Jacob Bazzel Mull Biography

I've been thinking about Preacher Mull a lot lately. It is hard to believe that next week it will be a year since he passed away and I was blogging about it. He was such a big part of my life growing up. We always tuned in to the Mull's Singing Convention on WBIR-10 television every Sunday morning before church. We also attended numerous Mull concerts in Knoxville. I still watch the Mull's Singing Convention, however, it is now on WVLT-8 on Sunday mornings at 7:00. Mrs. Mull and Charlotte still carry on the tradition, but it just isn't the same without the preacher.

Some time earlier this year, the information and biography about Preacher Mull was taken off the Praise 96.3 website. I emailed the webmaster and asked what was up, but I have never gotten a response back. The only reference I can find on the site concerning the preacher is a small blurb about him underneath an ad for the Mull's Songbook series. So, I did some web cache work and pieced together a biography for him. You can read it below.

Biography of Preacher Mull:

Rev. Jacob Bazzel Mull was born October 4, 1914 in Burke County, North Carolina. He was born into a musical family and, as a child, played the banjo in "The Valdese Sacred Band," a gospel group made up of his mother, father, brothers, and sisters. His grandfather, Wallace B. Mull, was a circuit riding preacher in the 1800's.

Rev. Mull became legally blind at the age of eleven months when he fell into an open-pit fireplace. He only had a 3rd grade education yet became one of the most successful preachers, promoters, and businessmen in the Southern Gospel music industry.

He began preaching in 1939 when he was twenty-five years old. He said he learned scripture by having it read to him day and night. God gave him a memory for scripture. It was hard for him to remember a telephone number, but he could remember scripture.

In 1942, Rev. Mull moved to Knoxville to start his first radio program on WROL AM then to WNOX AM in Knoxville. He produced his first gospel concert in 1943. He promoted thousands of gospel concerts over a fifty-year span. He became well known all over the nation when ,between the years 1957 and 1982, he sold Chuck Wagon Gang records on several fifty thousand watt radio stations.

Rev. Mull met Elizabeth Brown (Lady Mull) at a church in Lenoir City during a revival. After an extended courtship, they were married September 10, 1944. Mrs. Mull became his eyes and she continuously read the Bible to him, adding to his Biblical knowledge. Rev. Mull organized several churches in North Carolina and Tennessee. He had one daughter, Charlotte, and one grandson, Doug.

Rev. Mull was the owner of four gospel music stations. The flagship station was Praise 96.3 WJBZ in Knoxville, where Rev. Mull and his wife hosted the Mull's Singing Convention from 4:00 to 6:00 pm Monday thru Friday and he taught Bible Prophecy each Sunday at 9:00 am and 9:00 pm.

Rev. Mull was a 2003 Inductee into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a recipient of the 2006 Living Legend Award at the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion. Rev. Mull passed away September 5, 2006 after suffering from a stroke while living in Shannondale Nursing Home. He was 91. He was preceded in death by his parents, Beulow and Artie Mull; brothers, Dwight, WB and Romulus, who died in service of his county; sister, Modell Ball. Survived by his devoted and loving wife, Elizabeth Brown Mull; daughter, Charlotte Mull Hutchinson; devoted grandson, Douglas J.M. Hutchison and beloved wife, Julia Hutchison, all of Knoxville; sister, Jenny Maye Eller; brothers, Robert Lee Mull of Gastonia, N.C., and Keith Mull of Mobile, Ala.

(Much of the biography above, was adapted from cached pages of the history of Praise 96.3 WJBZ radio station. Also from various sources on the web and from personal recollection. I posted the information here as a tribute to preacher Mull.)

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J. Bazzel Mull's Obituary from the Farragut Press (scroll down page, 3rd one listed)

J. Bazzel Mull's Wiki entry

Preacher Mull Dead at 91 from WBIR

Reverend Mull Supports the Panama Canal Treaty Video from WBIR

Remembering Mull's Singing Convention from Chattanoogan.com

Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame entry

Preacher Mull story from the Metro Pulse

Preacher Mull's Obituary On-Line Guest Book

Speech from Congressman John J. Duncan Jr. concerning preacher Mull

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Mike Clark said...
Byron, Thank you for the tribute to a great man.I was priveleged to get to know Preacher Mull and Mrs. Mull when I came to work at Praise 96.3 nine years ago. I was a little nervous when I actually met the man, but he was gracious as could be, making me feel welcome.As long as gospel music is played on the radio, or sung in concerts, Preacher Mull's legacy will live on. Ain't that right? Mike Clark (Mike in the Morning)
8/31/07 10:21 AM

Byron Chesney said...
That's right Mike, thanks for the comment. Keep up the good work over at jbz.
8/31/07 3:53 PM

Missyb64 said...
I think all Sundays should start with R.T. Faulkner reading the local news on the AM station in Jeff. City and Rev. Mull & Lady Mull playing gospel on Channel 10... that and fried chicken is what makes it Sunday in Jefferson County! Thanks for noting the life of a wonderful man... would that we could just hear that gravelly voice saying "have we got some sangin' Miz Mull?" one more time. Hope you enjoy my ramblings too, yours are great!
9/23/07 6:57 PM