have always loved southern gospel quartets. When I was in high school Bill Gaither launched a new southern gospel quartet called “The Gaither Vocal Band.” They were fantastic and I couldn’t get enough of their music. Bill Gaither has an amazing ability to find very good musicians and he has outdone himself for years with the Gaither Vocal Band. Outstanding singers involved in this group have included Gary McSpadden, Steve Green, Lee Young, Larnelle Harris, Jim Murray, Jon Mohr, Michael English, Buddy Mullins, Mark Lowry, David Phelps, Russ Taff, Guy Penrod, Marshall Hall and Wes Hampton.
Over the years, I have sung in quite a few men’s quartets and have sung many of the Gaither Vocal Band arrangements. No matter the make up of the audience, everyone seems to enjoy this type of music and the Gaither Vocal Band arrangements are always among the favorites of the audiences and congregations I have sung for.
While visiting my friends’ blogs today, I visited Extra Thoughts, one of the blogs written by my college friend, Lydia McGrew. She had posted a couple of videos of a reunion of the great singers that have been part of the Gaither Vocal Band over the years. All the singers mentioned above are in this reunion DVD [available from Christianbook.com | Amazon.com]. And they are wonderful. Here are a few of my favorites.
:-)
ReplyDelete"Gentle Shepherd" is one I hadn't seen from the collection yet. It's lovely.
We were looking tonight for a new embed of "Hide Me Behind the Cross," because the one I had was from imeem and hence has disappeared. Found a nice studio Gold City version on Grooveshark. It occurred to me how beautifully the Gaither vocal band would have done "Hide Me Behind the Cross," but as far as I know they have never covered it.
My senior year of high school, I sang Gentle Shepherd as a duet with my girlfriend (Becky Clarkson, now Lambert) for a talent contest. We took first place in the vocal portion of the contest. I have loved that song ever since - and this version is simply wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing my attention to these. When our finances loosen up a bit, I'm going to look for this DVD.
I had the opportunity to sing Gentle Shepherd with a Woman's Quartet while I was still a teen. I've always loved that song!
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