a Southern gospel music group based in Little Rock (Pulaski County). The Melody Boys Quartet officially disbanded on December 31, 2012, at the end of the group’s “Exit 63” tour, celebrating sixty-three years together.

In 1949, Foshee died from a heart attack and was replaced by the sixteen-year-old Gerald Williams, who was also the bass singer for the quartet. The group also ceased to be associated with Stamps-Baxter at this time. Joe Roper took over the group, and they renamed themselves Smilin’ Joe Roper and the Melody Boys.

The quartet began to gain popularity throughout the 1950s. In addition to performing every weeknight as well as at different churches and music conventions every weekend, they began doing a radio broadcast program on the Little Rock station KARK-AM (now KARN) three times a day. The program consistently opened with the group’s most popular song, “Give the World a Smile.” The Melody Boys later became the first Southern gospel music group from Arkansas to have a television program; they began performing live on KARK TV in 1954. The Melody Boys also performed at the first National Quartet Convention in 1957 in Memphis, Tennessee.