The Pine Ridge Boys were formed in 1963 with Jim Stewart singing bass, Darius Shuford on the piano, his brother Wayne Shuford at tenor, Miles Cooper singing lead, and Charles Burke at baritone. Cooper and Stewart had sung together previously in the Melody Masters. Another former Melody Masters member, baritone Ned Wilder, was eventually reunited with Cooper and Stewart in the Pine Ridge Boys. Darius Shuford passed away in December of 1964. Charles Abee took his place at the piano. The quartet recorded its first LP record, No, I’ll Never Be Lonely, in 1965. The Pine Ridge Boys had several bass singers in the early years including future Kingsmen Ray Dean Reese and future Trav'lers and Palmetto State bass singer Joel Duncan. When Duncan and Wayne Shuford left in 1967, group manager Miles Cooper recruited two former Kingsmen to replace them: bass singer Reece McKinney, and tenor Jack Henderson. McKinney recorded one album (That Is Why I've Got To Sing) with the group, but was killed in an accident before it was released. "Big Jim" Stewart eventually returned to stay as the Pine Ridge Boy's bass singer. By the end of the 1960s, Farrell Hinson had joined to sing tenor. Hinson and Stewart anchored the Pine Ridge Boys during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Some of the other individuals who performed with the group over the years include Miles Cooper's son and future Florida Boys member Chip Cooper, Garland Green, Rex Smith and Robert Belk. Jim Stewart retired from managing and singing in 2012. At that time, he turned the group over to his son, Larry Stewart, a former bass singer for the Anchormen and Singing Americans. Original Pine Ridge Boys tenor, Wayne Shuford, returned to sing baritone in 2013, remained with the group until 2018, then returned again to sing baritone from 2019 to 2022. In 2023, the lineup of tenor Stephen Williams, lead Matthew Benton, baritone Jackson Smith, and bass Larry Stewart re-recorded the group's first LP (1965's No, I'll Never Be Lonely) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the quartet's 1963 founding. The two-disc set included the re-recorded tracks featuring the current lineup, as well as the original 1965 recording. Source: sghistory.com