Enough already(addendum)

A couple of posts ago. I expressed my thoughts on the current election season, which, taking a page from NASCAR, could easily be called the "silly season" in American life.

A good friend sent me the following in an e-mail, which sums up a lot of my thoughts on the subject in a slightly more positive manner than the way I expressed them in my original post.

I share it here for your perusal.




TOP 10 PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION


1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed teaching and preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love His own.

10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS REALLY IN CONTROL?!!!!

Curse, shmurse!

There is much pining now among baseball fans hoping that the Chicago Cubs would finally have a championship after 100 years of disappointing history during the past few days.

In fact, the pining has been so loud and long that the Cubs were under some sort of "curse" that some may actually believe that preposterous nonsense.

I know that many baseball players and fans alike are superstitious, but let me make one thing crystal clear...

The Cubs were NOT cursed.

They were simply beaten by a Los Angeles Dodgers team that just plain, flat outplayed them in three consecutive games.

This is not unlike something that might happen during the regular season...even during the Cubs' superlative 2008 season, where they posted the best record in the National League.

At some point, regardless of how good you are, you DO lose to somebody. It so happens that in the case of this year's Cubs, they were outplayed by a team playing better baseball RIGHT NOW.

And it doesn't matter what you did this year, or last year, or ten or twenty or fifty or even a hundred years ago...the teams that win in the postseason are the ones that are playing best at that time. Period. No excuses.

Will the Dodgers go on to the World Series and the championship of baseball? If they're playing the best on the days that issue is being decided, they just might! If they're not, they likely won't.

No one knows who is going on to win it all, whether it's the Dodgers or the Philadelphia Phillies or the Tampa Bay Rays or even the defending champion Boston Red Sox.

We know this, though...it won't be the Cubs...they were simply not good enough this year.

But they're NOT cursed!

Enough already!

Like a lot of you I'm sure, election years can't go by fast enough for me.

The current Presidential campaign is particularly painful for me, since all the usual posturing and campaigning began LAST YEAR.

And most of the dialogue since has been nothing but cliches, talking points, unwelcome intrusions into my mailbox(both snail and e)and my entertainment life, and it's extremely difficult(if not impossible)to tune it out if one would like to.

Mind you, I am keenly aware of my responsibility as a citizen to be an informed voter who participates in the political process. Only a sound awareness of the candidates and the issues ensures that my participation is useful. I don't even mind an occasional thoughtful political discussion.

An OCCASIONAL one. And a THOUGHTFUL one.

Those criteria eliminate about 98% of the dialogue I hear on the street, at my work, among a lot of my friends, and even(or maybe ESPECIALLY)in the media.

I truly feel sorry for those who feel that whether I intend to vote for Barack Obama or John McCain is the most important decision I'll make in the next month. Or whether I think it's more Biblically sound to be a Democrat or a Republican. Or even more for those that think a position on ONE issue(regardless of what it is)is the sole litmus test for what kind of citizen or person I am.

Those who really understand life know that the President is not the sole or even the primary component in whether the economy improves or whether the price of food or gas goes up or down. Not that THAT's not a factor in who we choose to vote for or not, but when the choice is between two people who've never been President before, it baffles me as to how so many can be so sure about what will happen when one candidate or the other is elected.

And frankly, most voters are so apathetic about the process these days anyway that the positions they have are not ones that they come to by their own careful thought and analysis, but are those of friends of theirs or other authority figures in their lives.

After a while, it all becomes a dizzying cacophony of sound and (contrived)fury, signifying nothing(thank you, Mr. Shakespeare!).

And what do we do when our alarms ring and ring and won't stop, or we hear some music or noise outside that we don't like?

That's right...we shut off the source of the sound.

Thus, this is my plea to those who insist on forcing me to absorb their political crusades against my will...STOP IT!

Of late, it's been particularly galling to go to places on the web that offer discusion of sports or gospel music(two of my most avid interests)only to read political treatise after political treatise. One of the most interesting gospel music sites I know has been ruined by the rantings of misguided political zealots.

So now my request is not unlike the one my father would give me when I had my radio turned on too loud for his taste at night...

TURN IT OFF!

Thanks for letting me vent to you tonight.

A night of magnificent melody

Tonight I was able to break away from my hectic "real life" to spend an evening suspended in time.

Good gospel music has that effect on me...no matter what's going on in my life or how much stress I might be dealing with...an evening of seeing live gospel singing in person puts all that on hold, and relieves my stress entirely for two or three hours at least.

