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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.
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Why blog? (Three years and counting)
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-----------November 28, 2005Gaither Homecoming Videography
Gaither Homecoming Series Videography
-----------(1991-present) (eagleswings, Slade Alday, Qwerty, and Natesings contributed to this entry.) Homecoming (1991) Reunion (1992) Old Friends (1993) Turn Your Radio On (1993) Christmas Homecoming (1993) Precious Memories (1994) Landmark (1994) All Day Singing & Dinner on the Grounds (1995) Revival (1995) Holy Ground (10/1995) Ryman Gospel Reunion (1995) Sing Your Blues Away (1996) Joy To The World (10/1996) Something Beautiful (1996) Moments To Remember (1996) Homecoming Texas Style (1996) Sunday Meeting Time (1996) When All God's Singers Get Home (1996) This Is My Story (1997) Feelin' At Home (05/1997) Back Home In Indiana (1997) Joy In The Camp (1997) Special Homecoming Moments (1997) Down By The Tabernacle (1998) Hawaiian Homecoming (1998) Atlanta Homecoming (1998) All Day Singing At The Dome (1998) Rivers of Joy (1998) Singing With The Saints (1998) Marching To Zion (1998) Kennedy Center Homecoming (1999) I'll Meet You On The Mountain (1999) Mountain Homecoming (1999) So Glad (1999) Singing In My Soul (1999) Sweet, Sweet Spirit (1999) Irish Homecoming (2000) Whispering Hope (2000) Homecoming in the Heartland (2000) Christmas In The Country (10/2000) Good News (2000) Memphis Homecoming (2000) Oh, My, Glory (2000) I Do Believe (2001) London Homecoming (2001) What a Time (2001) A Billy Graham Homecoming (2 vols.) (2001) Christmas...A Time For Joy (2001) I'll Fly Away (2002) New Orleans Homecoming (2002) Freedom Band (2002) God Bless America (2002) Let Freedom Ring (2002) Homecoming Bloopers (2002) Red Rocks Homecoming (2003) Rocky Mountain Homecoming (2003) Heaven (2003) Going Home (2003) A Gospel Bluegrass Homecoming (2 vols.) (2003) Australian Homecoming (2003) Build A Bridge (2004) We Will Stand (2004) Journey To The Sky (2004) Passing The Faith Along (2004) Hymns (2005) Church In The Wildwood (2005) Israel Homecoming (2005) Jerusalem (2005) Canadian Homecoming (02/2006) Homecoming Live In Toronto (02/2006) November 21, 2005Man In Black On The Silver Screen Movie Review - Walk The Line This biopic about the courtship between Johnny Cash and June Carter is great on many levels. I didn't mind that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sang the songs in this film. (Some have complained that only Johnny Cash could sing like Johnny Cash, so Phoenix should have lip-synched. To those, I say, "It's a movie." Suspending your disbelief about stuff like that just goes with the territory. Granted, I was a bit worried near the beginning of the movie when Phoenix first sang, but as the character's confidence improved, I thought he did a fine job approximating Cash's sound and mannerisms.) My only complaint about this film is similar to a complaint I had about Ray, the story of Ray Charles. The period of Cash's history that this movie covers isn't broad enough. There's so much more that Cash did with his career in later years. I think Walk The Line comes off better, though, because the real point of the movie is in how Johnny finally convinced June to marry him. Once she accepts, it makes logical sense to end the movie there, whereas with Ray, the point where they ended the film felt arbitrary. Also, this movie has a lot of the highlights from Cash's musical career...with his most famous performance in Folsom Prison being used thematically both at the beginning and near the end of the movie. This is a must-see movie for Cash fans. There's some scenes with Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, and other famous characters as well. Some of the Cash family aside from June come across as two-dimensional, unfortunately, but maybe it was necessary to make the movie hang together...filmgoers like for there to be a villian, for some reason. Me...I'd prefer it be treated more like a road trip...a journey that starts with some background about his childhood and ends when he dies, showing as many highlights as possible along the way. But I guess that's too simple minded for Hollywood. Southern Gospel fans will be interested to hear that at least one quartet song is included in the film. I can't remember the title, but it was during a scene that took place in 1955 and sounded like the Blackwood Brothers to me. (It was in the background, coming from a radio.) Labels: Movies November 19, 2005Search Tool Added To Musicscribe BlogOnce a blog reaches a certain size, it becomes difficult to locate older articles. "SkipRob" wrote me a few days ago saying he was having trouble linking to my Imperials discography. That prompted me to try to do something to make it easier for readers to find older articles.
