Tribute paid to North Canton Quartet by Ga Representative Ed Jenkins
by Mechele R. Dillard
Features Editor @ Times Courier

Francis Hardin, daughter of the late Noah Lanning of Gilmer County, received the following communication from Ninth District of Georgia Representative Ed Jenkins in May of 1987; the tribute referenced in Jenkins's letter then follows:
"Dear Ms. Hardin:"Please find enclosed two copies of the Congressional Record for May 18, 1987, which includes my tribute to the North Canton Quartet and the members' contribution to gospel music history ... Thank you for sending me the newspaper article on the quartet, which included your father, Noah Lanning. I know you must be very proud of your heritage. I appreciate the privilege of affording the recognition to people who make worthwhile contributions."North Canton Quartet Marks 60th Anniversary of Recording:"Mr. Speaker, today I would like to make a note in history of the anniversary of an art form indigenous to the Southeastern United States, specifically in reference to my district [9th] in North Georgia."This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Columbia Phonograph, now Columbia Broadcasting System, recording of gospel music in the South. The talent scouts sent looking for the music of the people chose the North Canton Quartet and pianist in 1927 to cut a recording in an Atlanta studio. R.J. Chastain, Leslie Gaddis, Levi Gaddis, Noah Lanning, and pianist Ambus Worley of Canton, GA, were paid $50 to make the recording for Columbia.
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"The recording, 'I Want to Live Beyond the Grave,' has been preserved by CBS in its New Jersey museum and in the Country Music Foundation Library in Nashville, TN."When the five men from Canton, GA, lent their harmonizing art to the recording, they were part of the most available form of entertainment in the South at that time. The art form still lives in the Saturday night, Sunday afternoon, and Sunday night "singings" held in rural churches throughout the South."During this 60th anniversary of the North Canton Quartet recording, I would like to pay tribute to those men who helped preserve part of our American music history and to the many others who have contributed to the art and to those who continue to do so."