Happy Goodman Family

Howard Goodman (eldest of eight children) had been traveling as an evangelist and gradually began to form his seven siblings into a gospel singing group.

Eventually the Goodman sisters (Gussie Mae, Stella, Eloise, and Helen Ruth) left the group to get married.

In the early 60s Howard and Vestal moved to Madisonville, Kentucky and started a church named Life Temple.

It was during this time period that the group began to travel more widely and become more well-known on the gospel music circuit.

", "God Walks the Dark Hills", "Had It Not Been", "What a Beautiful Day", and many others will forever be part of gospel music and synonymous with the Happy Goodman Family.

The Goodmans broke new ground in gospel music during the 1950s by incorporating drummer Jake Hand as well as accordion and various guitars.

When the group began traveling again in the 1960s their instrumentation consisted of Howard at the piano and Bobby playing bass guitar.

During the late 1960s and 1970s they began adding more musicians including pianist Eddie Crook, drummer Ricky Goodman (son of Howard and Vestal) and various guitarists and bass players.

Sam's humorous emcee work, Howard's showmanship at the piano, Rusty's songwriting, and Vestal's hairdos, white handkerchiefs, and powerful singing voice all rose to a new prominence.

Aside from a one-time performance at the 1984 National Quartet Convention by Sam, Rusty, Howard, and Vestal, the Happy Goodmans did not sing together from 1984 to 1990.

Shortly after the breakup, a compilation album, The Goodmans Greatest Hits was released in 1985, with the quartet pictured on the cover.

This album features the last song Rusty wrote, Standing in the Presence of the King, a fitting end to his songwriting career.

In 2002, a biographical video titled More Than The Music...Life Story chronicled the history of the Happy Goodmans.

"Lord I Wouldn't Take Nothin' for My Journey Now" (1999) and released a number of solo projects before her death in 2003, including two Vestal and Friends CDs featuring duets with a diverse array of vocalists, including George Jones, Sandi Patty, Dolly Parton, Andraé Crouch, Wynonna Judd, Bill and Gloria Gaither, Newsboys and the love of her life, Howard Goodman.

In 2012, Michael and Tanya Sykes (Rusty's daughter and son-in-law) stayed with Minick when they returned back to the Nashville metropolitan area for a few weeks.