I have actually had a Google Blog Search link on this site for some time, but I've never really called attention to it because it doesn't always find everything. Now I've added a "FreeFind" search tool. This software is supposed to come and take a look at everything on my site every couple of weeks, so the links should stay up to date in theory. If you are looking for a specific article, just use the handy search box located to your left. You can also use the search box to find almost all of the CD reviews I've written over the years. I've kept the Google Blog Search link as well, if you prefer to use that one. Golden Gate Quartet (Old Clip Link)Reading about groups from days gone by can only go so far. Written descriptions can never substitute for actually hearing the music, though. I ran across a neat website while browsing earlier this evening. It's called "BT Memories." WBT is a radio station that was established in Charlotte, NC in 1922. The website is maintained by former station employees and features a rich array of photos, articles and soundclips. Fans of old-time Southern Gospel music will want to check out an 11 minute sound clip by the Golden Gate Quartet from 1942 available HERE. (It's in RealAudio format.) Scroll down to the section titled "Oldtime Radio Sounds." The site also has a photo of the group HERE. This black group was very versatile as the clip demonstrates. They perform with acoustic guitar for accompaniment, as did many of the groups during this era. The program featured in the clip is mostly secular music, but there's a sacred number just before the clip fades out. The Golden Gate Quartet does not sound at all like a "black group" to me. I've heard the Fairfield Four, Blind Boys of Alabama and others who sing in a traditional black gospel male quartet format. The Golden Gate Quartet is much more polished...less emotion driven. Their blend is sensational, and they have a precise rhythm that makes me think of the Melody Masters of the late 1940s. They sound like they could have sung right alongside the traditional white quartets of the day, and indeed they did share the stage with the Statesmen, Blackwood Brothers, and others in the late 1940s. This all changed after the Brown Vs. Board Of Education decision by the Supreme Court raised racial tensions in the South. The group left the US to tour Europe in the mid-1950s and eventually relocated there...an unfortunate turn of events for Southern Gospel music, because the genre has been almost exclusively segregated as a white form of music ever since. There have only been five major black groups in Southern Gospel since that time...Teddy Huffam and the Gems, Charles Johnson and the Revivers, Don Degrate and Strong Tower, the Gospel Enforcers, and the Reggie Saddler Family. Only two major groups that started out as all white Southern Gospel groups have had a black member...the Imperials and the Gaither Vocal Band. It's been over fifty years since Brown v. BOE. You'd think with all the pressure to stand out and be unique in a genre where so many groups sound the same, at least a few major groups in SG would actively pursue black candidates whenever they have an open vocal position...but no, the few active black groups that we do have in SG are all black and the other groups are all white...with a few Native Americans thrown in here and there. Labels: audio November 17, 2005Sampling XM's SG channel via DirecTVTo be totally honest, I was initially peeved to see XM Radio offering the Southern Gospel channel enLighten via DirecTV while not giving their loyal paying customers the channel via XM satelite service directly. When I got past my first gut reaction, though, I was very pleased to see Southern Gospel made available to such a wide array of potential listeners. Most DTV customers have the service so they can watch TV, obviously, not listen to the radio...but many people are at least curious enough to flip thru all the channels from time to time just to see what's there. This is a VERY GOOD THING both for Southern Gospel as a genre and the cause of Christianity.
