• O It Thrills Me     (Hoppers)
• I Want To Know That You Know    (Greater Vision)
• Cast Your Bread Upon The Water    (Gold City)
• Mountain Mover    (Talley Trio)
• God Saw A Cross     (Kingsmen)
• Favorite Song Of All    (Ivan Parker)
• Hold On        (Dove Brothers)
• Ephesians 1        (Karen Peck & New River)
• Trading This Old Cross For A Crown    (Booth Brothers)
• Jesus Made A Believer Out of Me    (Kingdom Heirs)
• God Will Make A Way    (Janet Paschal)
• Jesus Will Pick You Up    (Brian Free and Assurance)
• Bonus: Hold On (Greenes) from Phil Cross’ Song of a Lifetime
• Bonus: Champion of Love by former Cathedrals members

While previous years’ releases included fifteen or more songs (plus bonus tracks), that list is now down to twelve songs. The most surprising omission was the Perrys’ “If You Knew Him.” Not as surprising (but just as disappointing) is the absence of the Gaither Vocal Band and Signature Sound. Their appearance would particularly help bookstore sales. Legacy Five also isn’t on the list, but that’s a little easier to explain, since Frank Seamans’ departure had been announced, and Gus Gaches will have started by the time the project comes out. Finally, the new Inspirations lineup doesn’t appear. It would have been nice to have the new lineup captured on film. (EDIT: I knew I was forgetting at least one I meant to list. A reader reminds me that the Male Quartet of the Year, Triumphant, isn’t featured, either.)

There seems to be an emphasis on including current radio singles in the song list. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but neither is it the best. It would almost certainly help sales if the most moving and memorable moments were selected—even if they were only selected from the same groups that would otherwise appear on that year’s project. A few examples: Heading that list would be “Save Me a Seat” from Brian Free & Assurance’s final set of the week; BFA bass Jeremy Lyle turned in an unforgettable performance as a tribute to his father, who had just been buried that morning. Also high on that list would be the original Couriers’ rendition of “Statue of Liberty” from Song of a Lifetime; when they were introduced, there seemed to be some audience apprehension as to whether they still had “it,” but that question was answered by the first chorus, when the audience was on its feet. One other worth mentioning would be the Kingdom Heirs’ performance of “He Locked the Gates” at their final set of the week; though it got a surprisingly lackadaisical response earlier in the week, it got the strong response it deserved later in the week.

Make no mistake, the right choices were certainly made on several songs, “God Saw a Cross” (Kingsmen) and “Cast Your Bread Upon the Water” (Gold City) being two of the best picks. But less focus on current radio singles and more focus on the most memorable moments would better capture the essence of the event.

A full film crew is only on hand for the second half of the week, so Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are the days from which the highlights are selected. Suppose NQC gave each person who purchased a ticket for those days a ballot for their favorite moment on mainstage, which could be turned in at the end of the week. These ballots could then be used to select the highlights.

One final idea, that may be a few years ahead of its time. Footage from at least the last decade is presently collecting dust in someone’s archive. Since there is already a live edit available for the video and audio footage, it should be a fairly simple cut-and-paste job to split each song into separate tracks.

Suppose the power to decide which highlights are worth purchasing was given to the fans. Suppose Crossroads and NQC made individual videos of each song available for $1/song, $5/set, and $25-$35/night. Most of the contractual framework with the different labels is already in place. (It might just not be possible for the Gaither footage to appear, but even having everything else available would be incredible.) Bandwidth may be an issue if the idea takes off, but should be in place within the next few years.

What would make this even more incredible is if footage from past years is also released. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to purchase the complete final mainstage appearances of individuals like Vestal Goodman, George Younce, or Jake Hess, or of groups like the Cathedrals, Florida Boys, Happy Goodmans, or Poet Voices? Or to revisit the Kingsmen in their Jerry Martin days, Gold City in its Trammell days, or the Kingdom Heirs in their Sutton/Bennett days?

In the words of Bill Gaither . . . why not?

Well, of course, you might think. But it’s not that simple.

