averyfineline

David Bruce Murray has posted what he calls “three generations” of “What A Savior.” First up is Ernie Haase a few weeks after he joined the Cathedrals. Then there’s Charles Billingsley at Thomas Road Baptist Church. And finally Rosie Rozell with the Masters V. They’re worth checking out (especially the Masters V, if for nothing […]

Over at southerngospelblog recently, Daniel Mount ran a couple posts about singer/songwriters in gospel music. And though we’ve been down this road before, Mount’s posts got me thinking about the singer/songwriter bias in gospel music, namely: what’s behind the preference for songs written and performed by the same person?
Mount argues it has to with the […]

Because I’m sure we were, at some recent point … speaking of quartets, that is.
Quartet-loving readers in and around Chicagoland might be interested in catching Million Dollar Quartet, now playing at the Apollo (h/t, SS’s FB page). The play is about the (real) time when Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins […]

In two parts.
Part one: Did anyone else notice the pic of Guy Penrod and his kid, Tyler, taken at a recent TBN taping (CeCe Winans hosting)? If you missed it, it’s still up over at gospelmusicupdate.  Because, you know, no one can get enough of GP. There are also some Barbara Mandrell shots, assuming you […]

Somewhere in the archives I recall our discussing the Speer Family’s concept video of “City Coming Down.” I can’t find that discussion but no matter. Since I’d never seen the actual video before (and since it’s now available on youtube), here’s a clip of the video (via avfl comments via DBM, who has a “name […]

Regular readers not doubt remember my prolonged swoon over Mercy’s Mark when the group debuted way back when, followed by the inevitable let-down when the too-good-to-last original formation dissolved and more mediocre replacements came on board. Eventually (and predictably), the group fizzled.
Now via Facebook (h/t, JW), Garry Jones is plugging two upcoming dates for the […]

Via Burke, they have one. Smart stuff. Lots of interesting possibilities. Inevitably there will be the Luddite reactionaries complaining, as one customer does at iTunes, that the app is basically “buy buy BUY” (uhm, duh) and another complained about the short clips.  But this is the kind of thing that pays dividends twice: once when […]

Some stuff that’s going on around the blogosphere and interwebs:

Gordon Mote won the Music City Award for Piano/Keyboard Player of the Year for 2009. My handy press release tells me this is “an honor awarded to the artist who has performed on the most Top 10 selling albums for the year.”And it’s quite […]

[Note: since this entry was posted, Mickey Gamble has addressed the issue over at Gospeleer]
As some of you may have noticed, it looks like that provocative Gospeleer post on sexuality and scripture we were discussing last week has been taken down.
When I first saw the post was missing, my reactions were, in order […]

So there’s that thing the Kingsmen were known for back in the day – you know, where they go from pianissimo to mezzo forte in the space of a measure or less, often using a drum kick and sometimes revoicing the harmonies and occasionally double-timing the rhythm to end big … Here’s an example, which […]

What’s on your mind? Some things to get us started.

Jonathan Sawrie, among the most level-headed and cogent folks in sg, has a decent take on the old ministry/monestry thing. It won’t settle anything, but it’s a fun, pointed read (h/t, MM). Money quote:

Now concerning this “gospel group as ministry” idea:
“And he called unto him the […]

Via Burke (the go-to place lately), I see the Martins have a single out from their latest album … a reunion project, it appears. Am I the only one with ambivalent feelings about this?
I mean, I’m sure there’s still a lot of interest in and enthusiasm for the Martins (including me!), but insofar as this […]

You may not have noticed, but something pretty extraordinary just happened over at Gospeleer: a southern gospel record label executive made a strong case for, in his own words, getting beyond the taboo of homosexuality. Cuing off my article about gay men and gospel music, Mickey Gamble thinks through the question of sexuality and scripture. […]

By 37% more to be exact, in this most recent analysis.

Anybody out there have or know of a copy of Clarice “Ma” Baxter’s 1960 book, Biographies of Gospel Songwriters, that’s for sale? If so, drop me a note. I’m finding it exceedingly difficult to locate.

Via regular reader NG, and apropos the ongoing conversations we’ve been having about the shifting role of personality/persona in gospel music, a review of a new book about American pop and rock, provocatively titled, How the Beatles Destroyed Rock-n-Roll. It’s not at all about sg, but it may be of interest to anyone curious about […]

Whenever I publish an academic essay, I always make a point to send copies to whomever I thank in the footnotes, and since the readers of this site are (genuinely) cited as a source of inspiration and provocation for the most recent academic article I’ve published, it seems only right and fair to pass along […]

I’ve stayed away from the whole Michael Jackson situation because it seems like precisely the sort of collision of Christian and secular worlds that is ripe for unproductive pyrotechnics (indeed, I’ve received a few notes about a big MJ brouhaha that broke out on Kenny Bishop’s Facebook page and I’d rather that conversation not repeat […]

For the long weekend ahead, an open thread for you holiday revelers looking for your gospel fix. Some things to get us started.

Janet Paschal has the new No. 1 song. The Talleys had a No. 1 with “Life Goes On” in last month’s issue. Good to see good music at the top of the chart.

Have […]

Today’s round up is all about hellos.

Randy Crawford is back with BFA (mostly random aside: I’m pretty sure I saw Crawford at Jacksons in Nashville a month or so ago, and if you’re ever at Jacksons, make sure you visit that delightful used and rare bookstore across the street while you wait for your late […]