When Roy McNeal was a little boy, he could envision only one thing in his future. He wanted to sing.

Little could he have known that he'd end up working with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry: Elvis Presley, Lawrence Welk, Jimmy Dean and Brenda Lee.

In the world of Southern gospel quartets, some people considered McNeal the best lead vocalist of his time. Fans - so eager to touch the man whose smooth, powerful voice riveted them - pulled and ripped his shirt as if he were a rock star.

Now retired from the road and living in Dyersburg, McNeal leads a quieter life. He's creating a gospel trio with Connie Tittle of Samburg and her son, Justin. McNeal's wife, Beverly, is the group's pianist. They started rehearsals last week and plan to limit their performances to a 50-mile radius of Dyersburg.

At 68 years old, McNeal has experienced a lifetime of music.

He was the ninth of 12 children born to Maggie and Teary M. McNeal in Atlanta, Ga. He recalled a fun childhood, playing basketball and baseball, and singing in the church as well as during family gatherings.

He made his debut in the church at 7 and was on television by the time he was 12. McNeal said he couldn't remember the name of the television show, but he and another youngster, Brenda Lee, alternated singing songs.

"I never did see her again until I got older and moved to Nashville," he said.

McNeal joined The Rangers, a Southern gospel quartet and began singing professionally when he was 20 years old. He said he took a year's worth of voice lessons with an opera singer named MiDari.

"I just wanted to be the best I could be," he explained. The strategy worked.

" I was in the top five lead tenors in the nation," he said, noting that a committee selected the best singers each year and his name was on the list repeatedly.

After a five-year stint with The Rangers, McNeal went on to sing with The Prophets for 10 years, The Statesmen Quartet for five years and The Stamps Quartet for five years. Although he still performs some and offers voice lessons, he retired from the road in 1979.

In that time, he said he recorded about 50 albums and achieved some recognition.

"What a Wonderful Day" became his signature song. McNeal estimates that he sold a million copies of that recording with The Prophets.

One of The Prophets' albums is now featured in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame at Dollywood. And, The Statesmen Quartet with Hovie Lister became RCA Victor's best selling gospel artists and was billed as the nation's No. 1 drawing card in the gospel field in the 1960s.

As a member of The Prophets, McNeal was invited to perform with Lawrence Welk's band; on the Jimmy Dean Show, a television show; and on the Gospel Singing Jubilee in Nashville.

While he was with The Statesmen in the early 1970s, the quartet performed in New York's famed Carnegie Hall. The audience numbered 7,000-8,000 persons.

What gospel music fans probably remember the most, though, may be the Gospel Singing Caravan. The show featured a number of gospel groups, including The Prophets, The Le Fevres, the Johnson Sisters and the Blue Ridge Quartet. The caravan traveled the nation and had a regular TV show carried by 65 network TV stations.

It was during one of the caravan's tours that he entertained his largest audience ever. About 10,000 persons purchased tickets to hear The Prophets sing in the Shrine Auditorium in Springfield, Mo.

"We traveled 200,000 miles a year in customized buses, and flew sometimes, and we just had fun singing on the bus," he said. "It's not easy. You have to pace yourself."

McNeal even made it to Dyersburg a number of times.

In the 1960s, The Prophets participated in the Blue Cap Gospel Singing that was held in the old Dyersburg High School gymnasium, which used to stand across the street from First United Methodist Church's fellowship hall.

In the 1970s, while he was between jobs, McNeal liv