Today I’m going to share a Bill Gaither story that may be new to some of you, but it moved me tremendously when I recently watched it on the How Great Thou Art DVD. Bill tells the story to set up Ivan Parker’s rendition of “Thank You,” and it’s perhaps even more powerful than the song itself. Since it’s not featured in any publicly available clips, I’ve transcribed it in full from the DVD. This is the story of Bill’s father, George Gaither,... Read more
For the last stretch of the summer, I’ve decided to spend the time that might otherwise have been wasted sleeping in, arguing with atheists on the Internet, surfing the Internet, etc., on reading and reviewing one good new book per week. Happily, I just popped in on a lovely little used bookstore the other week and picked up several good ‘uns. So I thought I might let you, my readers, take a peek at what I’m reading for the next few weeks. But since it... Read more
The Ball Brothers are one of southern gospel’s youngest and most progressive groups. Consistently thinking outside the box, they serve up a uniquely tight, pop-flavored harmonic blend that recalls GoFish or the Backstreet Boys more than your typical southern gospel men’s group. They built their career as four blood brothers, but since then they’ve replaced two, including brother Stephen, who tragically had to bow out due to early onset hearing loss. Fortunately, Andy Tharp and Chad McCloskey have seamlessly slipped into... Read more
Carol Burnett and Roddy McDowall are absolutely marvelous together. My, didn’t he grow up to be charming? 😉 They bide their time before breaking into “Moses Supposes,” but there’s so much good stuff here I figured I’d save myself a little time and just embed the whole thing. My only question: Shouldn’t it be “Thus, the seething sea sufficeth us?” Methinks he slippeth! *** Roddy: “Try this one. Captain Craxcomb cracked his cousin’s coxcomb…” Carol: “Will you knock that off?” Read more
Brian Free & Assurance have released a music video for their excellent new song “Say Amen.” Southern Gospel music videos tend to be hit or miss, since often there’s no storyline for the video to follow. The Browns also released a new video last week for their catchy song “Everything Changes,” but it fell into that very trap because there’s nowhere interesting for the song to go visually (and no, Andrew’s sleeveless biceps don’t count). But “Say Amen” is one of the... Read more
[Update: Brian has pointed out that Squire Parsons also recorded this song himself back in the 80s. If you’d like to hear that version for yet a third take, click here.] Since some readers took offense at my appropriation of Steve Eaton’s “Smackdown” title for this series, I’ve given it a new name so as to accommodate everyone. 🙂 Today, I’m taking a hot new track off the Ball Brothers’ release Pursuit (review scheduled for next week) and comparing it with an... Read more
Last week I featured a clip of one of my favorite comic actors, Dick Van Dyke. Did you know that he has a kid brother who’s also a pretty darn good comedian? His name is Jerry, and I discovered him in this old episode of the Judy Garland Show. I immediately thought, “So THAT’S where Mark Lowry and Tim Hawkins got their weird!” I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if some of their facial contortions and physical techniques were influenced by Jerry Van... Read more
[Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Brian Fuson of Fuson’s Findings.] Let’s hit the Rewind button and go all the way back to 2001. Before everyone on earth had an iPhone, when Chrysler was still owned by Germans, and my precious Detroit Tigers hadn’t had a winning season since I was a toddler. The Booth Brothers had no chart topping songs, no legions of fans, and weren’t really known by the average Gospel Music fan. Ronnie and Michael... Read more
[Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Lauren of Lauren’s Southern Gospel Views From the Pew.] Saturday night I made my way north to a small church on top of a hill where the Whisnants were singing that night. They were scheduled to be in Pottsville, Ark. at Pottsville Freewill Baptist Church that night. Pottsville is a small town of about 3,000, so as you can imagine, the nightlife leaves something to be desired. And for a small town and... Read more
When I was little, my three great loves were Dick Van Dyke, Danny Kaye and Donald O’Connor. (Pause for a gratuitous collage): Where was I? Oh yes, one reason why these particular three were my great loves (w/apologies to Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, etc.) was that they all had something specific in common: They were geniuses of physical comedy. And nothing can make little kids laugh like brilliant physical comedy. Of the three, I probably fell hardest (as it were) for Dick Van Dyke, on the... Read more
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