* Willie Neal Johnson; ‘Country Boy’ of Gospel

Willie Neal “Country Boy” Johnson, 65, a singer with the Gospel Keynotes who produced more than 20 albums. Through continuing personnel changes, Johnson demanded his signature tight harmony in both the original group and his 1985 spinoff, Willie Neal Johnson and the New Keynotes. Though Johnson called himself a “country boy,” he was a shrewd quartet manager who had no qualms about replacing singers or the entire group if members failed to meet his high expectations. Inducted into the American Gospel Quartet Hall of Fame in Birmingham, Ala., and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Detroit, the Gospel Keynotes earned a 1981 Grammy nomination for “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now.” The group, particularly known for “That’s My Son,” received gospel’s coveted Stellar Awards for “Lord Take Us Through” and “The Country Boy Goes Home” and was nominated for “The Country Boy Goes Home II.” Johnson began his career with the record label Nashboro and such hits as “Walk Around Heaven All Day,” “He’ll Be There” and “Some Days Are Diamonds, Some Days Are Stones.” In recent years, Johnson helped bridge the gap between quartets and choirs with the “choirtet.” He recorded with the Mississippi Mass Choir such songs as the successful “I’m Yours, Lord.” On Wednesday in Tyler, Texas, after a stroke.