SN Chart Changes

Doug Harrison at AVFL broke this story yesterday about changes to the Singing News chart. I tend to be skeptical on these changes, much like Doug and David Murray. To me, meaningful change will only occur when we don’t see positions 40-80 filled with cuts from Jim Bob and His Sanging Glory Boys, that sounds like it was recorded in somebody’s basement. Does Billboard have charts for religious music? Is there a Billboard CCM chart, for example? If so, do they even have a SG chart, and if not, what would it take to get one? I also think DBM’s take about the lag time between charts vs. Fan Awards voting is very relevant here.

Here is an idea. Why doesn’t the SN move to a weekly chart, publish it on the website, then in the magazine print a monthly composite chart? The chart on the site is kept current, then in the magazine, you can find the overall ranking for the month. Granted, this will still be about 2 months behind (airplay summary for September would by definition have to be included in the November issue), but even that is cutting the lag time almost in half, plus the information is more meaningful and the current chart is available on the site. I’m not a radio guy, but I am a computer programmer by trade, and surely there is a way to get charting info from radio stations via the net and collected into a database, where it can be tabulated and formed into a chart almost instantaneously.

Then again, since the special aired last night, maybe waiting for these type of meaningful changes is akin to Linus waiting on the Great Pumpkin……

Jim Hamill – Honoring a true legend

There has been a nice post going on over at AVFL honoring the great Jim Hamill, along with news that Jim’s health is not good.  If you read down the comments to #56, Mickey Gamble at Crossroads has offered to look into producing a compilation project of some of Jim’s best work and donate the proceeds to Jim and his family.  What an example of how Christian business should be run.  Everything is done properly, and the intended beneficiary is indeed the recipient.

Jim Hamill is truly one of the industry’s greats.  Most of the attention has been on his years with the Kingsmen, and rightfully so, but let’s not forget that Jim also did some great work with the Oak Ridge Quartet and the Rebels as well.  His solo feature on “One Of These Mornings” from the ORQ “I Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now” is superb.  Somewhat lost in the KM “fun-n-gun” style is the fact that Jim Hamill is an excellent singer.  In his prime, he had the edge and the range that most lead singers only dream about possessing.   It is truly touching to see this tribute being paid to a legend while he is still around to see it.   I have always been and will always be a fan of Jim Hamill.

A SG Ghost Town

For a city that once boasted to be the home of the Blackwood Brothers and the NQC, Memphis, TN has fallen a long, long way.  There is no full time SG station here, we can’t even pick up the great FM station out of Jackson, TN.  In looking at the Singing News for this month, there are 3, count ’em, 3 concerts within a decent driving distance from Memphis (and one of those is kinda questionable, Corinth, MS is quite a haul from north of the city!).  Back in the ’50s, Memphis was a hotbed of Southern Gospel music.  The Blackwood Brothers were here, they also operated a record store in Memphis, the NQC was held here every year for a long time before it moved to Nashville, and all-night sings were prevalent at the old Ellis Auditorium.  Memphis has a rich heritage in SGM.  So the question is, what happened?  It is an absolute shame for a major Southern city like Memphis to not have a full time SG radio station.  What has caused the decline?  When did it start?

Hidden Gems: Crossway – “I Can, I Have, I Will”

Released on 2001’s No Distractions project, this is a definite hidden gem.  The Perrys actually released this song to radio, and I love the Ps, but I always have thought Crossway had a better cut on this song.  This was Crossway’s breakout CD that really put them into the forefront.  Energetic backing track, great harmonies.  The modulation and harmony inversion is really nice.  When I put this song on my own mix CDs, this is the version I use.  This cut really foreshadows the great things that were to follow for this group.  A very enjoyable song.  This CD will produce several more hidden gems, so keep watching for them.

Classic SG Videos on DVD

Looking at Gold City’s ad in the Singing News last month, they have a 3 DVD set for $40 that is called the “Heritage Collection Vol. 1”.  It is a rerelease of previous concert videos that were available only on VHS.  Kudos to GC for doing this.  These are some classic performances that until now were out of print and unavailable.  Think of this as being similar to the DVD sets of TV Shows that have all episodes from each season.  Double kudos goes to whoever controls the reissue of Cathedrals product (my guess is the Younce and Payne families) for the recent reissue of the classic “Travelin’ Live” video on DVD.  Take advantage of being able to purchase these classic performances on DVD.  I sure plan to do it.  Hopefully more groups will follow suit, and GC and the Cats will continue until their entire video catalog is available on DVD.