And the gospel music I saw WAS good, from the Melody Boys Quartet, the California Melody Boys, and the Chordsmen. Those three artists sang tonight at Trinity Southern Baptist Church where Fresno touches Clovis in Central California.

The turnout was quite impressive...both the California Melody Boys and Chordsmen have strong followings in Central California, and the Melody Boys Quartet has a national reputation, been to the Fresno area many times, and are played often on the gospel radio show I help host...so I suppose it's not that surprising that the church was nearly full...as early as a half hour before the program!

I got there an hour and a half early, since I wasn't sure when the start time was. I arrived just as the Melody Boys were finishing their sound check. It was a pleasure to see the quartet's members again, particularly their newest addition, tenor Tim Williams, who was formerly with Bakersfield's Golden State Quartet. No doubt a lot of that quartet's fans(many in Fresno)were excited to see him again, especially with a top national quartet.

Of course, a major highlight for me whenever the Melody Boys are around is to see and talk to long time bass singer and manager Gerald Williams, one of gospel music's classiest and acclaimed legends. He is as kind a gentleman as one could imagine. Role models may be rare for gospel singers these days, but if one is looking for a gospel singer to be one, one need look no farther than Gerald Williams to pattern one's singing career and attitude after.

While waiting, I sneaked a peek at Gerald's autobiography(Mighty Lot of Singin')at the Melody Boys' record table, and I was able to read and absorb three full chapters while doing so(I read fast!).

The music began with the Chordsmen, a local quartet led by Wilbur Daniels, a long-time area singer and a one-time member of Don Smith's Gospelaires Quartet back in the early 1960s. Even after he left the Gospelaires, he has continued to form and sing with various other quartets here. He helps put on a Friday sing monthly in Fresno.

Anyway, the Chordsmen opened with a lively and energetic set. Their star was their fill-in pianist, Ken Hurley, one of the most gifted local gospel musicians I know. Ken is an accomplished songwriter who has written a number fo really good gospel songs, was the lead singer in the last incarnation of the Gospelaires, and is a great piano player as well. The Chordsmen featured Ken on an instrumental version of "Goodbye World Goodbye" that earned him a standing ovation from the enthusiastic audience. They concluded with a fun version of "Oh, Jonah"(the rewrite of "Elvira" done by the Cathedrals years ago)and were a surprisingly upbeat beginning to the concert. The Chordsmen were reminiscent of an earlier time in gospel music, when four guys would get together and just sing gospel songs because they loved to. And their enthusiasm rubbed off on all of us in the church.

The California Melody Boys were next. A former quartet, this now-trio had the same sort of appeal as did the Chordsmen, and like the Chordsmen, did a solid set of good gospel songs enthusiastically...and also like the Chordsmen, used Ken Hurley as a fill-in pianist, where he earned another standing ovation after another piano solo!
Even though both the Chordsmen and the California Melody Boys used tracks primarily, Ken was playing a live piano over them. And both opening groups were solid musically and were contagiously enthusiastic.

The "magnificent" Melody Boys(hey, it said magnificent on the program!)were next, and they wasted no time in plunging into a number of classic quartet songs. By this time, Wilbur and Ken were sitting near me, and we were all singing along with the Melody Boys...everyone knew all the songs. Their mastery of classic quartet singing was a sight(and sound)to behold. I am particularly impressed with baritone and pianist Caleb Metheny, who is one of the most talented youngsters in all of gospel music. He too got a standing ovation for a piano solo, and Hurley bowed toward him in reverence for his talent.

It was apparent that most of the audience camne to hear classic quartet singing, for everytime any of the groups sang a well known song, loud applause came their way. And the Melody Boys' entire first set was trackless...and done soloely with Metheny's busy piano accompaniment.

I am NOT anti-track(or even anti-stack), but sometimes it gets dull to hear canned backup for every song...I certainly don't want too much of what amounts to gospel karaoke.

That led to what I consider the highlight of my evening. After the intermission, the California Melody Boys went into "The Lighthouse"...when...problem: the track failed. Hurley blurted from the stage that"...this shows the reason for a real piano player...". Hurley then spontaneously went into an accompaniment on "The Lighthouse", and it sounded better than any track backup would have. Such instinctively done improvisation is true music, and connects unfailingly with any audience. It all added to the joy and celebratory atmosphere of the evening.

The Melody Boys closed the concert with mostly songs from their newest release(done with tracks), and while the songs were well done and well received, it was obvious that most of the church came to see the Melody Boys do classic quartet singing...such is their rep....so they lost a little steam during the second half of the program.

