SINGING AIN’T ENOUGH
Singing Ain’ Enough
is an account of the life of a well-known gospel singer from Richmond, Maggie Ingram. The biography was written by Ingram’s granddaughter, Joy Harris. Special thanks are extended to my daughter, Jamia Jones Garrett for recommending this book to me. Joy and Jamia met in 2001 when they were freshmen at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. When Jamia married Vernon Bellmore Garrett, Jr. on March 21, 2015 at Third Street Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Richmond, Joy was one of her bridesmaids. Justine and I were honored to be included among the attendees when Joy became the bride of Demond Harris at Four Mile Creek Baptist Church of Varina. Joy and Jamia have always been there for each other through good times and bad times.
According to Joy, her grandmother was born in Coffee County, Georgia as the fifth of seven children of sharecroppers, Pauline and Reason Dixon. Maggie had to plow and chop wood. Maggie’s father was a minister in the Church of God in Christ. Maggie taught herself to play music on the piano that belonged to her church. In 1946, Maggie became the bride of Thomas Jefferson Ingram who was seventeen years old at the time. Thomas was a wagon driver on the farm. Thomas eventually became a preacher. Maggie and he became the parents of five children- John, Lucious, Thomas, Almeta and Christine. Christine is Joy’s mother. The couple eventually moved to Miami, Florida. Thomas became the assistant pastor of Wells Temple Church of God in Christ. Maggie and he began to have marital problems because Thomas began to drink excessively. Thomas packed up his belongings and moved back to Georgia. Maggie was left with five children to feed.
In order to earn extra money, Maggie began to sing with a quartet. During that time, the quartet circuit was dominated by men. Maggie eventually sang with the Six Trumpets. When the Six Trumpets came to Richmond to sing on a program with the Shining Lights, a romance developed between Maggie and Melvin Gaines, one of the members of the Shining Lights.
Gaines eventually invited her to move to Richmond. Maggie made it clear to Melvin hat she would move to Richmond but she did not plan to live with him. Maggie’s pastor called the bishop of Love’s Temple Church of God in Christ in Fulton. The presiding bishop said that he would find a place for Maggie and her children to stay. Maggie and her five children arrived in Richmond on Christmas Eve. She and her family lived on Eighth Street in front of the stables of the police station. There was snow on the ground. Since it never snowed in Florida, her children did not own coats or long-sleeved shirts. Maggie did not have any gifts to give to her children the next day.
With only a seventh grade education, it took Maggie longer to find a job than she had hoped. Thus, she was forced to apply for welfare. She and her five children moved to Mosby Court. Maggie was sent by an employment agency to be a domestic in the home of civil rights attorney, Oliver Hill. The Hill family really embraced Maggie and her five children. The Hills invited Maggie to go with them to Virginia Union University in order to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. After working for the Hills for five years, Maggie secured a job with the City of Richmond in the Social Services Department. She transported indigents from the surrounding counties to the city to receive medical services. She had an advantage over many applicants in that she knew how to drive a stick shift.
In order to supplement her income, Maggie began to sing with her male friend and the Shining Lights. Tension began within the group when people no longer wanted to hear the Shining Lights but they wanted to hear Maggie Ingram and the Shining Lights. After two years, Maggie was kicked out of the Shining Lights.
Eventually, Maggie decided to form her own group – Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes. The group made its public debut at Hood Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Richmond. Joe Williams, a member of the Harmonizing Four was so impressed that he offered the group a spot in the Harmonizing Four’s thirty-fourth anniversary at the Mosque. Maggie and the Ingramettes brought the house down. Nashboro Records of Nashville, Tennessee offered the group a recording contract.
Before her fortieth birthday, Maggie purchased her first home on Third Avenue in Highland Park in Richmond. Maggie quit her job at Social Services two years after she bought her house. She installed a merry-go-round in her backyard and opened a daycare center in her home. Like the mother of the Clark sisters whom many of you saw in a movie recently, Maggie had high expectations for members of her family. She let them know that whatever was going on in their personal lives would have to take back seat when it came time to sing. One of her sons had to play the drums for the group in which his ex- wife was one of the singers.
In order to transport her group, Maggie bought a bus,
Precious
for $12,000 from a bus company in Louisa County that was going out of business. The bus was used to transport not only the Ingramettes but residents of nursing homes who accompanied the group. Maggie was well- known for spending time with people with whom others did not pay much attention. Joy says that her grandmother seemed to “collect people that needed
fixin
– almost like it was a hobby.” Maggie even partnered with Mount Gilead Baptist Church each fourth Sunday to visit and encourage prisoners. She used her bus to transport the spouses and children to visit their loved ones. Maggie saw the need to reunite families. She encouraged the Department of Corrections to begin hosting Family Day.
As a result of her hosting her own radio show on
WANT,
Maggie’s group became more popular. She met many popular gospel groups who came to Richmond when they stopped by the radio station. Maggie was well-known for the advice that she dispensed on her show. Maggie announced on her show that she planned to marry Johnnie Brewer. This may not be his real name in that Joy said from the beginning of her book that some names had been changed. Maggie married him in 1978. Brewer physically abused Maggie. Brewer eventually packed up and left after Maggie’s sons roughed him up for physically harming their mother.
The Church of Christ gave Maggie the highest honor a female could receive by ordaining her as Evangelist Maggie Ingram. By 2008, Maggie was still cutting live CDs and headlining gospel shows but her life began to fall apart. Maggie was in an early stage of Alzheimer’s. Maggie Ingram died eleven days before her 85th birthday in 2015. According to her granddaughter, there were more than a thousand people at Maggie’s funeral. Joy said during the funeral that she realized that her grandmother was more than a singer in that Maggie had helped, healed and loved so many people.
The book has a catchy title. The title really describes Maggie Ingram. To me, Joy has captured the spirit of her grandmother. She has ensured that her grandmother’s legacy will continue. I have seen Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes perform on stages throughout the Richmond Metropolitan Area. After reading this book, I have a greater appreciation for Maggie. She really beat the odds and also helped others who were struggling. I highly recommend this book. Maggie really proved that it is not where you are from but where you go in life.
