Sugar sticks
Well, thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Paul Jackson(lead singer for the revitalized Prophets Quartet), I finally have something to say over here!
Paul wrote in his own blog about the propriety of gospel artists covering "signature" songs of other artists(or "sugar sticks", as the old quartet terminology refers to them as)...Paul seems to feel that most of these songs are so identified with certain artists(e.g., "Midnight Cry" with Gold City and Ivan Parker, and "Champion Of Love" with the Cathedrals).that it may well be bad form for someone else trying to record those songs.
And to some extent, I agree. Some songs have been recorded far too much("O What A Savior" leaps immediately to mind)by too many...and the likelihood of someone else recording somebody's "sugar stick" and making a similar impact with it IS rather remote. But is it all bad for some other artist who likes the song and feels he(or she, or they)can do justice to the arrangement and message of that song to TRY? I don't think so.
Sure, there are those who feel that the Dove Brothers and Signature Sound's renditions of "Get Away Jordan" are inappropriate, inferior to the Statesmen's classic version, or over the top in any case. But in defense of both those groups, their dusting off and bringing back that old classic has given it new appeal to a new generation of gospel music fans...and surely there is nothing wrong with that! That only helps gospel music overall, for it gets new fans looking back into the genre's history, and as they discover the riches of that, they learn how grand gospel music really is...and what a rich genre of music gospel is.
In fairness to Paul, he points out the difference between mere "sugar sticks" and true gospel standards, such as "How Great Thou Art", "Amazing Grace", and other such songs NOT identified with a particular singer. Paul argues(and I agree)that those type of songs cannot be sung often enough. Those songs' timelessness and intrinsic spiritual worth have not only stood the test of time, but insist, like Scripture, to be heard again and again.
Although I don't feel that my good friend Neil Enloe would mind if another artist or two recorded his modern standard "Statue Of Liberty"(though Neil's Couriers, the Cathedral Quartet, and the Liberty Quartet have all done notable versions of it). If a newer artist can take a classic song and make it a "sugar stick" of their own, why not?
Posted on Oct 16, 2007 - 02:26 PM | [16]
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Daniel...
There are a few songs so closely identified with one singer that it might not be a bad idea to avoid singing them as long as that singer is on the road, especially if they are getting up there in years.
A classic example (in my opinion) would have been "We Shall See Jesus." In my opinion, it would have been in bad taste for a major group to record it in the later 90s.