Treasures: He Left It All (Cathedrals)
Here’s a fascinating trip into the archives of this genre’s forgotten history, courtesy of Dean Adkins:
What makes this particularly fascinating is that the Cathedrals, to my knowledge, never recorded this song. That’s not to say the song itself was never recorded; it was written by Aaron Wilburn and recorded in 1989 on the Nelon’s Let The Redeemed Say So.
Of particular note on this rendition are that George Younce sings the same step-out lines recorded by Rex Nelon, but adds the extra “He Left It All” lines just played by the bass guitar on the original. Also notice Roger Bennett singing a fifth part at the big ending.
Does anyone know more about the song or other occasions where the Cathedrals may have recorded it?
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10 Responses to “Treasures: He Left It All (Cathedrals)”
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A beautiful song!
Kurt Young actually recorded this song with a quartet called Priority. Mark Trammell produced the project for Homeland Records, the same company the Cats were with at the time. That recording was the last one Kurt did before joining the Cats. I bought the cassette tape when I heard Paul Heil play a song from the recording and announce that Kurt was the Cathedrals new Tenor. The tape was one of my favorites. Brian Yandell was also in the group.
Kurt originally recorded it with Priority. Loved the song but always a challenge for me to sing.
The Cats arrangement on the video is exactly the same one that Priority used, including George’s “step out” lines. My quartet recorded this song with the same arrangement back in 1998.
Oh, how I miss those guys! They are still my all time favorite quartet. I can’t wait to see the ‘Cathedral’s reunion tour’ in heaven someday.
A little known fact: Kurt Young recorded and Mark Trammell produced this song and arrangement with Priority on Homeland not long before Kurt joined the Cathedrals.
Daniel, a Kurt Young interview would be something that would draw a lot of interest…..
Not sure if I’m brave enough . . .
I agree with above post. An interview with Kurt Young would be great. It would be interesting to get his take on the way things ended for him, how he felt about the cathedrals, and what he is doing now. I would hope that he would say he appreciated his opportunity with them.
Interesting to think what would have happened if Kurt Young had worked out. Ernie might never have gotten his big time shot, and who knows what the effect would have been on Southern Gospel currently.
[...] songs I’d never heard before were posted on YouTube a few days ago. Unlike, say, “He Left it All,” these appear to be from a studio recording made in the mid-1980s. I had thought I had a [...]