I know some people pooh-poohed the value of enLighten when it first launched, but I pointed out on my blog at the time that the big deal about a Southern Gospel XM channel was in the potential of what it might become. Now that potential is becoming a reality, and hopefully those who wondered why there would be such hoopla about a Southern Gospel channel on XM are finally seeing the cause for celebration. Places that have never heard of Southern Gospel before now have a high fidelity channel available via DTV, with music quality that's on par with the most respected brick and mortar SG radio stations. It's also non-stop. I listened to Enlighten via DirecTV for 30 minutes or so earlier this evening around 9:45 PM (EST) and again for another 30-40 minutes around midnight. It sure sounds a lot better via DTV than it does over my XM online service. My only gripe was that the vast majority of the songs I heard were slow...running about 7 to 3. Fortunately, all but one of the songs I heard were of decent quality, but I think they need to pick up the pace if they expect to grab a listener's attention while they're channel surfing with a remote in hand. Hopefully, I just caught them during a couple of slower sets that aren't really the norm for the channel. One thing that's very nice about the programming is the way they play a lot of songs that aren't necessarily "hits." Heavy rotation is great for commercial radio, but not for continuous music like this. November 15, 2005CCM History, anyone?Daniel Mount has written a book titled City On A Hill? Unlike my Southern Gospel encyclopedia which just went on sale, Mount's history book on the topic of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is available for free. You can download it on his website by clicking HERE. I've skimmed through Mount's book and was able to empathize with the time that went into preparing it. The first half of the 300-page book consists of chapters that alternate between historical data and specific topics. Mount's best writing is in the chapters that address specific topics. He's opinionated at times, but he typically supports his views with rational thought and scriptural basis. The closing chapter in particular is very good, as it challenges the industry to return to its roots. I'm not in total agreement with Mount in some areas, but he presents his arguments well. The chapters in between the topical essays focus on five year chunks of CCM history...or seem to at first. These chapters actually discuss the entire history of each artist that came onto the scene during those periods. For example, Randy Stonehill is introduced in the chapter that covers 1970-1974 and his career is covered thru the present. Then Mount picks up with the next artist on his list who had an initial recording in the 1970s. While this plan gets the job done, it could have been handled better by mixing up the narrative and exploring relationships within a time period rather than going into the future and then jumping back for the next artist. As it stands, you can learn a great deal about individual artist accomplishments, but the jumps from one artist to the next are abrupt. As more recent artists with shorter histories are addressed, the quantity of artists increases and the jumps become more frequent. Still, I learned a great deal about a number of artists and even learned some names I'd never heard before. He doesn't cover every artist who ever sang CCM, but an excellent cross section is included. The second half of Mount's book is very impressive. It consists of detailed discographies for every major CCM artist. I know this section had to be very time consuming to compile. Mount includes song titles for the albums listed, as well as record label info. Once you read his book for free, you can thank me for being the gateway to this free product by taking the money you saved and buying a copy of my book HERE! :o) Labels: History November 14, 2005Singing News Fan Awards on XMSinging News announced today that the 2005 Fan Awards will be broadcast on two XM channels this coming Monday, November 21 at 9:00 (EST). The channels are XM10 "America" (which is available over XM satelite and DirecTV) and XM34 "enLighten" (which is available only if you have XM online or DirectTV Ch. 828 with a premier package). What's strange is that it's going out on both XM channels at the exact same time. I haven't figured out their logic for doing that. Anyone who can get XM's enLighten can also get America. It would make more sense to stagger the times on the channels, so that people in the Eastern US aren't up until 1 AM trying to hear it all. Promising "four hours," it appears the broadcast will be in all of its glory rather than picking the most pertinent parts and removing the silliness. Singing News touts the Tim Lovelace/Tim Surrett presentation (which culminated with Surrett literally breaking the podium according to the Solid Gospel feed I heard) as if it was a highlight. Speaking of Solid Gospel, I'm hoping it's not the Solid Gospel feed that they're going to air, but rather just the actual awards (with dead air hopefully edited out). There's enough corniness in the awards themselves without adding to it a DJ who pronounces Whisnants as "Whiz-nuts" and says there'll be a spelling test later...or who gives out wrong information such as saying Les Beasley started NQC. Anyway, if you have XM or DirecTV (which adds XM channels on November 15), I thought you might want to tune in. Labels: NQC November 12, 2005Anatomy of an Oak Ridge Boys Song One reason the music of the Oak Ridge Boys has appealed to me down through the years is their song selection. They don’t write that much of their own material, but they sure know how to recognize a great lyric (“Bobbie Sue” and “So Fine” aside). Many of these songs I’m talking about were never released as singles, but some were. “Thank God For Kids,” “It Takes A Little Rain,” and “Love Has A Mind Of Its Own” come to mind.The group’s new Christmas Cookies CD has one gem that immediately grabbed me. It’s titled “From Love To Love” and written by Leslie Sacher. What impressed me was the simplicity of the lyric and the way the same theme is explored from three different angles. The first verse tells of a “little mama” who “has