Thirty years ago, that literally happened. When the LeFevres, Happy Goodmans, or Florida Boys were about to head into the studio to cut a new recording, they selected the best possible new material to fit their group’s sound. Literally. Even if a few of those had been cut by other groups.

And if they were the best new songs for their sound, why not?

So let me repeat the opening question. Would Southern Gospel be better off today if groups selected the best song possible?

In the last two decades, Southern Gospel has borrowed secular rock and pop’s formula of treating a good song as belonging to a particular group. But why can’t some songs belong to the genre?

David Bruce Murray has a good post up currently about dominant radio singles being dead. That’s a flaw of the system, not of the songs. It’s only a few per year—just like in the good old days, incidentally—but there are songs out there that are good enough that a dozen groups could record them without the song losing any of its power. Take Legacy Five’s “Faithful to the Cross.” It’s that rare song that fits anything from a high school graduation to a wedding to a funeral.

Would Southern Gospel be better off if we forget the formulas that gave secular rock and pop their (lately-economically-crumbling) place in the sun, and go back to the formulas that got us to where we were in the 1960s and 1970s?

After all, how many Southern Gospel songs would you enjoy as an instrumental piece—taking the soundtrack and adding in a cello part for the melody—if you didn’t already know the lyrics, and if that didn’t add to your enjoyment of the song?

Now I’m not saying there aren’t any. In fact, I can think of two:

• “Almost Morning” by the Perrys
• “He is Loved” by Greater Vision

There probably are a few others. But not many.

Southern Gospel is a lyric-driven genre. After all, it’s all about the message—all about the Gospel.

With one notable exception, the concept of a group recording a complete concept album singing the songs of a legendary songwriter has been lost in our genre. (Truth be told, the idea of the concept album has been nearly lost, period, but that’s another post.)

Both now and in the old days, certain groups would find that a certain songwriter’s style simply fit their sound. And from time to time, groups would release a complete album of some of that songwriter’s classic songs.

• Cathedral Quartet – Sings Albert E. Brumley Classics (1976). This was certainly the Cathedrals’ best table project, and possibly their best project ever. The mid-70s lineup of the group could render better male quartet versions of Brumley’s songs than any other group then or since.
• Bill Gaither Trio – Sings Inspiring Songs of Stuart Hamblen (1977). Of course, Bill and Gloria Gaither’s songs defined the Bill Gaither Trio’s sound. But if any songwriter came second-closest to fitting the trio’s sound, it was Hamblen.
• Chuck Wagon Gang – Sings the Songs of Albert E. Brumley – God’s Gentle People (1962). Of course, I said “male quartet” in my comments on the Cathedral post, because the Chuck Wagon Gang defined the Brumley song by introducing several of his best songs (including “I’ll Fly Away.”) So, not surprisingly, this album was one of their best.
• Chuck Wagon Gang – Sings the Songs of Mosie Lister (1961). While perhaps a less obvious pick than the Brumley album, this also worked well for the group. They picked twelve Lister songs that fit their sound, and knocked them out of the park.

There have also been notable compilations, with tributes to the songs of Bill & Gloria Gaither, Kyla Rowland, and Lee Roy Abernathy. Some of these have just been compilations, but others (such as Command Performance: A Tribute to Lee Roy Abernathy, featuring the original Gold City rendition of “Movin’ Up to Gloryland”) featured original recordings. Multi-group tributes are nice, and I mentioned them because if I didn’t, one of you would surely note the omission in the comments. But the focus of this post is single group tributes.

Both then and now, groups with an in-house songwriter sometimes do a complete recording or compilation of that songwriter’s songs. Slaughter Writes Imperials Sing (1965) is a good classic example, while Greater Vision’s Songs From the Stories highlights Rodney Griffin’s songs (a number of which had only been cut previously by other artists).

But the concept of a full-album tribute of songs by an external songwriter had largely disappeared when the Dove Brothers brought it back in 2004 for their best project to date, A Tribute to Mosie Lister. They were toward the end of their classic-quartet-style era, so the project had the benefit of an eight-year warmup.

