Last month, Chariots of Fire turned thirty. It’s a little hard to believe that the greatest film ever made is that young. With a few exceptions, cinema’s finest moments came considerably earlier. Chariots of Fire was one of the exceptions. And the reason is that its makers understood what it meant to craft a film that was at once full of truth and full of power. Surprisingly, it struck a resounding chord with film audiences, and it captured four Oscars... Read more
I had to put in a plug for this interview because it’s just too darn cute. Michael Booth is interviewed by some of his youngest fans, amidst much hilarity and profound insight! The Garms family promises to be a valuable addition to southerngospelblog.com. Their contributions have already been highlights. This interview is probably their best so far. Be sure to watch the whole thing. [Update: The video has been removed from Youtube, so I have removed the embed. However, it... Read more
Someone passed along this link to me the other day. It’s a blog post on contemporary versus traditional worship. I thought it was relevant enough to similar discussions concerning SG that it was worth discussing here. We’ll start with this bit: The goal of corporate worship is to honor God and bring men and women to His Son. Keeping that in mind prevents our preferences from getting in the way. In my years of campus ministry our goal was to... Read more
Often I find it fun to get a quartet version and a trio version of the same song and compare them. It’s fascinating to hear how each sort of configuration will take a song and adapt it to their own strengths and weaknesses. Two songs I’ll focus on today are “Basics of Life” and “Beyond the Open Door.” The first is a well-known 4Him hit featuring the soulful Kirk Sullivan, and the second is a Gaither Vocal Band number featuring... Read more
Hey guys. This is tough for me to write, but I wanted to let y’all know that as of next week, I will no longer be able to update the blog. After a lot of prayer and soul-searching, I have decided to become a Roman Catholic. Moreover, I feel that God is calling me to become a nun. I know this must be coming as a shock, but believe me when I tell you that this decision has not been... Read more
Okay guys, I’m contemplating something a little rad. At this point I have heard samples, read lyrics, and surveyed promo photography for Doug Anderson’s new project. This means that I already have a good sense of what the album sounds and looks like even though I don’t have it in my hands yet. So, how would it be if I wrote a review of it? Granted, it wouldn’t be as fleshed out as it would be if I had, er,... Read more
You can now hear samples and read lyrics from Anderson’s upcoming project here. He also has a bare-bones website (to be fleshed out soon) where you can register for his newsletter. I’m looking forward to this project. It’s interesting how many tracks have a country twang to them. I still think “Jesus is Holding My Hand” sounds like one of the best on the project, though several others sound very good as well. A few of them, depending on your... Read more
Yesterday while trawling Youtube, I came across a video I had forgotten about, and it made me laugh all over again. It’s from the 1992 team-up of Gold City and the Kingsmen, captured on live video and named King’s Gold. (The videos were OOP for a long time but have recently been re-released on DVD.) So naturally they had to include a bit of dueling on “Looking For a City.” Neither Brian Free nor Gary Shepherd attempts to go as... Read more
Oh the myst’ry of that cursed, blessed hill Where the sinless Son fulfilled the father’s will… *** Today I’m going to point my readers to a song that, as far as I know, has never been professionally cut. It was written by Ben Storie, who was recently interviewed along with Lee Black by Daniel J. Mount. Ben is a gifted writer, and even though nobody has picked this song up yet, I consider it to be among the best I’ve... Read more
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Encore, encore…okay, that's enough
Fun question for you guys today: What is your maximum limit for turnarounds? How many times does a group have to repeat the chorus of a song for you to get to the point where you’re inwardly groaning, “No, not ANOTHER encore”? I max out at around three myself. And part of it depends on the song. Three encores of “Boundless Love” or “Still Feelin’ Fine,” I can live with, but for some reason “A Few Good Men” was ruined... Read more