Rubbing shoulders
Sometimes, the “perks” of life bring you unexpected and much needed joy…
On Wednesday, I had the rare privilege of special time with two of the greats of gospel music history.
For just over a year now, I have had the privilege of writing the SG History 101 feature of SouthernGospelNews.com. It was one of those things I just kind of “fell into”. The previous contributor to the feature, John Crenshaw, is recognized by general consensus to be the leading authority on the history of gospel music in this country…particularly when it comes to recordings. Early on in my gospel music online experience, I learned much from Mr. Crenshaw, and will always be indebted to him for not only fortifying my knowledge of gospel music(not bad to start with for a guy from California), but also contributing to some of the most cherished items in my gospel music collection on CD. It was with some trepidation, but a LOT of excitement when I was given his old spot on the SGN website. Suddenly, I was given the charge of sharing my own impressions and thoughts about the music that shaped my life and direction in so many ways.
My first real article there was on the Couriers..to me, arguably the most underappreciated group in gospel music history. To this day I maintain that that was not my greatest article by any means(would I LOVE to do THAT one over again), but what it did was forge three of the most important personal friendships of my life, with three of the best people I know..and for that alone, I am truly thankful.
Later, an article I did on the Downings brought two more wonderful people into my world…and just a few months ago, I was honored to write an article on “Little” David Young, truly a great and underrated figure in gospel music history, and made another tremendous friend as a result.
So while the pecuniary compensation has been negligible, the contribution in terms of life benefits has been beyond what I could have imagined or expected.
And my April article is on another key group in gospel music history, the Goss Brothers. Certainly they took gospel music by storm in the 1960s, and are still major contributors to it some 40 years later.
I learned much about and from them Wednesday from Roni and Lari Goss, who kindly gave their time and memories to me in an hour-long phone conversation, and not only did I learn much about them in a strictly biographical sense, I learned about them from a highly personal sense as well.
The overwhelming impression I got was how much they simply loved to make music, and do their utmost for God’s glory. Early on, they sensed that they were given a special gift from God, and chose to devote their lives to giving back to Him with that gift. It’s not so much that what they gave helped enrich the gospel music field immensely, and influenced other similarly gifted people to do likewise, but it was enough that it was their best. There is a life lesson for all of us, then, in studying the people who were foremost in blazing trails in the history of gospel music. I am honored and humbled to be chosen to increase that awareness.
More than that, I am proud and happy to call people like the Couriers and the Goss Brothers friends and brothers in Christ. To know them is to love them, and I truly hope that everyone gets to know them(and people like them)better. If I can help facilitate that, then I have done a valuable work indeed.
Posted on Mar 31, 2006 - 07:54 PM | [0]
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