Southern Gospel artists and record labels would do well to bring back the concept album, particularly the tribute to a legendary concept. Here are a few, for starters:

We Shall See Jesus: The Kingdom Heirs Sing the Songs of Dianne Wilkinson. They have already cut more of her songs than any other group, so what would another project be? Here are some classics and forgotten tracks that would fit their style well:

• We Shall See Jesus. There are only two singers on the road that could do the song justice—Arthur Rice and Pat Barker—and the Dixie Echoes aren’t likely to do a Dianne Wilkinson tribute.
• Saved (Gold City).
• God’s Grace Reaches Farther (Greater Vision).
• When Mercy Came Down (Mark Trammell Trio). This is a gem that has been unfortunately forgotten.
• Of Thee I Sing (Greater Vision, Ball Brothers). This would sound amazing in a quartet setting.

Feelin’ Fine: The Booth Brothers Sing the Songs of Mosie Lister. Anchored by new renditions of “Feelin’ Fine” and its sequel, “Still Feelin’ Fine,” this could include songs like

• “Where No One Stands Alone”
• “Till the Storm Passes By”
• “His Hand In Mine”
• “Here Comes the King” (done by the Dove Brothers on their tribute)
• “Land Where Living Waters Flow” (uptempo song done by the Florida Boys and, farther back, the Harvesters)
• “That Says it All” (done by George Younce on his solo project by the same name). After drafting this, I remembered that Ronnie Booth put it on his solo project, which validates my thesis that it fits the group’s sound. A rendition by the entire group would fit well on such a project, though.

Of course, they could include several of the classics they’ve already cut, but there’s more then enough great Mosie Lister songs they’ve yet to cut that their project could focus on those songs.

God Handled it All: The Perrys sing the songs of Kyla Rowland. It’s no secret that Rowland’s songs fit the Perrys’ style better than a hand in a glove. The Perrys can even take a Rowland song (like “Did I Mention”) that has been a filler track for other groups and make it a showstopper. Here are a few Rowland songs that the Perrys have never cut, but should:

• God Handled It All.
• One Scarred Hand. A Troy Peach / Libbi Perry Stuffle feature.
• There Rose a Lamb. Featuring Joseph. Few lead singers could top the original, but Joseph probably could.
• Windows of Home.
• His Response. This Mercy’s Mark track was forgotten way too quickly, since Anthony Facello left the group before their next mainline release and his replacement didn’t sing the song. This could be a bass feature.

A couple of other ideas:

• The Inspirations sing the songs of Sandy Knight
• The Isaacs sing the songs of Dottie Rambo
• The Hoppers sing the songs of Paula Stefanovich

On some of his points, I find myself nodding in agreement. If his numbers are correct, the National Quartet Convention really ought to be more than 28% male quartets. I don’t care for patriotic songs, either—unless the lyric uses the patriotism to set up the Gospel message. “Statue of Liberty” and “Let Freedom Ring” are two of the best songs our genre has introduced in the last half-century.

But several of his fifteen points are things I do like about Gospel Music. I love children singing  on stage. I love encores. And I do love versions of “Oh What a Savior” besides Rosie Rozell’s; in particular, I’m a fan of Larry Ford’s, Dallas Rogers’, and, yes, Ernie Haase’s versions of the song.

And I agree with Michael Booth.

In an acceptance speech at the 2009 Singing News Fan Awards, Michael Booth challenged his peers, sitting in the artist circle around the stage, to spend fifteen minutes in each concert sharing the Gospel message with their audiences.

Perhaps there are a few groups out there whose sole desire is to entertain. And so I’ll just leave them out of this discussion. But for the rest—and that’s probably most, since the sacrifices of eking out a living barely above minimum wage (if that) and putting up with the hassles of the road quickly weed out anyone who expected to get rich and famous, and live an easy life—Booth’s message couldn’t be any more timely.

In a world where moral relativism is the flavor of the day (the view that truth is not absolute), the absolute truth of the Gospel has never been more needed. It’s not like Gospel songs are palettes into which audiences can inject their favored form of spirituality. The Gospel is an all-or-nothing proposition. Either Jesus is God, or one of the most misguided lunatics that ever lived. Either He died for our sins, or He didn’t. And we’re either heading to Heaven or hell.

