|
|
||
Dave's Top Eight
1. Jerry Reed...Revisited by Darrell Toney (reviewed 6/07) (5 Stars) Click title to purchase at CBD.com...click artist name to read Dave's Review. A CD will automatically fall out of the Top Eight after twelve months if no CD surpasses it before then.
|
Most Recent Articles
Why blog? (Three years and counting)
| ||
-----------May 30, 2005Exercise your right to voteIn the spirit of being informative and knowing how much fans love to comment or participate in all the many and various awards processes in gospel music, I wanted to echo Chris Unthank's recent blog post pointing out the "5th Annual" American Christian Music Awards.
The website and voting interface looks very cheesy. You have to navigate thru a number of pages to see all the nominees and the same applies to the voting process. The font in the middle of the main page is tiny and difficult to read on the screen. You're given the opportunity to become a "member" for fees ranging from $30 to $102, but there's no indication of WHAT your membership buys. "We have an awards show...send us your money!" Alrighty, then. Only by clicking on a photo of a magazine cover in the lower left corner did I find that the voting site is part of a larger site which actually sells a magazine among other things. Like I said...big time cheese. I sure hope the actual awards show is classier than the site would appear to indicate. Cleavant Derricks Biography Lister Cleavant Derricks(May 13, 1910 - 1977) Baptist minister Cleavant Derricks was a writer of gospel songs whose works are counted as standards among Southern Gospel quartets today. "Just a Little Talk With Jesus", "When He Blessed My Soul", "We'll Soon Be Done With Troubles and Trials", and "When God Dipped His Love in My Heart" are just a few of the more than 300 songs he contributed to gospel music. Many of his songs were published by Stamps-Baxter in the Depression era. In addition to songwriting, Derricks served as pastor and choir director in Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC. Derrick’s son (also named Cleavant) began a career in entertainment by following in his father’s footsteps initially. The two co-wrote a Grammy nominated project called Satisfaction Guaranteed in 1976, which was released on the Canaan label a year before the elder Derricks’ death. It was a follow-up to the 1975 release Just A Little Talk With Jesus. The son is better known for his acting career that followed. He was an original cast member on the sci-fi television series Sliders, portraying the character Rembrandt “Crying Man” Brown. He also won a Tony Award for his work in the production Dreamgirls. The elder Derricks’ efforts were recognized by the GMA in 1984 when he was posthumously inducted into their Hall Of Fame. The SGMA Hall of Fame inducted Derricks as well in 2001. Labels: biography May 29, 2005Couriers Biography
The Couriers
-----------A brief history The Couriers formed in the 1950s at the Assemblies Of God Central Bible Institute in Springfield, MO. They became full time professionals in 1958, with group members Neil Enloe (lead), Duane Nicholson (tenor), Don Baldwin (baritone), Dave Kyllonen (bass), and Eddie Reece (piano). Harrisburg, PA became the group’s home after they scouted the country for areas where their competition would be minimal. The group soon secured a spot singing on radio station WCMB. By the early 1960s, the Couriers were key concert promoters as well as performers. In 1964, they became one of the original groups included on the nationally televised Gospel Singing Jubilee. In 1968, the Couriers scaled back to a trio format and due to tight finances, became the first group in Southern Gospel to appear with pre-recorded soundtracks rather than live musicians. They would go on to establish their own television show (Couriers) in the early 1970s. At this time, the Couriers stood in contrast to the rest of the entertainment driven industry with their ministry focused approach. Although other groups certainly promoted the gospel, the Couriers’ program had an altar call as its primary focus. Neil Enloe wrote a hit song for the group in the early 1970s called “Statue Of Liberty” that became their signature tune. Unlike most “southern” groups, the Couriers have experienced the bulk of their success in the northeastern United States and Canada. Labels: biography May 19, 2005Gold City Gold City - A brief history(1980-present) The Mississippi based Christianairs were renamed Gold City at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve to begin the year 1980 with Dallas Gilliland singing bass, tenor Bob Oliver, lead singer Jerry Ritchie, and baritone Ken Trussell. The group owner was initially Floyd Beck. Bass singer Tim Riley would replace Gilliland as the permanent bass singer in July of that same year after the group's relocation to Georgia. The group was an instant success in the industry, appearing on the main stage of the National Quartet Convention in October 1981. By 1982, tenor Brian Free, lead Ivan Parker, and pianist Garry Jones had joined Riley to form a consistent nucleus that remained together until the mid-1990s. Their recordings of upbeat tunes like “I Think I’ll Read It Again” and inspirational songs like “No Other Word For Grace But Amazing” and “Midnight Cry” catapulted the group into the upper ranks of Southern Gospel. The last recording by this popular lineup was the critically acclaimed Acapella Gold (1993).