That is, until Metheny went back to piano, and Gerald Williams was featured on JD Sumner's "I've Got To Walk That Lonesome Road" and "On The Jericho Road". Both songs were well-arranged and well-staged...done entertainingly. In addition, it was nice to hear "Lonesome Road" actually SUNG in a way it hasn't been since Sumner himself debuted the song in 1963 with the Blackwood Brothers. There was none of that gratuitous deep, heavy breathing that marred Sumner's later versions and David Hester's rendering of it with the Dove Brothers. This jibes with the common realization that Williams is not so much a low bass singer as just a good singer with a low voice.

The Melody Boys concluded the program with "Oh, What A Savior" featuring Tim(of course!), but the new tenor keeps his vocal acrobatics to a minimum, choosing to sing the song and not use it as a tenor showpiece, which too many gospel singers and fans think that classic song is. I always prefer close harmony versions of the song myself, as the song was originally done many years ago.

Gerald Williams then encouraged the happy audience to keep coming out in droves, correctly noting that there certainly appears to be a great deal of enthusiasm for good quartet singing, despite all the doomsayers that want to believe that the classic quartet style is outdated and outmoded.

I was most heartened to be greeted my many of the audience who hear our show and express their appreciation for our humble efforts on Sunday morning. All I ever want to do with the radio show is to present gospel music that blesses our audiences as much as possible, just as I write what I do here for the same reasons.

The night was a musical success for all the groups, and I was happy to spend time with the Melody Boys once more. They are truly fine Christian men who present themselves and their music with the utmost professionalism and dignity.
Fellas, ya done good.

It is always amazing to me how Gerald is always able to find talented young singers with a flair and love for classic gospel music...no small feat in this age of so-called "progressive" or "cutting edge" Christian music. Not that that's bad, but the Melody Boys show that people still respond warmly and appreciatively to a classic American musical style that will never disappear...it will always be part of our culture, and though it may go into peaks and valleys in terms of overall popularity, it will always be among us who love to hear music that proclaims Jesus Christ

More important to me, I needed to see this music tonight. My cares and concerns were put on hold once again...and that is good therapy for ANY of us.

And finally, Hidee,Gayla! Gerald did pass along your greeting to me!:-)

In Times Like These

...is the title of a famous and beautiful old hymn. And right now, I'm clinging more than usual to the great hymns of the church, as well as my usual complement of great gospel songs.

We all go through periods of flux, and periods of higher than average stress. In fact, I know for a fact that a couple of good friends are going through an amazingly high amount of personal stress.

It's knowing their stories that helps keep my relatively meager personal battles in perspective. We all know of someone somewhere who has it worse than we do.

But at a deeper level, it's the music I love most that reminds me of the constant persistent hope I will always have. Songs written and sung by my favorite gospel artists keep me company and fill my mind with the right thoughts and feelings to remind me of that hope I always have to fall back on.

Although I love all music of all kinds, I play mostly gospel music when I'm alone at home not only because I love hearing it, but because I NEED to hear it. When I have long and contentious 12-hour days like today with all the wrong messages of this world all around me, I need to be reminded of a better way to live and a better example to follow.

So I fill my head with songs about Jesus.

And right now, with the unpleasant echoes of a particularly stressful day still ringing in my ear, I plan on drowning those out underneath the hopeful strains of some of the best and most uplifting songs ever written or recorded. And those unpleasant and unedifying words of angry co-workers and impatient motorists and others taking out their life frustrations on me will be lost and forgotten beneath the greatest message of hope there is.

I imagine some of you might be experiencing similar feelings and thoughts. If so, may I suggest that you find the same kind of outlet, be it through music, or through people you love and respect, or through reading messages that will reinforce the hope that everyone ought to have.

As I type this, I'm watching beleagured Oakland Raiders' football coach Lane Kiffin describe how he's dealing with the pressures he feels right now, with his job allegedly on the line and people from all over repeating rumors they hear, with or without foundation.

I don't know if Kiffin is a Christian or not, but I hope so.

I know that I am, though...and the songs I love remind me that amidst all this apparent chaos, there is always hope.

So all is well.

How did YOU like the NQC this year?

Yes, I'm still alive and well.

I've been relatively silent these days because I've had little to share. Most gospel music-oriented bloggers have been opining on the National Quartet Convention, inasmuch as this major gospel music event took place just a week ago.

Although the co-host of our KMJ radio gospel music radio show was there(and loved it), I never get to attend this event. Day jobs can get in one's way sometimes.

