SiriusXM’s Southern Gospel channel, enLighten, will be broadcasting live from this weekend’s Memphis Quartet Show. Starting nightly at or shortly before 7 Eastern Time, they will air 20 of the 22 headliner acts’ sets live. enLighten can be found on Sirius XM Channel 65, Dish TV Channel 6065 and via the SiriusXM App.

Some sites make it relatively easy to swap books and CDs. But I have yet to find something similar for Southern Gospel LPs. So I occasionally set aside a day and a post here for this.

We post the duplicates we have, and, optionally, the ones we seek. Since not all LPs have the same value, we indicate whether we would swap it for, say, 1, 2, or 3 others, rating a common LP as 1 and a rare one as 3. (If it’s worth more than 3, just sell it on eBay!)

Here are my current duplicates:

• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Bill Gaither Songs by the Blackwood Brothers
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Family Singing Time
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Following You
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Hits of the Century
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Hymns, featuring I Must Tell Jesus
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Hymns of Gold
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Jesus, Let Me Write You a Song
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Joy Comes in the Morning
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - The Joy of Knowing Jesus
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Learning to Lean
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Lift Up the Name of Jesus
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - Through the Years with the Blackwood Brothers Live!
• worth 1 – Blackwood Brothers - We Come to Worship
• worth 1 – Dixie Echoes - Sing Songs of Faith
• worth 1 – Downings - Great Gospel Songs
• worth 1 – Downings - Singing From The Heart
• worth 1 – Florida Boys - 12th Anniversary (no cover – otherwise would certainly be worth 2 or 3!)
• worth 1 – Florida Boys - Free Indeed
• worth 1 – Florida Boys - From Then Till Now
• worth 1 – Florida Boys - Sing Gospel Hits Vol. II
• worth 1 – New Gaither Vocal Band - Passin’ the Faith Along
• worth 1 – Kingsmen - Because of Him
• worth 1 – Kingsmen - Suddenly There’s a Valley (worn and no cover)
• worth 1 – Kingsmen - The Upper Window
• worth 1 – Kingsmen - Your Ride’s On The Way
• worth 1 – Nelons - Live! (as Rex Nelon Singers)
• worth 1 – Oak Ridge Boys - At Their Best (worn and no cover)
• worth 1 – Oak Ridge Boys - Go Out to the Program
• worth 1 – Oak Ridge Boys - Sing Their Favorites
• worth 1 – Rambos - Queen of Paradise
• worth 1 – Rambos - The Real Thing
• worth 1 – Rambos - Too Much to Gain to Lose and other Favorites
• worth 1 – Reba Rambo -The Prodigal according to Reba
• worth 1 – Rebels - Just a Closer Walk
• worth 1 – Henry & Hazel Slaughter - All in the Name of Jesus
• worth 1 – Sons of Song - Something Old Something New
• worth 1 – Statesmen - All Day Sing and Dinner On The Ground
• worth 1 – Statesmen - Songs of Faith

Song Snapshots is a column featuring the stories behind new and classic Southern Gospel songs.

In the 1990s, Ray Scarbrough was a member of the Southern Gospel group The Supernals. He left the group at one point; when he returned, they had nearly completed a new album, but were still one or two songs short. He brought “We’ll Meet Again” to the group, and they recorded it.

“We ended up having some minor charting success,” he recalls. But the song’s biggest success was yet to come; the Palmetto State Quartet recorded it on their 2004 album It’s Settled.

Palmetto State’s version featured the group’s baritone singer, Tony Peace. “Tony’s rendition of it knocked it out of the park for me. I’m humbled by it.”

Incidentally, “We’ll Meet Again” wasn’t Scarbrough’s only cut on It’s Settled; the group also cut “I’m On My Way.” “I’m not the song factory yet that other people are,” he notes, “but when I get my cuts, usually I get multiple cuts on an album somewhere. I’m honored to say, if there’s one Ray Scarbrough cut on there, there’s usually another one on there!”

It’s Settled came out during a period in Scarbrough’s life when he had walked away from any active involvement during Southern Gospel songwriting. One day, a lady showed him a polaroid picture of a tombstone. “The headstone read, ‘We’ll Meet Again,’” Ray recalls. “She said, ‘My daughter passed of leukemia, and that was her favorite song ever.’”

“If I never got a trophy, but if I had that polaroid picture, what I wouldn’t give…that means as much to me as anything.”

“It’s strange,” he adds; “it’s one of those little lures that God uses to bring you back. That happened to be one of those things that God was using to bring me back to the music that I love.”

Worth Knowing

• Tribute Quartet posted on Facebook that their song “Good News From Jerusalem,” written by Dianne Wilkinson and Jerry Salley, is going to be the #1 hit on the August Singing News charts. It is the group’s first #1. Here’s a recent video of them singing the song.
• Liberty Quartet tenor Philip Batton’s mother passed away last Saturday afternoon.
• Inspirations bass singer Mike Holcomb’s infant granddaughter was hospitalized with breathing issues.
• Libbi Perry Stuffle posted an update about her husband Tracy’s stroke recovery yesterday. She said: “It’s all green lights to head back to rehab today for Tracy!!! Dr feels comfortable in letting him go today! All the blood counts look good and it’s full steam ahead in Jesus’ Name!!!! God is all powerful and merciful!!!!” 
• She added another update last night: “Well here we sit in the ER in Lebanon! Yes, I said ER!! Tracy had done great all afternoon and evening until the nurse gave him his Meds tonight. About 20 mins later his heart rate dropped to 48. So after some major issues with the Health Care / Rehab center that WILL be addressed tomorrow, they sent him to the ER. They are keeping him overnight. They will run more test in morning. Dr said he could be over medicated. One test shows he could have a little bit of heart failure. They just don’t know at this point! His heart rate is slowly coming back up. We should know more tomorrow. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him! Job 13:15″
• UPDATE (6/15/2013, 5:45 PM): Libbi posts: “Tracy is better today. His Heart rate is back to normal. Blood pressure is good. Dr said she thinks what happened last night was medicine related. She said his heart sounded good and strong. They put him back on antibiotics to finish clearing out the small amount of pneumonia in the lungs. They will keep him here for another day or two.”
• UPDATE, 6/17: Tracy Stuffle is headed back from the hospital to his rehab facility.

Worth Watching

Here’s a video of the current LeFevre Quartet lineup taking on one of the group’s enduring favorites, “Jesus Saves.”

Worth Discussing

It’s open thread Saturday—you decide!