University of Mississippi American Music Archive Field School Document ID: AMA2008_youngwJr_log Document Type: Interview Log Field Worker: Rebecca Batey Coworker: Sarah Simonson Location: Home of William and Trudy Young, 217 County Road 106, Abbeville, MS, 38601 Begin Date: May 20, 2008 End Date: May 20, 2008 Event: Interview with William “Mond” Young Elapsed Time: 38:56

[00:23] William “Mond” Young, Jr. introduces himself. He is not only a gospel musician with the group the Soul Consulators, but does studio work and performs with a band in Biloxi, Mississippi.

[00:59] William identifies the Soul Consulators as a gospel group. He has been with them for seventeen years (since 1991). The Soul Consulators have been in existence since the late 1960s. The group was founded in Abbeville, Mississippi by William’s father, William Young, Sr., while he attended Jeffrey Chapel Church. The group plays throughout North Mississippi and has been to Illinois and Alabama.

[02:14] The current lineup of the Soul Consulators includes William’s mother (Trudy Young), his father (William Young, Sr.), his three brothers (Kelvin McJunkins, Fred, and ______), and his cousin is the drummer.

[02:34] William provides his definition of gospel music. It is something we have all experienced and go through and that they are “true believers of God” and gospel music is about all that God has done for us. It is meant to reach out to those going through problems and good times. Gospel is a “reach out” and is “love.”

[03:52] William distinguishes between different varieties of gospel music. The Soul Consulators are considered a quartet, but he also mentions contemporary and Southern contemporary gospel, and gospel. Sound wise, contemporary is more up-tempo and more Southern gospel.

[04:51] The role of each member of the group is identified. William Young, Sr. is a background singer and tenor, William himself is the “bottom man” or bass and plays bass guitar, Kelvin plays guitar and is the lead singer, sometimes background singer, his brother Fred is a background singer and sometimes lead singer, and Trudy is a background singer and sometimes lead singer. Their drummer changes from time to time.

[05:55] The venues at which the Soul Consulators play are discussed. Trudy, his mother, is the group’s booking manager and they are booked at various churches in the surrounding area.

1 [06:38] The Soul Consulator’s music influences are discussed. William’s influences include his father, William. Other influences include James Judon, a gospel singer/ musician who lives in Tupelo.

[08:25] William discusses life outside of the Soul Consulators. “My job is music. I’m music twenty-four hours a day.” He likes to play all varieties of music, not just gospel. He also goes a lot of recording—performance and production. William plays the bass guitar, guitar, and some piano. Though his brother, Kelvin, showed him a few things on bass guitar, William took those things and taught himself how to play guitar and bass guitar.

[10:13] The origins of the name The Soul Consulators is discussed. His father and the other members of the group came up with the name early in the group’s history.

[10:39] William discusses his home recording studio, which is located in William, Sr. and Trudy’s home. William transformed his old bedroom at his parents’ home into a recording studio. Doing your own recording saves time because you can go at your own pace and aren’t working on someone else’s time. His recording includes all varieties of music, not just gospel music or the music of the Soul Consulators. Anyone who needs recording, he will record. He and his younger brother play some jazz and other varieties of music.

[12:19] William discusses the band with which he perfoms in Biloxi, Mississippi, Michael Anthony and the Groove. He has played with them for about six months. Danny McGregory, who works at Ron’s Music Center and whom the Soul Consulators used to do some recording work with his father, told William about an opening in the band. They play at the Hard Rock [Café] in Biloxi. He meets a lot of people, some celebrities, and the group is coming out with a CD soon. They sing everything from Marvin Gaye songs to Prince songs, to country music. He is the bass guitarist/lead singer/ background singer in the group.

[14:10] William discusses the audiences for which plays, both in his work with Michael Anthony and the Groove and the Soul Consulators. The audience at the Hard Rock Café see him more as a celebrity, but with the Consulators it is more serious. They look at him, in the gospel community, more as a ministry of music through gospel. The Soul Consulators mostly play at black churches, but have very occasionally played for other gospel audiences. The first year of Oxford, Mississippi’s Double Decker Festival, the Soul Consulators performed at that event.

[16:22] William discussed the community of gospel musicians in the Oxford-Lafayette County area. The Bonner Singers, The Travelers, Casey Dixon, Casey Dunn (who used to be a drummer for the Soul Consulators). William says there is a wealth of talented musicians in this area, much of which is not really known or seen by the larger community. He cites this as the reason he got into the recording business. He wants to get the musicians around Oxford and North Mississippi into the studio and let their talents be heard.