Probably 95% or better of the audiences at Gospel concerts are there because they agree with the message and like the music. But there are often people in the pews or theater seats who are just there because they like the harmonies or because they were invited by a friend. And since they (almost always) come into the concert knowing it’s a Gospel concert, there may never be a better time to share the Gospel message.

Now should the songs share that message? Of course. But that’s not enough. Whether or not an “altar call” is performed, it is quite appropriate for groups to slow down the program and take several minutes to urge their audiences to consider the message in the songs and apply it to their lives. And it’s not just about salvation, either; some in church pews have drifted far from their first love, and there is always room for growth for those who are on the right path.

It is far better that we muster up the patience to hear five, ten, or fifteen minutes of preaching than that a single soul that could have responded to the Gospel message would walk away unsaved.

I’m disturbed by something I’m seeing. There are some well-known Southern Gospel groups which have recently recorded songs on their new CDs which I really wouldn’t consider Gospel songs. In some of the cases that come to mind these artists have dug back into secular music to find a feel-good song that, although it has a fine message from a human standpoint, really doesn’t include, per se, the Gospel. There’s no mention of Jesus or His saving power or the Good News that He came to save and redeem a sin-sick, lost and dying world, or even about our daily walk with the Lord. They’re just, well, nice little ditties. Infectious ditties, at that. And, in at least two cases that spring to mind, these songs have been put out to radio as current singles.

I just don’t understand it . . . I could hear such things on the local oldies station, if I chose to do so. Which I don’t. There are plenty of good, meaty songs available today in Southern Gospel music, from what is arguably the strongest universe of songwriters Southern Gospel music has ever enjoyed — songs that are solid in their presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Why pass over them? Why dilute our representation of the Gospel to the world?

Many in Southern Gospel music used to criticize Contemporary Christian music — especially when it first spun off into its own genre in the early 1980s — as being just so much fluff and not overtly Gospel. Well, now we’re doing it. Shame on us.

Gospel music, at the risk of being redundant, should carry the Gospel message.

And I couldn’t agree more with that conclusion. But it’s expressed so well that I don’t see any particular need to try to say the same thing in different words. So I’d like to address a related theme, one I had already been pondering when his column came out.

Quite frankly, I don’t understand Southern Gospel’s fascination with country music—almost as though it was a better genre. And I don’t quite understand why Southern Gospel artists feel a need to borrow non-Gospel songs from country artists.

I’ve been pondering this for months, and I’ve come up with a few possible reasons.

Does it draw country fans into the genre? I don’t think so. After all, why bother with going out to see a group that sings a song almost as good as your favorite country singer sings it? Now if the group is singing other high-quality songs with the same style, perhaps a secular country fan could be drawn in to the concert and hear the Gospel message in those songs.

Is there a Southern Gospel inferiority complex? Just because country sells more units doesn’t necessarily make it any better. I’d take Mark Trammell, Doug Anderson, or Pat Barker (even as a soloist, though I prefer group harmonies) over any country singer, any day.

Are the Southern Gospel songs and songwriters just not good enough? I doubt anyone seriously advocates this.

Is there just not enough supply of great (not just good) Southern Gospel songs? Of the four options, perhaps this one is the most reasonable. Maybe there just aren’t enough good songs?

There’s so much good in Southern Gospel music. Why bother with country?

So I analyzed the question poster andygood posited: How many of this year’s artists have had a lineup change in the last two years, compared to in the 1990s?

