More Basketball Woes, but We Haven't Touched SGM
OK. I blew it on the Marshall-WVU game. Marshall, a 2-10 team, put it to WVU so I congratulate them. I in no way have changed my stance, though. We need to stop playing them in roundball until the football series is created.
What does this southern gospel thing mean? Well, let me tell you. It could be that I was raised on the three topics of this blog or just that I am more a southerner than most West Virginians are. Maybe, but I doubt it.
You see, my father sang in a gospel quartet from about 1940 until his death in 1981. He was an amateur, though his group, named the Midland Trail Quartet, made records way back in the 1950's. Dad and Mom drug me to every gospel sing he participated in and I learned to love the pretty melodies and tight harmonies associated with the genre.
This type of music is four part harmony. Every group has a lead who sings the melody, a baritone who sings the in-between part for the tenor and bass singers and the tenor and bass singers. The music is Christian music about the love of God or Bible stories set to country style melodies. These days, elaborate orchestration is played on digital tape machines for the singers. Back when my Dad sung, it was only a live piano.
My first awareness that this was more than my Dad singing with his friends was a TV show sponsored by Nabisco. It featured the Statesmen Quartet. It was on in our area on Saturdays and we never missed it because it came on just before Lawrence Welk (ugh!). The Statesmen were a group of guys who changed the direction of that kind of music. Hovie Lister, the founder of the group and pianist extrordinaire, thought the music should have showmanship mixed in, so the Statesmen danced, wore silly outfits, and delivered a message. Many hated them, but my family couldn't quit watching. I've always said that I learned how to harmonize by listening to my Dad's group and the Statesmen. The lead singer of the group was Jake Hess and he still is the standard by which these groups are judged. Jake died about a year ago and since I met him when I was just a child and the fact that I remember it, leaves a void in my life. He was featured on the Bill Gaither Homecoming Series tapes for so long that he seemed part of the family.
I got away from listening to this music about the time I graduated from college. I came back to it about six years ago in frustration from listening to commercial radio and realizing that there was no real music on the radio anymore. The great songwriters had all pretty much gone into oblivion and melody was a thing of the past.
Then, I picked up a copy of Andy Griffith's first CD of hymns. There it was -- melody, great lyrics and passion. I went on the the Gaither series and I was hooked. I contend that some of the greatest American musicians are now in Southern Gospel Music. More on this another day.
What does this southern gospel thing mean? Well, let me tell you. It could be that I was raised on the three topics of this blog or just that I am more a southerner than most West Virginians are. Maybe, but I doubt it.
You see, my father sang in a gospel quartet from about 1940 until his death in 1981. He was an amateur, though his group, named the Midland Trail Quartet, made records way back in the 1950's. Dad and Mom drug me to every gospel sing he participated in and I learned to love the pretty melodies and tight harmonies associated with the genre.
This type of music is four part harmony. Every group has a lead who sings the melody, a baritone who sings the in-between part for the tenor and bass singers and the tenor and bass singers. The music is Christian music about the love of God or Bible stories set to country style melodies. These days, elaborate orchestration is played on digital tape machines for the singers. Back when my Dad sung, it was only a live piano.
My first awareness that this was more than my Dad singing with his friends was a TV show sponsored by Nabisco. It featured the Statesmen Quartet. It was on in our area on Saturdays and we never missed it because it came on just before Lawrence Welk (ugh!). The Statesmen were a group of guys who changed the direction of that kind of music. Hovie Lister, the founder of the group and pianist extrordinaire, thought the music should have showmanship mixed in, so the Statesmen danced, wore silly outfits, and delivered a message. Many hated them, but my family couldn't quit watching. I've always said that I learned how to harmonize by listening to my Dad's group and the Statesmen. The lead singer of the group was Jake Hess and he still is the standard by which these groups are judged. Jake died about a year ago and since I met him when I was just a child and the fact that I remember it, leaves a void in my life. He was featured on the Bill Gaither Homecoming Series tapes for so long that he seemed part of the family.
I got away from listening to this music about the time I graduated from college. I came back to it about six years ago in frustration from listening to commercial radio and realizing that there was no real music on the radio anymore. The great songwriters had all pretty much gone into oblivion and melody was a thing of the past.
Then, I picked up a copy of Andy Griffith's first CD of hymns. There it was -- melody, great lyrics and passion. I went on the the Gaither series and I was hooked. I contend that some of the greatest American musicians are now in Southern Gospel Music. More on this another day.
posted by Ronnie Flamingo at 10:59 PM
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