Positive Daily Commentary on Southern Gospel
Question: What does Northern Gospel sound like?
Answer:
Thursday afternoon, I was walking through the vendors’ hall shortly before it opened to the public. I saw a familiar face at the Legacy Five booth:
Then I saw another familiar face walking in the booth’s direction, and I knew something was up. I whipped out my camera and caught the culprit in the act:
Finished product:
Unfortunately, the one thing I missed was the look on Scott Fowler’s face when I showed him the middle picture.
On Friday, I posted about how the Steeles’ hit song “Left Behind” did not appear at its place on the chart in the Singing News online radio charts for May-October 2001. In its place was a blank (raptured?) line.
A little bird notifies me that the song has been restored to its proper place on the charts, and a quick look confirms this.
So the mystery’s over, in a way. The song is back, we just don’t know if it was a technical glitch or a practical joke that left its line blank in the first place.
Observant Singing News forum poster LRBB observed a strange anomaly on the Singing News charts for 2001. From May through October, a song charted in the top 40, peaking at #7 in July and August. It was at #23 on the all-year chart.
However, on the Singing News hits archives for 2001, all of the instances where the song appears are left blank.
LRBB asked what song was missing. I did some research. The song?
“Left Behind” (Steeles)
No, I’m not kidding. You can’t make this kind of stuff up.
Could some staffer at Singing News be playing a royal practical joke on us? I wonder how long this song has been missing.
Why is it that tenors get to sing “Glory Road,” but basses have to sing “Lonesome Road”?
Author unknown (I adapted this)
A well-worn one dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty dollar bill arrived at a Federal Reserve Bank to be retired.
As they moved along a conveyor belt to be burned they struck up a conversation. The twenty dollar bill reminisced about its travel all over the country.
“I’ve had a pretty good life,” the twenty dollar bill proclaimed. “Why, I’ve been to concerts by Luciano Pavarotti, Britney Spears, and the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.”
“Wow!” said the one dollar bill. “You’ve really had an exciting life!”
“So tell me,” says the twenty dollar bill,”where have you been in your lifetime?”
The one dollar bill replies, “Oh, I’ve been Southern Gospel concerts–groups like the Perrys, Greater Vision, and Mark Trammell Trio.”
The twenty dollar bill interrupts, “WHAT’S SOUTHERN GOSPEL?”
Daniel Britt recently posted an interview he did with Ernie Haase. In the interview, Haase mentions that he’s been interested in the idea of a Southern Gospel workout video that fans can exercise along with. That’s a great idea, but I have this feeling that if anyone tried following the moves on their main videos, they’d burn just as many calories as they would with a regular exercise video!
Now some of you will probably say you suspected this all along, but at last we have confirmation, from the words of Mr. Averyfineline himself:
a non-sg friend of mine who lurks on the blog as an alien outsider commented just the other day on how many intelligent and insightful commenters this site is fortunate to have…
I didn’t know they had computers on Mars, or spoke English for that matter. But at long last I have an explanation for those occasional comments I can’t make heads or tails of, no matter how long I scratch my head.
Sometimes my mind wanders to distant lands where Southern Gospel bloggers fear to tread. (Except, of course, Avery, who fears nothing.) Once in a while, these musings are coherent enough that I can shape them into a blog post, and I think today’s thought is such an instance.
I’ve been wondering how closely appearance is tied to popularity. Just suppose Peg McKamey and Lauren Talley were to trade their voices. I wonder how many of McKamey’s fans would become Talley fans, and how many Talley fans would become McKamey fans.
Suppose Scott Fowler and Frank Seamans were to trade appearances. Seamans would be the short, wiry tenor, and Fowler the aging statesman of song. I wonder how many people who call Fowler their favorite Legacy Five member would still do so if he looked like Frank Seamans.
Can you imagine what it would have been like to listen to a Gold City concert with a bass who sounded like Tim Riley but looked like Brian Free, and a tenor who sounded like Brian Free but looked like Tim Riley?
But even with all the names I’ve named thus far, one question weighs more on my mind than any other.
I can’t help but wonder how much farther J.D. Sumner would have gone if he’d looked like Eric Phillips.
Am I the only person who has heard Legacy Five sing “The Vegetables Song”?
The message of the song–that God provides for everything–is especially timely this Thanksgiving season. (”Don’t listen to me, listen closely to the words.”)
As the song affirms, God provides for our every need–a message especially timely this Thanksgiving season.
Probably half the list could have some...© 2008 by Daniel J. Mount. Theme designed by MainCore and modified by DJM.