Of the 55 artists on the mainstage at this year’s NQC:

• No change in past two years (27): Blackwood Brothers, Booth Brothers, Chuck Wagon Gang, Collingsworth Family, Down East, Original Couriers, Crist Family(?), Dove Brothers, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, HisSong(?), Hoppers (change at piano, not in members on CD cover), Isaacs, Ivan Parker, Janet Paschal, Karen Peck & New River, Kingdom Heirs, Legacy Five, Lesters(?), Mark Bishop, Paid In Full, Pfeifers(?), Primitives(?), Priority(?), Reggie Saddler Family(?), Talley Trio, Triumphant Quartet, Whisnants
• No change in past year (9): Dixie Echoes, Greater Vision, Greenes, Jeff & Sheri Easter, Naomi & The Segos, Ricky Atkinson & Compassion, Soul’d Out, Specks, Tribute Quartet
• One change in past year (7): Brian Free & Assurance, Diplomats(?), Kingsmen, Mark Trammell Trio, McKameys, Mike & Kelly Bowling(?), Perrys
• Multiple changes in past year (5): Dixie Melody Boys (probably), Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Gaither Vocal Band, Gold City, Inspirations
• Unsure (4): Browders, Hunters, Roarks, Skyline Boys

I asked a friend who knows practically everything about Southern Gospel for a mid-1990s lineup. He had a 1998 list handy, so of the 67 artists that appeared that year, here are the 1998 stats:

• No change in past two years (18): Bishops, Booth Bros, Cathedrals, Crabb Family(?), Eva Mae LeFevre, Greater Vision, Howard & Vestal Goodman, Isaacs(?), Jeff & Sheri Easter(?), JD Sumner & Stamps, Kingdom Heirs, Martins, McKameys, Perrys, Pfeifers, Primitives, Reggie Sadler Family(?), Whisnants
• No change in past year (1): Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver,
• One change in past year (10): Anchormen(at least), Brian Free & Assurance(?), Dixie Echoes (if we count Stewart Varnado’s joining NQC weekend), Dixie Melody Boys (at least 1), Freemans, Gaither Vocal Band, Greenes (unless TaRanda joined after NQC), Hoppers (unless Childress/Denice Hopper switch was post-NQC), Inspirations (unless the Hutchins/Campbell switch was post-NQC), Melody Boys (unless Kramer/Raines switch was post-NQC)
• Multiple changes in past year (8): Florida Boys (if Gene McDonald had joined by convention—if not, 1), Gold City (pianists),  Karen Peck & New River (depending on when band left), Kingsmen, Nelons, Palmetto State Qt (unless the lineup restructure was pre-NQC ‘97), Poet Voices, Specks
• Unsure (31): James Blackwood Qt, Calvarymen, Crossmen, Cumberland Boys, Gospel Harmony Boys, Hayes Family, Hunts, Heavenbound, Heartland Boys, Homeland Quartet, Jericho, Kevin Spencer Family, Lesters, McGruders, McKeithens, Melody Boys, Men of Music, Naomi & Segos, Perfect Heart, Perry Sisters, Ruppes, Singing Ambassadors, Singing Cookes, Songfellows, Speer Family, Squire Parsons Trio, Steeles, Tony Gore & Majesty, Torchmen, Weatherfords, Wilburns

I’d appreciate clarification on the groups that I’m uncertain about, but even from this limited data, it is safe to say that the rumors of Southern Gospel’s demise are greatly exaggerated.

Testimonies abound about how people were introduced to the genre through radio. And, though fewer, there are testimonies out there about how people were introduced to the Lord through hearing a Southern Gospel song over the airwaves.

So this post is strictly hypothetical—a hypothetical situation I hope never transpires.

But here’s the question. Should we reach a point where 50% or fewer of Southern Gospel fans are within reach of a radio station, what online or other methods might we see groups using to introduce new projects to current and potential fans?

Of course, this discussion doesn’t really require the hypothetical. That’s because it’s probably fair to say that at least 25% of Southern Gospel fans already live outside the reach of a primarily-Southern Gospel station. But I believe the hypothetical helps frame the issue better.

There are a number of options.

Streaming 30-second sound clips. Virtually every group already does this. It’s a convenient way for someone who has already come across a group’s music to find a specific song they heard on the radio or in concert. Also, it’s a way for someone who likes a current CD to see if they would like the older material—or for someone who came across an oldie to see what they think of a current lineup.

