SG History 101

Aug

2005

SG History 101 - The Songwriters

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Without gospel songs, there would be no gospel music!

Thus, this month’s article is being written to salute the most basic contributors to gospel music…those people who God chose to use as vessels to create the most basic element in gospel music…the gospel song!

Songwriters go back to the very beginning of what would become the gospel music industry. The early gospel music material used by the various quartets and other artists came from hymnals, songbooks which collected the various songs sung by the singers of the day, and songs that were written by the singers or other professional songsmiths of the period.

Even then, some composers were more prolific than others. One who comes to mind is Curtis Taylor, born in 1879, who survived the sinking of the Titanic to write more than 3,800 songs based out of New York City, and Charles Tillman, the writer of “Life’s Railway to Heaven”, and thousands of other songs.

By the 1920s and 1930s, some professional songwriters began to garner attention for their distinctive approaches to the writing of gospel songs.

Albert E. Brumley

One of the earliest such songwriters was Albert E. Brumley, born in 1905 in Oklahoma Indian territory. In the years to come, groups such as the Chuck Wagon Gang and the Statesmen would record whole albums of his songs. He not only wrote gospel songs, but country and pop songs as well. It was for his gospel songs, though, that Brumley would be most remembered for.

Brumley was an organist whose musical talents developed in his late adolescence. He attended the Hartford Musical Institute in Hartford, Arkansas, and sang with one of the early Hartford Quartets. In 1931, his new bride Goldie encouraged him to publish some of the songs he had written, so he mailed one he called “I’ll Fly Away” to the Hartford Music Company, who published it right away and asked for more songs.

So he did. Brumley also wrote, “Jesus, Hold My Hand”, “I’ll Meet You In The Morning”, “Turn Your Radio On”, “Did You Ever Go Sailing?”, “Go Right Out”, “The Sweetest Song I Know”, “He Set Me Free”. “Heaven’s Radio Station Is On The Air”, “Little Pine Log Cabin”, “I’m Bound For That City”, “God’s Gentle People”, and “If We Never Meet Again”, restating the greatest story ever told in a fresh way for people of his time, and he eventually ended up owning the Hartford Music Company.

Vep Ellis

A few years later, Vesphew Benton Ellis, better known by his nickname “Vep”, began to write songs for quartets, steadily more as each previous song became popular. Ellis was born in Alabama in 1917, and was primarily a preacher, as well as being a pastor, an evangelist and musical soloist.

Even though songwriting was a hobby for Ellis, he still wrote over 500 songs and hymns, which were published by the Lillenas Publishing Company and the Tennessee Music and Printing Company. He also recorded five long-play albums and a number of 78s and 45s, and published songbooks filled with his own compositions.

Among his early song successes were “There Is A Change”, first made popular by the Harmoneers, “Heaven’s Joy Awaits” and “When I Got Saved”, both early hits of the Statesmen, and “I’m Free Again” in 1948, which nearly everyone recorded.

Among his other well-known songs were “My God Can Do Anything”, “Let Me Touch Him”, “Heavenly Love”, “Do You Know My Jesus”, “Over The Moon”, “The Love Of God”, and “At The End Of The Trail”. He spent 49 years as a minister in the Church of God, and six years as music director and soloist with famed evangelist Oral Roberts, and his mellow voice and warm smile ensured that his ministry, both in word and song, was a success.

Lee Roy Abernathy

Another of the all-time great gospel songwriters was Lee Roy Abernathy, who, like Ellis, was a man of many facets…performer, teacher, sound engineer, and always an innovator. Abernathy, born in 1913 to a Georgia sharecropper, began writing songs in the 1940s, and like everything else he did, his songs were unusual and distinctive. He wrote “The Burning Of The Winecoff Hotel” in 1946 after the tragedy in Atlanta claimed 119 lives, and that song still brings back bitter memories to those who were a part of the story. He also wrote a song in the 1940s called “Television”, which anticipated the effect of the then brand-new medium well in advance for its’ time.