Alden Toney passes away

Several SG news and blog sites have reported that Alden Toney passed away this weekend.  Mr. Toney is best remembered as a former tenor for the Blackwood Brothers in the early ’50s.  I can’t remember where it was, but I’ve seen some video clips of the Blackwoods when Toney was singing tenor with them.  He had quite a voice and seemed to have a higher range than Bill Shaw, which allowed for some really high harmonies with RW, James, and Alden.  Another legend has passed on, and our prayers are with his family.

EH&SS and GVB – “Together” on Daystar last weekend

We have DISH Network at our house, and this weekend, while channel surfing during halftime of one of the college football games I happened to be watching, I came across the last 20-25 minutes of EH&SS – GVB “Together” on Daystar.  I really enjoyed what I got to see of this video.  The performances are slick, the harmonies incredible.  It’s like hearing the GVB with a real bass singer (sorry Bill!).  The nice thing is while Duncan is singing a traditional bass part, BG is adding in the “one-off” notes (the 6ths, 9ths, etc.) as he normally does with the GVB.  The 5 part harmony that results is astounding.  The video quality is top notch, typical of Gaither.  The stracks are quite heavy, as to be expected.  One can always make the argument that you still have to be good enough to sing the stracks anyways.  I just caught the last of this, so I can’t really give it a full review, but based on what I saw, it will be an enjoyable video/CD.  Hopefully I will be able to catch the whole thing sometime soon and can then give it a more formal reviewing.

Changes for Hope’s Call

According to the Singing News site, Donna Beauvais is leaving Hope’s Call for a job at Daywind Music. Daniel Mount posts his thoughts here. This is I’m sure a good thing for Beauvais, but Hope’s Call had really built up some momentum. It will be interesting to see how this affects the group. The Harrisons are continuing on, as expected. Lets pray that they find the right soprano to keep their momentum going strong. I’m not too familiar with their music, but have read a lot of good things about the group.

More detailed information can be found here.

Covering “Signature Songs”

Paul Jackson wrote a very interesting post about great songs he never wants to record.  Coming from an artist’s perspective, it is a very interesting and well thought out position.  By all means, read the post, it’s worth the time.  I thought I would expand a bit on my thoughts, though I did comment on Paul’s site.

One of the big considerations I think that needs to be made is time.  For example, when Ernie Haase recorded “Oh What A Savior”, which can be considered Rosie Rozelle’s signature song, it had been 30-40 years since Rosie recorded the song and made it popular.  This to me is far different than if, say, the Hoppers were to cover “I Rest My Case At The Cross”, or if Crossway covered “My Name Is Lazarus.”  If the artist who made the song popular is still actively touring and still at least occasionally performing the song, then I’m not too keen on another group covering the song, especially if the arrangement is nearly note for note.  I do agree with the caveat that someone with ties to the original artist/recording is exempt from this (e.g. Ivan Parker and Mercy’s Mark singing “Midnight Cry”).  The distinction was made in the comments about Michael English and Clay Crosse’s versions of “Midnight Cry” as well.  This is also OK to me, as their recordings were in a completely different genre.  If say, Avalon, decided to do a CCM arrangement of “Rest My Case”, I don’t see a real problem with that, as the target audiences are totally different.

Those are my thoughts.  What are yours?

CCM Vocal Groups – Move to SG?

There was an interesting thread a couple weeks ago on SGN about Point of Grace getting some airplay on SG radio with their new release.  Having listened to the clips in their online store, there really are several cuts that I could see hearing on SG radio.  Even more interesting though, is the statement made by one poster, ” Groups like POG are having a hard time finding a format where they fit in.”  Could this have possibly led to the demise of 4Him?  Could these groups (though there really aren’t many vocal driven groups left!) find a new home in Southern Gospel?  I don’t exactly envision POG singing the same material as say, The Perrys, but in the same vein as the Crabb Family or the McRaes, or even the current Imperials, then yeah, I could see that.  4Him’s Hymns CD could have had a couple plays on SG radio as well.  Though I mainly listen to SG, I enjoy the vocal driven CCM like the two aforementioned groups as well.  Also, by making a move into SG markets, groups like POG wouuld help infuse and introduce a broader, younger demographic to SG.  By listening for POG on SG radio, perhaps some kids would hear the Perrys or the Booth Brothers follow them and decide that this SG stuff isn’t just for old folks, but it really is some pretty good music.