Random thoughts about gospel music

I don't really have one single theme for this entry...tonight, I'll just share some random observations about gospel music...and see what you might think.

First of all, I'm heartened by the response from my last two entries. It's great that some of you share my enthusiasm for some special songs to me....and to Dean Adkins I say, I liked the Rebels' version of "The Joy Of Knowing Jesus" too, as well as the Oak Ridge Boys' hit version(the first version I heard)...which ought to make Terry smile when he reads this..

But my favorite version remains a toss-up between the Couriers' original version and Neil Enloe's own solo version from his 1980 album "Personal"(a rare gospel classic, especially for those who like to hear the writer sing his own classic songs).

It's amazing how certain songs get a hold on us, and "hook" us to a genre. For me and gospel music, it all started with the Blackwood Brothers version of "I've Got To Walk That Lonesome Road" featuring JD Sumner....I'd never heard anyone sing bass like that, and it grabbed me.


Other songs that "hooked" me on quartet style gospel music included "He Means All The World To Me"(the Blackwood concert song where the baby cried), "Sing A Little Song" by the Rebels, "Nicodemus" by the Statesmen, "Sing Your Blues Away" by the Blackwoods, and even "Rock In The Storm" by the Couriers Quartet(the first song I really liked by the Couriers...go figure...I was a kid!).


From there, it was on to songs like "Happy Tracks" by the Florida Boys, "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Leaning On The Arms Of Jesus" by the Stamps, and even the "Fa So La Song" by the Inspirations. I was moved by how good the singers were, and how they seemed to have so much fun singing quartet harmony. Oh yeah, the message was good, too.

There was no other music like it to me...so joyful and accomplished, and also so filled with enthusiasm...it moved me just as much as the far more popular rock n' roll of the day. To me, much of that pure enthusiasm is not only missing in today's pop music, but even in the gospel music now(as more artists take it away stylistically from its' quartet roots and toward a "pop" style that is sometimes mistakenly labeled "progressive"). But I was lucky to be around when that enthusiasm and spirit were there in abundance...and it shaped and blessed my life.

One more miscellaneous, nonconnected observation before I stop...one pet peeve of mine then(and now to a lesser degree)was when there was a reference to gospel music in the broader pop culture, it was equated with "black", as if gospel music was limited to the black gospel genre. Not only was that musically incorrect, it showed a lack of recognition and perhaps respect to the many other varities of gospel music, including the kind I liked best.

But when one considers the influence that groups like the Blackwoods and Statesmen had on some of the more successful artists of the day(Elvis Presley, for one), one can't help but be proud to be a fan of quartet styled gospel music, for it was a music that did(and still does)grab audiences wherever it's presented.

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