In a more mainstream gospel vein, Abernathy wrote songs like “He’s A Personal Savior”, “My Home”, “Lord, I’m Ready Now To Go”, and “Lord, I’m Feeling Mighty Fine Today”, and his most famous song, “Everybody’s Gonna Have A Wonderful Time Up There”, was written to a lively boogie beat, which was scandalous to many church people at the time it was written in the 1950s, and even became a top ten pop hit for Pat Boone in 1958. The song is alternately known as the “Gospel Boogie”.

Another of the songwriting greats of that period was Mosie Lister, who was tuning pianos at an Atlanta music store when a young man named Hovie Lister (no relation) offered him a singing job with his brand new Statesmen Quartet. Although he didn’t consider himself a professional singer, and certainly not a touring one, he accepted the position, and was the group’s original lead singer before Jake Hess would join the group. Mosie, a skilled musician, actually wrote material and arrangements for the Statesmen in the beginning, and continued in that capacity until he moved to Florida in the early 1950s.

Among the classic songs that Mosie Lister wrote were “How Long Has It Been?”, “I’m Feelin’ Fine”, “His Hand In Mine”, “Till The Storm Passes By”, “Then I Met The Master”, “The Gentle Stranger”, and many, many others. He is still active in the gospel music business today, having arranged for and coached the Dove Brothers in their recent project paying tribute to the songs he wrote.

Bill Gaither

But perhaps the most preeminent gospel songwriter of all is Bill Gaither. Born in 1936 in Alexandria, Indiana, Gaither grew up like many youngsters of his day, hearing gospel music on the radio and falling in love with the various quartets. Young Gaither collected 78s of all his favorite quartets, among them the Statesmen and Blackwood Brothers, and yearned to make a living doing music just as they did.

When Gaither entered college in nearby Anderson, he joined a quartet there, still in search of his youthful dreams. By that time, though, the “quartet boom” of the 1950s was well underway, and it was a very competitive situation for any aspiring singer or musician to try to make it in. When it became apparent that he would not be able to break in at that point, Gaither resigned himself to a teaching career. Although he began a professional trio during that period, clearly his musical dreams had to take a back seat to practical reality.

But Gaither was always writing songs…as an English teacher, he had a knack for language, and by the time he married another teacher with a knack for poetry, Gloria Sickal, in 1962…the ingredients for the greatest gospel songwriting tandem in history were falling in place…and by the time their early efforts at songwriting were being accepted by gospel groups, things were well on their way. A quartet that his brother Danny was in, the Golden Keys Quartet, began to record his material, and later, the famous Speer Family would record it, and in fact published some of the early Gaither material.

Then, in 1963, the Gaither song “He Touched Me” became a staple for the repertoires of many a gospel artist. As was the case with the people discussed earlier, artists began asking for more and more material from Gaither, and he and Gloria began to produce it, en masse. By 1967, the success of Gaither’s songs enabled him to leave his teaching job, and devote himself full-time to writing and performing with his trio(which by then included Danny and Gloria).

Rather than continue with an extended narrative here, I’ll just share the numbers, which speak eloquently for themselves. Over 30 years as a performer, songwriter, and producer…four Grammys, over 20 Dove Awards, the first Gold record awarded an inspirational album, nominations to both the GMA and the SGMA Halls of Fame, and an honor from ASCAP as Christian Songwriter of the Century.

Just a few of the some 600+ songs that Gaither has composed and have become gospel standards include “Because He Lives”, “The King Is Coming, “He Touched Me”, “The Family of God”, “Something Beautiful”, “There’s Something About That Name”, “Going Home”, “Jesus, We Just Want To Thank You”, “It Is Finished”, “The Broken Vessel”, “Happiness”, “Get All Excited”, and “Something Worth Living For” seal Gaither’s legacy as the preeminent gospel songwriter of all-time.

