Some good observations, Genie:

And I agree with all of them. One thing I've learned through the experience of singing with a Men's Chorus there last ten years is that parallely harmonies can get boring reallll fast. As a kid, just naturally tended to sing parallel harmonies... as much as anything, I suppose, because that's what I heard in a lot of popular music. When I first heard the Four Freshmen, I realized that there was a whole world of harmony that I never knew existed. I was flipping through a bin of 78's and came across Tuxedo Junction, and bought it just because it was by a quartet. I had no idea that the song was a wordless vocal arrangement of a big band song. My ear was attuend to the Four Lads, The Four Aces, The Four Knights, The Four Tunes and the Four Lorns. When I first formed the Gospel Messengers, I had no real idea how to arrange the songs, other than to make them sound like what I heard in my head. One of the things that I learned quickly... both in the Men's Chorus and the Messengers, is that the bass line needs to be greatly simplified. Singing a bass harmony that parallels the lead sound really stupid.
I realize now that the push harmony that strengthen the lead vocalist follows much the same pattern, simplifying the harmony down to a few key notes that help support the chord changes. The flow from four part harmony on some lines, to an occasional shared note, and a two or three part harmony, while breaking up the rhythm and switching from an instrumental background to an a capella line keeps the song moving.

Right now, I'm thinking out harmonies and rhythm for our new tenor to lead Just A Closer Walk With Thee. He's sung the lead with a full choir, and with a quartet, the arrangement needs to be very different.

I'm finding this thread a real help in clarifying my own thoughts. I hope some of you are finding it helpful, too.

Jerry