But most bloggers either did attend, or watched it online or by other electronic means. And those who did shared their impressions with their readers.

I would have done the same, had I been able to see it myself.

But since I didn't, and I KNOW some of you did, I wonder if you can help me serve my other readers.

I've always intended this little corner of the web to be as interactive as I could make it. So since I can't share my impressions of this year's NQC, would YOU like to instead?

I've almost had my fill of reading the cynical, self-consciously clever observations of some bloggers, or the overly fawning reviews of some others in the name of being positive. Since you are able to post comments here, why don't you tell me and the rest of us what you thought of the event? After all, the major difference between us bloggers and you is that we have this space, and you don't. I want to try and bridge that gap for those of you who would like to "sound off" on this year's convention, so take this space, and post away, positive or negative(within reason, of course). No attacks or rumor spreading, please...just your observations on this year's NQC, 'cause I couldn't.

Comment away!

Sept. 11, 2001 redux

This particular calendar day will likely be remembered for years to come as a day where we pause to reflect on the event we're remembering, the way we USED to celebrate holidays before the invention of the three day weekend.

In case any of you at all are unaware of what happened on this day(and I can't believe you are if you are on the internet, reading this), it is the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

A friend asked me to relate what I was doing on that day, and so, by request, here's how I spent September 11, 2001.

I was getting ready to go to work at my radio station, as on any other day.

Well, not quite like any other day. At that time my shift was in the afternoons. At that time, I was still the afternoon sports anchor for our PM newsblock. I was going in early that day brecause the person who did the midday engineering was not able to work.

So I was up plenty early that morning.

But for some reason, I didn't have my radio tuned to my station that morning. I instead had a religiouis station on, listening to taped radio preacher shows. The only way that I had any idea of what happened was when I logged on to my computer to check my morning e-mail.

I noticed some links to a disaster in New York, but I had no time to check them out...surely I'd find out all about it at work.

Boy, would I...

When I got there, it didn't take long to find out what had happened...every TV in the newsroom was turned on to the news channels, and our entire news staff was running around at a feverish rate, grabbing copy and rushing copy into our news host to update our listeners.

Our general manager, program director, and sales manager were all in our control room, making decisions on what commercials to pre-empt and reschedule, and what we would do when our morning news block was over.

Normally, Rush Limbaugh's show followed our news, but with the story still unfolding, we opted to remain with CBS Network News as long as it took, to let all our radio listeners know what was going on with this incredible turn of events.

We were not the only station with this coverage. All six of our sister stations in the building were simulcasting our coverage(even our two Spanish-language stations).

This led to the bizarre spectacle of our host giving seven live station IDs every hour all morning long.

As the day went on, we gradually segued from long form news coverage into taking calls from listeners who wanted to talk about what was going on.

Since the reason I had come so early was already superfluous, I was dispatched to updating the news wires and taking the calls for our impromptu talk program. In between, our program director was hastily determining what direction our programming would take as the day went on.

When I was able to sneak a peek at the continuous TV coverage, I saw reporter Ashleigh Banfield(then with MSNBC)trying to interview people on the street amidst the rubble, and the horrified pregnant woman who was nearly hit by falling debris, if not for Banfield pulling her out of the way. No "reality" show could ever recreate that kind of gripping drama and sispense.

When I was finally done with screening calls, I conferred with our program director as to what to do with our sportscasts. Not surprisingly, I was told to keep my sportscasts to one minute, and to confine my content to those sports stories that tied into the "big" story. That wasn't hard, because most of the sports activity was centered on whether to play the scheduled football and baseball games as planned, or pre-empt or cancel them.

As things finally started to calm down, so did we...and the rest of my day went pretty much as normal.

I ended up being at the station 10 hours that day...but with all the activity, it seemed to just fly by.

Was I afraid? No, because I knew that my destiny was already determined...and no matter what happened, I and my neighbors and colleagues would be all right.

And I still feel that way seven years later, even though this world seems more out of control than ever.

What were YOU doing?

Some brief NQC thoughts

Well, it's that time of year again.

No, I DON'T mean football season...although it's back, too...and given the cultural priorities we now have, reminders of that are all around us, seemingly everywhere we turn.

I mean southern-styled gospel music's biggest annual event...the National Quartet Convention, now in its' 51st year.

Strangely enough, I've yet to attend one...despite my undying devotion to this important musical genre. Why? Well, mostly distance, finances, and work commitments. But if there ever were a way I could go, I surely would.

I have been a regular attendee at its' western satellite version....the Great Western Southern Gospel Fan Festival, formerly the Great Western Quartet Convention.

