Charles E. Moody

Who was Charles E. Moody?

Charles Ernest Moody was a gospel songwriter from Gordon County, Georgia, United States. He was a member of the 1920s string band Georgia Yellow Hammers from Calhoun, Georgia, which included members Bill Chitwood, Bud Landress, and Phil Reeve. The Yellow Hammers were a very popular string band with their biggest hit being "Picture on the Wall" which sold more than sixty thousand copies in 1928. Moody's individual songwriting talents were, however, dynamic.

After studying music in Dalton, Georgia, with A. J. Sims, Moody continued his studies at the South­ern De­vel­op­ment Nor­mal School in Asheville, North Carolina, while directing music for a Tunnel Hill, Georgia, Meth­od­ist church. At some time prior to 1927 when he moved to Calhoun to teach in public schools, he began his affiliation with the Georgia Yellow Hammers. In 1938, being married with a family, Moody moved back to Tun­nel Hill but in 1940 relocated to Cal­houn.

After the Yellow Hammers disbanded, Moody was the choir director of the Calhoun First Methodist Church for many years. "Kneel at the Cross" and "Drifting too Far From the Shore" are hits for which Moody is most widely known as songwriter. Moody was born October 8, 1891, and died June 21, 1977. Moody married Fannie Brownlee. They had three children: Charles Brownlee Moody, Frances Moody Jones, Virginia Mae Moody Worth.