2 [19:27] The family connections not only within the Soul Consulators but in the greater Oxford-Lafayette County gospel community are discussed. Just about everyone in the Gospel Association is related, says William. By not being such a big city, William believes he could point to most of the groups and find some kin in each of them. The Youngs are related to the Christian Crusaders, Avery Dunn, and Casey Dixon. Those they are not kin to, they are so close it is like they are family.

[21:13] William and his parents belong to East Saint Peter Missionary Baptist (MB) Church in Abbeville, Mississippi. Their pastor is Reverend William Woods. He believes Casey Dixon is also a member of East Saint Peter. Many people visit the church.

[22:15] William discusses the Gospel Association to which he referred earlier in the interview. The Association consists of all of the gospel groups in the Oxford-Lafayette County area who currently perform. He believes there is something similar in each town. The Association started with a lot of groups, but as time goes by many of the groups are not singing like they used to be. “You know, you have the devil distracting at all times, so it’s not like it used to be.” The Love Sisters, The Soul Consulators, and The Christian Crusaders are the current members of the Association. Now it’s three groups when it used to be ten, and that was approximately in the mid-to-late 1990s and the early 200s. William Young, Sr. is the current president of the Association, and Casey Dixon’s father (Benny?) was the president before that. Mr. Young has been the president of the organization since the late 1990s.

[24:47] William discusses the Soul Consulators radio show that is broadcast on 95.5 fm on Sunday mornings from 10:00-10:30 am. Avery Dunn hosts a larger gospel program on the station. The Soul Consulators used to perform live in the studio during their radio programs, but William and others have so many other obligations that the show now consists of his father playing songs from the Soul Consulators’ CDs. William believes they have had the show since he was in high school—1996 or 1997. The larger gospel program is on for most of the day on Sundays. The morning part of the show consists of shows from groups in the Gospel Association. The music played on the Soul Consulators’ radio show is from past CDs. The group is currently working on a new CD which William is rerecording and producing. Some of the earlier CDs were produced in Jackson. The Christian Crusaders also have a show. The group became involved in the 95.5 program before William was a member of the group. Jason Plunk, the owner of Nighttown, also owns 95.5 fm.

[27:41] William discusses the Soul Consulators’ CDs. Kelvin does a lot of writing for the CDs. William does some but not much. He focuses more on the music. They have been putting CDs out since William was about 13 or 14, in 1991. Over the years, many members have come through the group and the CDs reflect those changes. Many of the groups in the Gospel Association have CDs, such as Casey Dixon’s former group, the Stars of Harmony. (In the background, Kelvin McJunkins walks in the front door of the house and the creaking of a door can be heard.) William estimates that the Soul Consulators have put out eight to ten CDs since the early 1990s.

3 [29:45] Changes in the Soul Consulators’ lineup are discussed. Some members have been family and some are people they have known for a long time. The group was originally William Young, Sr. and some friends and family. At one time, the group had a whole different style. The lineup now is considered the New Consulators. The family lineup with William, his father, and his two brothers started in 1994. Before that, James Ramsey, Sonora McGhee, Billy Perry (a pianist on the Oxford music scene) and his father were at times members of the group.

[31:09] William talks about the evolution of gospel music since he has been involved in the local gospel scene. Since the group has been in gospel, people have become less involved in the quartet style of gospel performance than when they began. Quartet now isn’t as strong as it was in 1994, when William started with the group. It was the top style of gospel at the time. People are now more into the contemporary style of gospel music. Contemporary is more dance-type music and quartet is slower.

[33:02] William discusses his music preferences: Prince, Bob Marley, Nickleback, and so many varieties of music. He likes some country singers, songs that are out now, but he does not know names. Music is changing, and country music is much different than it used to be. He also likes Nelly, 50 Cent, some rap, and some “of the day” music. He prefers music from the mid-1990s to about 2000. He is thirty years old so he likes 1980s music and 1990s music. He listens to all types of music, and believes that to be a good musician you have to listen to and love all types of music.

[35:16] William discusses his musical influences: Prince, Bob Marley, Elvis, “I give the man props, the man can sing.” Prince is his greatest influence, and William feels he could play any time of music and that his music is timeless. Lenny Kravitz as well.

[36:36] William talks about the type of music play in the Young family’s home as he was growing up. A lot of gospel music was played, his father loves blues so they listened to a lot of blues, some rock and roll, but everything was listened to.

[37:22] William’s son, who is almost four years old, is already a musician. He already has a set of drums he plays and he actually has rhythm. He sees William play guitar and he tries to play the guitar as well. If it is God’s will, William looks forward to having his son be a part of his projects, and possibly the Soul Consulators.

[38:16] William discusses where the nickname “Mond” comes from, which is from his middle name, Lemond. His friends call him by his nickname but people who really know him call him William.

[38:56] End of interview

4