In any case, as sure as another NQC rolls around, articles pop up all over gospel music websites and other media telling us what's wrong with the NQC and purporting how it can be made better. There's nothing wrong with those articles per se.

I do get a bit jaundiced when I read material by well intentioned and self-appointed experts or critics who are constantly trying to "fix" the NQC by changing it to bring it more in line with other forms of entertainment. Why is it when some people insist gospel music events or styles change, it has to be more along the lines of what is considered "cutting edge" to even merit attention?

Certainly there are still a lot of people who enjoy the NQC just the way it is, and where it is. As wonderful a genre as southern gospel is, not everyone is going to appreciate it the way its' most ardent fans(present company included)do. So why do some insist that our genre, and by logical extension, the NQC, become something it was never meant to be to try to attract people who will never fully appreciate it anyway?

Personally, I have always appreciated the concept of a gospel music event where most of the genre's leading practitioners are all in one place for the greater part of a week. Had I been able to do so in the 1960s, I would have eagerly gone to it and appreciated the "candy store" appeal of it all. I would even if I went now, the same way I do when attending the GWSGFF. It is one of my favorite times of the year.

No, the NQC is not(and never has been)perfect. Nor likely will it be so...and I also appreciate those who truly care about helping make the NQC as good an event as it can be while staying faithful to its' original concepts. Keep speaking on, all of you.

Maybe I get weary hearing so many complaints...that could be because I complain too much sometimes.

But I'm looking forward to hearing about this year's NQC from the co-host of our gospel music radio show...I know she'll enjoy it.

That's all for now...I'm just thinking out loud, that's all.

Reason to sing

I am finally in the real world again.

Believe it or not, I have not had television in my home for almost ten years. I had to cancel my cable service back then, and between having to leave my home for a time as it was being repaired and a few other things, I never got around to replacing my TV.

But on my last birthday, a good friend bought me a brand-new TV and a DVD player to go with it. I set up the DVD player almost immediately and began watching gospel DVDs, and have been often for the past few months.

And this month, I was finally able to get cable TV installed again....and as a member of the media(and a contributor to SGN), it is nice to be able to see what the rest of you are seeing at last.

What caused me to mention it tonight though, is the fact that the Gospel Music Channel is a part of my package...and I have been watching a special on Elvis Presley and his involvement with gospel music.

It is nice to see interview cut-ins with Bill Baize, Joe Moscheo, Ed Enoch, and many other singers that I've known of and enjoyed all these years.

Gospel music is rightly depicted on that special for what it is(or should be widely known as), and that is a fundamental, indigenous part of American popular music. And it's illuminating to be reminded of Elvis' deep love for gospel music and the people in it.

So in one sense, I'm no different from Elvis.

Of course, I have nowhere near his fame, notoriety, or personal wealth. Nor was I blessed with his natural good looks or versatile singing voice.

But I do share his idea that without a song, there is not as much hope. And no song has the power and beauty like one that praises God.

So Elvis expressed that belief his way, through his famous career and gift of singing. I'm expressing it by hosting a gospel music radio program for the last 20 years, and writing about it here and on SGN.

This has been our way of giving a reason for the hope that lies within us(1 Peter 3:15).

And it's nice to be able to see it more often now.

Ocho cinco? NOT!

A (sort of)random sports observation....

Chad Johnson of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals has been one of pro football's better pass receivers for many years now...and has also been one of the NFL's most self-centered people almost all that time.

From his outreageous trash-talking to his opponents and teammates to his outrageous challenges to other athletes(he maintains he could have beaten the racehorse Big Brown in a footrace), to his donning a Hall of Fame trenchcoat on the sidelines in a game last year, to his outrageous showing up of his quarterback Carson Palmer at halftime of a nationally televised game, Chad has a knack for inserting himself into the center of attention on a regular basis, which in today's NFL, is apparently all that is needed to make one a star.

But Chad is really taking the cake these days.

Chad wears number 85 for the Bengals, and often refers to himself as "Ocho Cinco" to fans, players, and the media alike.

But he REALLY wants us to know his number these days.

So Chad has LEGALLY changed his surname now to "Ocho Cinco", apparently forgetting that his NFL career will not last nearly as long as his life(at least we hope so).

Uh...not to be picky, Chad, but you're not "Ocho Cinco".

His number is not eight five, but eighty-five...therefore, in the interest of accuracy(since when has that ever really mattered to Chad?), his new surname should be "Ochenta y Cinco", not "Ocho Cinco".

For what it's worth.

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