Unfortunately, limitations of time and space forbid me from going into detail about a number of other truly great songwriters, so I’ll just list some more by name. People like JD Sumner, Jim “Big Chief” Wetherington, Bob Prather, Dottie Rambo, Joel Hemphill, Neil Enloe, Gordon Jensen, Harold Lane, Phil Cross, Ronnie Hinson, Dianne Wilkinson, Phil Cross, Rodney Griffin, Kirk Talley, and Gerald Crabb are just a few of the many songwriters who have graced fans of gospel music with memorable, outstanding song material over the long history of gospel music.

Reader Comments

John-

Wonderful article about the turbine that powers the whole "industry", the writers. But I don't feel worthy to be included among the elite group of writers you mentioned. I will gladly surrender my mention to the late, great Rusty Goodman. He was indeed a champion writer. His songs spoke powerfully the truth that sets us free.

Leroy Abernathy was a friend and a genius on many fronts. Bill Gaither has graced the church with glorious (and Gloria's) music. Dottie Rambo has been a true gift to Christendom. The list goes on and includes many of my heroes.

Again John, you have hit a homerun. Let your pen soar. You enrich us all.

Neil Enloe

Commented by On 09/05/2005

John,
Great article. I was glad to see you mention Neil Enloe along with every one else (I too wish you would have included Rusty Goodman). I always appreciated Neil's songs, I've recorded a couple and have sung a lot of them through the years. Neil's songs always carried the message of the gospel in a very poignant way.

Commented by On 09/12/2005

I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW GOOD A SONGWRITER J.D. SUMNER WAS UNTIL HE DIED AND I DID A TRIBUTE HERE AT THE RADIO STATION. HIS STYLE DIDN'T VARY MUCH BUT HE HAD A GREAT SENSE OF RYTHEM AND MELODY. I LOVE "I WOULDN'T TRADE"

Commented by On 09/13/2005

For you to leave Larry Petrie off this list shows how ignorant on this subject. Larry Petrie had 9 songs on the charts in one month, and his songs are Bible songs. Personally, I don't agree with Larry's theology on some issues, he has written many articles. But his songs are the best. Again, to leave Larry Petree off shows you have no wisdom on this matter.

Commented by On 09/13/2005

It's impossible to mention EVERYBODY...there are so many great songwriters in SGM. This article was geared mostly towards the historical side of the music.

To say the John is ignorant on the subject is outright wrong and ignorant on your part. I wish he had included Rusty Goodman as well, but it didn't show John to be ignorant.

Commented by On 09/13/2005

Hobert, you're certainly entitled to your opinion of the quality of Larry Petrie's work.

But these articles are about the history of gospel music. So consequently they tend to feature those individuals or groups that have made the greatest historical impact on the entire history of the genre.

As my colleague James Hales points out, there certainly could be many more songwriters I could have discussed in more detail(especially Rusty, as he also points out).

But space limitations and my own human limitations prevented me from doing a more in-depth analysis of more people this month(with emphasis on those last two words).

I think the consensus opinion on writers like Larry Petrie is that time will determine his significance in the place of the finest gospel songwriters of all time.

Who knows, if I revise this article in 25 years, he may indeed belong in it.

I appreciate ALL the comments...the positive, and the negative. Learning your interests and opinions helps me to do a better job in serving you all through these articles.

Commented by On 09/13/2005

Thanks for a great article. I think it's so important that we in Southern Gospel remember those who have pioneered our industry. So many of the youth today aren't aware of some of these greats unless they might have seen them on a Gaither video.

I think that this list would not be complete without names like Ira Stanphill, Luther Presley, Dad Speer and Squire Parsons. As you said, you can't name them all. Keep up the good work.

Commented by On 09/24/2005

And let's not forget Ron Hinson and Rusty Goodman.
Songs like "Who Am I" and "The Lighthouse" will still raise the hair on your arms!

Commented by Kevin Wicker On 09/30/2005

I would like to thank you for your articles... Great job... You are correct about there being many songwriters out there... I am presently enjoying Kirk Talley's new CD... Live at the River... One favorite song written by him... Intimacy with Jesus...

Commented by On 11/11/2005

I am sure glad I came accross this website. I am a Northwesterner in love with Southern Gospel!

Praise the Lord!!

Commented by Don Shelton On 01/01/2006

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