What it isn’t is a way to bring in new fans. And that’s due to the nature of the genre. Thirty-second clips might mean more in a genre where it’s mostly about the music, but in this genre, it’s mostly about the message, and thirty seconds generally isn’t enough to really get a grasp for the message and delivery of a song.

Perhaps more than in other genres, Southern Gospel depends on the artist/fan connection—that the artist delivers lyrics a fan can relate to in a way that persuades the fan that they’ve been through a similar experience. And thirty seconds just isn’t enough to build that bond.

Streaming a complete song. This is an option we’re starting to see more often. Many groups are open to it, and I haven’t any trouble finding groups willing to feature a single (complete) song for streaming on this site’s relatively new mp3 player.

Streaming a complete project. This is something we rarely see—though two examples this week helped prompt this post. The idea was already percolating in the back of my mind, but pondering those two stories helped the scattered thoughts congeal into something readable.

Offering a complete project for free download. With the cost of producing projects running into the tens of thousands of dollars, I just don’t see this as becoming normative at any point. It might work as a good one-time publicity move for a new group—Daybreak Quartet being a recent example. But groups will not be able to make giving projects away a regular practice unless they come up with an entirely different model for funding both the studio time and the rest of their ministry. Not that that’s impossible, but it would require quite a bit of creativity.

Offering a single song for free download. This could be the future. Granted, labels, songwriters, and all other creative content owners would have to either give permission or be properly compensated. Provided the group has a track record of including several songs as good as the free track on the project, this would spur the group’s current fans on to prioritize purchasing the new project. And it would give potential fans an opportunity to give the group a test drive, to see if they like the song’s message and the group’s soundtracks and vocals enough to make it worth the $10-$15 for a project.

It might make sense to make free downloads available for a limited time (say a week), coupled with a limited-time special pricing for the complete project. This would limit response for the first and second times around, but would in the long term spur more listeners to subscribe to the group’s mailing lists to hear when the new single comes out.

Some groups may focus on hosting the song downloads on their site; others, especially those with smaller fan bases, may want to make the download available to a variety of news websites and blogs, in the hopes of attracting new listeners.

Likely enough, the solution for the future won’t be one-size-fits-all. But some of these avenues should help Southern Gospel grow in a future where either radio shrinks or the fan base grows in areas where radio still doesn’t cover.

The record deal will include a project, to be released this fall, commemorating the group’s 75th Anniversary. Daywind’s Norman Holland stated: “What an honor to be a part of history. Blackwood Brothers’ music and songs are what established what we now know as Southern Gospel music. We are honored to pay tribute to this remarkable group and its heritage and on their 75th anniversary.”

The group today consists of James Blackwood’s son Jimmy Blackwood on lead, Wayne Little on tenor, Randy Byrd on bass, and Brad White singing baritone and playing piano.

Jimmy Blackwood stated: “We are gathering material for our first recording on the Daywind label and we are honored to be joining their roster of today’s top Gospel singers and to be associated with their outstanding team of writers and musicians. I pray that our efforts will be pleasing to the Lord, a blessing to all who listen, and that we would make my daddy proud.”

Of course, we must start this discussion by realizing that the line is blurred, and there are always artists in AAA, big league quality but one step away.

But when I’m writing a review of an artist that is indisputably good but not nationally known (recent examples: Daybreak Quartet, Shiloh Mountain Trio), oft-times I’m at a loss for words for what to call them. “Regional” seems to be the most common term, but it’s not strictly correct; a number of regionally known groups travel across 8-12 different states on a consistent basis, and the national groups often don’t go much further.

“Semi-pro” is a term used in other fields, but it implies a lower level of professionalism which is true of some groups but decidedly not true of others.

In CCM, the term “indie” is frequently used. And there’s some merit to the term: Though there are a few exceptions, practically every major group is or has been on a major label. Groups like the Dixie Echoes that might be independent but nationally known now came to prominence on major labels.

On this blog, I want to be accurate without demeaning. I’d like to use a term where if someone stumbles across the website without any prior knowledge of the genre (and this happens), they can understand which groups are nationally known and which aren’t. At least for the purposes of this blog—and to some extent, in our wider discussions elsewhere—which term is best?