a baby that she’s too young to keep” and a “new mama” who “gets a baby she just can’t believe.” In other words, a baby is put up for adoption. In the second verse, a “proud mama pins a rose on a rented tux” while another “proud mama slides a bobby pin in a long white veil”…a wedding is taking place. In the third verse, the scene shifts to a town where a “daddy left behind His only baby” and the chorus suddenly takes on a totally different meaning. Read the following lines of the chorus and then see how they fit with each verse. (The words change slightly on each chorus, hence the / marks.) "And the baby/girl/child went from love to love From wanted to wanted. Angels sing above When someone/He goes/went from love to love" The rugged quality of the vocals is contrasted by the sweet message in the song. When all these elements are combined, you get a truly memorable track. The song is right at home on a Christmas recording, but the lyric has enough themes unrelated to the season so it would appropriate at any time of the year. Click HERE to preview snippets of the whole CD. November 10, 2005SG Encyclopedia Available Now Murray's Encyclopedia Of Southern Gospel Music is my first book and it's now available for purchase. The book is approximately 170 pages in paperback. For more info about the book, see the main page at www.musicscribe.com.To Order: Mail a check or money order to: David Murray, 1586 DePriest Rd., Bostic, NC 28018. The price is $12.99 per copy, plus $3 shipping/handling per order if you live in the USA or $10 shipping/handling if you live elsewhere. If you prefer to pay by credit card, click HERE to purchase the book from Kagi.com. I'm not set up to take credit card orders directly, so please don't mail your credit card info to me. Thanks! November 8, 2005Nashville based editor for the Singing News
Link
Multi-media conglomerate Salem Communications recently purchased the Singing News. Now they're seeking an editor (or is is editors, plural?) to be located in Nashville, TN. See the link above to read the listing. (I expect the link will be active until they fill the position.) This raises questions on two fronts...the future location of the magazine operation and control of content. Will the office in Boone, NC be retained or can we expect the entire operation to eventually be shifted to Nashville? Is this advertised position to replace Danny Jones and if so, will Jones be leaving or taking on a different role? Stay tuned. The developments should be interesting to watch, not just in terms of the look of the magazine, but the behind the scenes stuff as well. XM on DirecTVNovember 15 is the date. If you have DirecTV, you will also be getting XM Radio. Read more here.
I also happen to know that if you have one of the premium DirecTV packages (Total Choice Plus, or better), you'll be getting a number of extra XM channels not included in the basic package. Included in this group is the Southern Gospel channel "enLighten." (Punch 828 on your remote after November 15). The SG channel was previously available only via XM's online service. The looming question I have is why do they have "room" to offer this "online exclusive" channel via DirecTV, but they don't have room on the bird to offer it to people who pay directly to XM for subscriptions? I can guess what they might say...that they are using DirecTV's satelites which have more room for music channels, obviously, since they handle video as well...but it seems a bit unfair that a regular XM subscriber is still limited to listening to enLighten via a crumby online signal while a DirecTV user is getting it as a gift at no extra charge. November 3, 2005Dave's PicksIn the past six weeks, I've listened to a number of new recordings. I listen to many of these recordings while I'm at work using Musicmatch software. I load a couple hundred songs and hit "Shuffle." It's like having my own private radio station with all the songs I've chosen coming up at random.
The ordered list below is based purely on my personal preference, not production quality, creativity, CD packaging, songwriting, or any of the other elements I'd consider if writing a review. Just gut reactions. 1. Triumphant Quartet/Triumphant Quartet - Ironically, the first single is my least favorite song on the CD. "One Holy Morning" and "Hey Jonah" are my first picks. 2. Dove Brothers/Anything But Ordinary, Everything But Typical - "It's Waiting For Me" is a tremendous track. 3. Mark Trammell Trio/This Time - I'm disappointed to hear Joseph Smith is leaving the group, but I was so glad to see this group make a great studio CD while the original lineup was still intact. 4. The Booth Brothers/The Blind Man Saw It All - "Living For The Moment" is a fun song. 5. The Perrys/Remembering The Happy Goodmans - I wish this CD was more original rathering than mimicking the Happy Goodmans, but it's still one of my favorite recent releases on the market. 6. Ernie Haase and Signature Sound Quartet/Ernie Haase and Signature Sound Quartet - Solid stuff. 7. Kingdom Heirs/Give Me The Mountain - Arthur Rice is the best lead singer in the business and he gets a number of features on this recording. 8. The Melody Masters Quartet/Big Change - Part of why I like this group is because they are friends of mine, but a big part of why I like this CD is because it's a great collection of songs. 9. Lynda Randle/Christmas - What isn't obvious about this CD is the fact that Randle's brother Michael Tait sings with her on a number of songs. It really should have been marketed as a duet project. 10. The Ruppes/Sweet Forever 11. David Phelps/Life Is A Church 12. Lauren Talley/I Live 13. Brian Free and Assurance/Christmas with Brian Free and Assurance - Even though this is a solid recording and well produced, there's not one cut on it that makes me want to hear this group's version over some other group's version. They do cover a couple of 4Him seasonal songs, but the style is similar. How about a new song or two next time, guys? I'll never understand why so many groups are content to make Christmas recordings that sound just like everyone else's. 14. Bill Gaither/Bill Gaither - My shortest CD review ever: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :o) 
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