With the comfortable warmth of a fireside chat, renowned gospel musician Bill Gaither invites us to relax with old friends such as The Happy Goodmans, The Cathedrals, Jake Hess, The Speer Family, The Blackwood Brothers, and others to hear stories of southern gospel music as seen through the eyes of its performers. A heartwarming journey from the 1930s to today.
In The Gaithers and Southern Gospel, Ryan P. Harper examines songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither's Homecoming video and concert series--a gospel music franchise that, since its beginning in 1991, has outperformed all Christian and much secular popular music on the American music market. The Homecomings represent "southern gospel." Typically that means a musical style popular among white evangelical Christians in the American South and Midwest, and it sometimes overlaps in style, theme, and audience with country music. The Homecomings' nostalgic orientation--their celebration of "traditional" kinds of American Christian life--harmonize well with southern gospel music, past and present. But amidst the backward gazes, the Homecomings also portend and manifest change. The Gaithers' deliberate racial integration of their stages, their careful articulation of a relatively inclusive evangelical theology, and their experiments with an array of musical forms demonstrate that the Homecoming is neither simplistically nostalgic, nor solely "southern." Harper reveals how the Gaithers negotiate a tension between traditional and changing community norms as they seek simultaneously to maintain and expand their audience as well as to initiate and respond to shifts within their fan base. Pulling from his field work at Homecoming concerts, behind the scenes with the Gaithers, and with numerous Homecoming fans, Harper reveals the Homecoming world to be a dynamic, complicated constellation in the formation of American religious identity.
The gospel songs of Bill and Gloria Gaither have been cherished for generations. This collection features contemporary solo piano arrangements of their most popular melodies. Approximate performance times are included. Titles: Because He Lives * Come, Holy Spirit * The Family of God, with Jesus, We Just Want to Thank You * Gentle Shepherd * He Touched Me * I Will Serve Thee * Jesus Is Lord of All * The King Is Coming * The Longer I Serve Him * Something Beautiful * There's Something About That Name.
What do you think Heaven will be like? How do you describe Heaven to your kids? What are you going to ask Jesus? Bill and Gloria Gaither gathered friends to discuss these questions and more about their eternal home. The responses were all that you might imagine...and more. Releasing simultaneously with a video of the same name, this companion book brims with laughter, tears, and a treasure chest of recollections and insights. Of course, you don't need to be reminded of the Gaithers' tremendous fan base. With over 8 million of their popular Homecoming videos sold, the potential for this comforting gift book is nothing short of heavenly. The Gaithers are constantly on best-seller lists with their videos and music. They have also sold well over 300,000 books.
(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). This folio celebrates the Gaithers' long career in Christian music with 30 of their best-loved songs, including: Abide in Me * Because He Lives * He Started the Whole World Singing * I Am Loved * I Will Praise Him * The King Is Coming * Something Beautiful * There's Something About That Name * Upon This Rock * We'll Be There * Worthy the Lamb * and more.
(E-Z Play Today). 67 favorites in all, including: Abide in Me * Because He Lives * Get All Excited * He Touched Me * I Walked Today Where Jesus Walks * I've Been to Calvary * Jesus, I Believe What You Said * Precious Jesus * The Family of God * Next Time We Meet * This Is the Day That the Lord Hath Made * Upon This Rock.
The Gaither Homecoming Bible will make the Bible come alive for those seeking truth in the twenty-first century, even for those who think they already know it. For years, Bill and Gloria Gaither have reached millions of people across generations with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Their music of joy, thanksgiving, and praise ushers people into the presence of God so that He can do His wondrous work in their lives. Featuring inspirational and insightful Scripture devotions by the Gaithers and other favorite Homecoming artists; articles on beloved hymns, gospel songs, and Gaither classics and the inspiration behind them; original poetry by Gloria Gaither to enlighten and inspire; and quotes by greats of the faith, reflecting on the importance of music in the life of believers, this beautiful Bible featuring the New King James Version® (NKJV) is one that readers will treasure for years to come.
In this ambitious book on southern gospel music, Douglas Harrison reexamines the music's historical emergence and its function as a modern cultural phenomenon. Rather than a single rhetoric focusing on the afterlife as compensation for worldly sacrifice, Harrison presents southern gospel as a network of interconnected messages that evangelical Christians use to make individual sense of both Protestant theological doctrines and their own lived experiences. Harrison explores how listeners and consumers of southern gospel integrate its lyrics and music into their own religious experience, building up individual--and potentially subversive--meanings beneath a surface of evangelical consensus. Reassessing the contributions of such figures as Aldine Kieffer, James D. Vaughan, and Bill and Gloria Gaither, Then Sings My Soul traces an alternative history of southern gospel in the twentieth century, one that emphasizes the music's interaction with broader shifts in American life beyond the narrow confines of southern gospel's borders. His discussion includes the "gay-gospel paradox"--the experience of non-heterosexuals in gospel music--as a cipher for fundamentalism's conflict with the postmodern world.
“I messed up,” Calvin Newton lamented, after wasting thirty years and doing time in both state and federal prisons for theft, counterfeiting, and drug violations. “These were years of my life that I could have been singing gospel music.” During his prime, he was super-handsome, athletic, and charged with sexual charisma that attracted women to him like flies to honey. Atop this abundance was his astounding voice, “the voice of an angel.” This book is his prodigal-son story. Audacious, Newton never turned down a dare, even if it meant climbing on the roof of a speeding car or wading into a freezing ocean. As a boy boxer, he was a Kentucky Golden Gloves champ who k.o.’ed his opponent in twenty-three seconds. By his late teens he had been recruited by the Blackwood Brothers, the number-one gospel quartet in the world. In his mid-twenties while he was singing Christian songs with the Oak Ridge Quartet, Newton’s mighty talent and movie-star looks took him deep into hedonism--reckless driving, heavy romancing, and addictive pill popping. As 1950s rock ‘n’ roll began its invasion of gospel, he and two partners formed the Sons of Song, the first all-male gospel trio. Long before the pop sound claimed contemporary Christian music, the Sons of Song turned gospel upside down with histrionic harmony, high-styled tuxedos, and Hollywood verve. Their signature song, “Wasted Years,” foreshadowed Newton’s punishing fall. This biography looks back at the destructive lifestyle that wrecked a sparkling career. When well into his sixties, Newton turned his life around and was able to confront his demons and discuss his prodigal days. He talked extensively with Russ Cheatham about his self- destruction and the great personal expense of his own bad-boy choices and late redemption. In this candid biography, one of gospel’s all-stars discloses a messed-up life that vacillated between achievement and failure, fame and infamy, happiness and grief.