After the departure of Free, Jones and Parker, the next consistent lineup for the group included Jonathan Wilburn singing lead, baritone Mark Trammell, and tenor Jay Parrack. Over the years, the group developed a trademark style that relied on brass heavy arrangements for their more driving songs and moving lyrics for their inspirational anthems. Riley’s sons Doug and Danny now manage Gold City on the road, but Tim is still active with the group behind the scenes. Unlike most groups, Gold City tends to be more independent minded when it comes to booking engagements and CD production. They handle booking from their own office and produce their recordings at Goldmine, their own studio. See also: Discography May 13, 2005The Singing NewsThe Singing News A brief history Inspired by the Gospel Music Association’s newsletter (Good News) first published in January 1969, J. G. Whitfield started his own publication called The Singing News just five months later. The print run of the May 1969 issue was 100,000 copies, and it was given away for free. Within a few years, Whitfield was selling subscriptions for the magazine at $3.00 per year, but the vast majority of the 300,000 copies printed each month were mailed free to potential concert goers in exchange for advertising by major concert promoters. One of the more significant accomplishments of the Singing News in the early 1970s was the establishment of a monthly chart that ranked the most popular songs for each month. Although the chart would be criticized in later years for lagging behind actual airplay trends, it was an innovative move for the industry in the 1970s in that it placed a stronger emphasis on the popularity of individual songs. Under the guidance of chief editor Jerry Kirksey and publisher Maurice Templeton in later years, the Singing News grew from a basic newsletter format to a full-fledged professional magazine. With colorful ads from all aspects of Southern Gospel music, the content included articles about artists, concert schedules, editorials and opinion columns. The magazine now bears “The Printed Voice Of Gospel Music” as a sub-heading, and by 1998, the Singing News had more than 200,000 subscribers. Over the years, the magazine has been successfully branded and cross-marketed within the Southern Gospel industry. The Crossroads family of record labels introduced a series of soundtracks during the 1990s bearing the Singing News name and logo, for example. Most major recording artists in Southern Gospel sell subscriptions to the magazine at their concert events. The most often discussed recurring topic for subscribers is probably the annual Fan Awards. The magazine compiles three rounds of voting by subscribers each year. One night of the National Quartet Convention is then devoted to the presentation of the awards. In addition to the presentations and acceptance speeches, the nominees for Favorite Song typically perform their nominated songs for the event. Labels: History May 5, 2005Rex Nelon Biography Nelon, Rex Lloyd (January 19, 1932 - 2000) Rex Nelon served in the Marine Corps in the early 1950s. After his discharge, he sang with several part time groups around Asheville, North Carolina. His first full time position was with Homeland Harmony Quartet in 1955. In 1957, Rex joined the LeFevres in a dual role as singer and guitarist. He continued with the group for the next 20 years and ultimately became the group owner. When Eva Mae LeFevre retired from the group in 1977, Nelon, whose daughter Kelly was already singing with the LeFevres, changed the group name to the Rex Nelon Singers. The Nelons became a trend setting group in the 1980s, often introducing songs that would be classified as “middle of the road” such as “Oh, For A Thousand Tongues To Sing” and “Don’t Give Up.” After turning the group over to Kelly in the mid-1990s, Rex Nelon continued to appear regularly on the Gaither Homecoming videos. He was in London, England at a taping session with the Gaithers when he passed away in 2000. The SGMA Hall Of Fame inducted Rex Nelon in 1999. See also: Nelons Discography, Nelons Biography Labels: biography May 1, 2005Prodigal reviews come homeThey once were lost, but now are found...they were dead, but they are alive again! :o)
I recently used the "Wayback Machine" (a cool internet tool) to recover a number of my reviews that had been deleted from the sites where they were originally posted. I just added 11 of these to my Musicscribe vault. Some of these reviews are five years old or more. If anyone is interested in comparing my writing style of today to my writing style of a few years ago, see these older reviews I've just added: Take 6 - Tonight: Live Various - All Star Quartets: Hymns Gold City - Pressed Down, Shaken Together, Runnin Over Melody Masters Quartet - Faith Anthony Burger - Let Freedom Ring Cumberland Quartet - Worth Every Mile Lewis Family - 50th Anniversary Wilburns - We Will Stand Dove Brothers - Every Time I Feel The Spirit Ivan Parker - Be Blessed Won By One - Days Are Getting Brighter 
| |||
Who's Blogging?
Contributors
Blog Search
Talk Back
Useful Links
Discuss SG
Quicklinks
Advice, Audio, Audio, Audiobooks, biography, CCM, CD Reviews, Concert Reviews, Discographies, Dove Awards, DVD Reviews, Fan Awards, History, Housekeeping, Humor, In The News, Interviews, Limericks, Group Members, Movies, NQC, Obituary, Observations, Odds And Ends, Old Clips, Other Blogs, Other Forums, Podcasts, Praise And Worship, Sad But True, Shopping Tales, Singing News, Song Clips, TV Shows, XM News, YouTube,
Archives
- September 2004
- October 2004
- November 2004
- December 2004
- January 2005
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
Copyright
- All textual content posted at Musicscribe.com and subfolders is owned and copyrighted by David Bruce Murray unless otherwise indicated. No reprints may be made without the permission of the author, except as provided by US Copyright law. Permission is granted to reprint articles on other non-commercial websites only as long as the following conditions are met:
1) All articles must be reprinted in full with no editing or additions
2) The words "by David Bruce Murray" must be displayed prominently with each reprinted article.
3) A link to the original article at Musicscribe.com must accompany all reprints. If your site meets these requirements, you may reprint articles without requesting additional permission from the author.The copyright of all content posted by Musicscribe.com contributors other than David Bruce Murray is retained by the original authors.