Steven Curtis Chapman and Family on the Opry

This live performance of “Life’s Railway to Heaven” features Steven AND his father and brother. Anyone agree with me that they sound and look (with the exception of clean-cut Steven himself) like the second coming of the Oak Ridge Boys? Herb Jr. in particular is quite a ham. This live rendition is even better than their studio cut, in my opinion.

[Note: Should have put this in the first draft of the post, but do check out Steven's Deep Roots project, from which this arrangement comes! Available in mp3 form from Amazon and iTunes, physical from Cracker Barrel.]

Recently Added: Billy Joel

Since he turned 64 the other day (cue the Beatles!) it seemed appropriate to showcase some Billy Joel songs I’ve been enjoying recently (which you may or may not recognize) and to try to capture in one humble little blog post why I’m such a fan.

As a child, I never listened to secular radio, and my knowledge of popular secular music was shaky beyond the 1940s. So my earliest memory of hearing Billy Joel’s music goes back a mere 5-7 years. I was hanging out with a neo-classical composer friend at a university roadhouse. We took turns making fun of the songs on the radio. Then the first few bars of “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” started playing. My friend paused, listening intently. “This…” he said, pointing to the speaker. “This is a great song.” 

A Standing-O for Artistry

In gospel music, the surest way to get a standing-O is to make it big, make it long, and make it loud. Here I must hastily interject that this is not a knock on big endings and the standing-Os they generate (I’ve cheerfully joined in many a one myself), merely an observation of a fact.

But how many times have you seen a standing-O that had no root in emotion or message—the kind that’s offered purely for the skill and technique of the artists?

Rare Old Dove Awards Footage: Bill Gaither, Mark Lowry, Twila Paris, Vestal Goodman, 4Him, and Many More…

Well, it’s that time of year again. This week, the GMA will supposedly recognize the brightest and best in Christian music (tee-hee!) At this point I am unsure whether the mediocrity of the Dove Awards is due to the fact that a lot of talent is being ignored, or whether there just aren’t that many good artists anymore. I think it’s some of each.

As you can probably guess, I am hardly on the edge of my seat in anticipation of this year’s installment of said awards show. But perhaps my readers would like to take a little journey back in time with me… say, to the mid-90s. Aaaaaaah, the mid-90s. Excuse me while I get a little misty-eyed. You see, the 90s hold some of my first musical memories. This is the stuff I grew up on. This is the stuff my radio used to play. And best of all, it was a time when the worlds of CCM and gospel were much closer than they are today.

So, I present two videos which aren’t the best in quality, but nevertheless are priceless little time capsules of this golden age in Christian music. First, we’ll send our Delorean back to 1994 and watch a little montage of presentations and interviews, in which Twila Paris interviews Vestal Goodman on the 25th Anniversary of her win of the first ever Female Vocalist Award, Steven Curtis Chapman wins Long Form Music Video for his classic concert The Live Adventure, the Mark Lowry Vocal Band wins Southern Gospel song of the year, and more:

And this is the opening of the 1995 show, in which Mark Lowry gets himself disinvited from co-hosting with Bill Gaither, after which 4Him comes out for a slightly pitchy but infectious rendition of their latest hit as of 1995, “Real Thing.” Unfortunately the video is a little choppy on this one, though the audio is constant. Be sure to stick around for the announcer’s reel of featured artists for the evening at the end—if watching the videos hasn’t already brought back a ton of memories for you, just seeing all those names read off in a list is sure to do the trick.

Easter Morning: Jesus Saves

Sung by Tony DeRosa, a studio singer, vocal coach, and member of award-winning barbershop quartet MaxQ. This might just be my favorite version of this song. Enjoy. He is risen indeed, Hallelujah!

Easter Week Music: Were You There, by Wintley Phipps

Easter Week Music: Come to the Table, by Michael Card

A blessed Maundy Thursday to my readers.

Come to the table

And taste of the glory

Savor the sorrow

He’s dying tomorrow

The hand that is breaking the bread

Soon will be broken

Easter Week Music: Kum Ba Ya/Kyrie Eleison, by Cynthia Clawson

This comes from a little-known, yet astonishing album by Cynthia Clawson called Prayer & Plainsong. It was recorded entirely acapella at a very old mission building in Texas with two male singers, a tenor and a bass. It features daring arrangements that blend liturgical music with traditional hymns, arranged in the order of the mass. While her male backup chants in the background, Cynthia sings a thematically and musically complementary hymn in counterpoint. It’s the sort of thing that should not work, yet somehow it does, over and over again. The purity of the vocals is striking, particularly since there was no electronic enhancement after the fact. I would highly recommend this project for anybody who appreciates classy sacred music. You can hear a two-part interview with Cynthia about the recording (which includes samples of the music) here and here.

This is probably the album’s most transcendent moment, an unlikely pairing of “Kum Ba Ya” with the “Kyrie.” Again, just to hear it you would think “That can’t possibly work.” But… well, you be the judge:

Easter Week Music: Fernando Ortega’s Setting of the Sanctus

In slightly belated honor of Palm Sunday, here is Fernando Ortega’s stunningly gorgeous choral arrangement of the “Sanctus.” Do enjoy.

Blessed, blessed is he who comes

In the name of the Lord

Ballad Buffet!

“It’s a ballad!”

“Oh, that’s helpful.”

There’s been some recent discussion around the southern gospel blogosphere over the vagueness of the generic term “ballad” by itself. I personally believe David Bruce Murray nailed it with his categorizations, even though they were tongue-in-cheek. There’s nothing wrong with the term, but without appropriate descriptive adjectives, it really doesn’t tell the reader much. But if you couple it with its proper modifier(s), you’re on your way.

So instead of describing the different categories of ballad in depth, I’m going to share some of my favorite ballads from all genres, just for fun and just to show how much variety they can have. And just to make it a little more fun, I won’t say what songs I pick, to try to tantalize my readers into clicking on them out of curiosity. (Though I will give you a hint that the artists range from Josh Ritter to Celine Dion to Journey to Sandi Patti.)

The Classic Ballad

Okay, so “classic” may be a kind of generic term in itself, but when I use it, I mean a long, lyrical piece of poetry that tells a story, in a folksy musical setting. The reason I call it “classic” is that it probably represents the earliest and purest manifestation of the term. Here is a perfect example of the classic ballad.

The Folk Ballad

A folk ballad can be the classic kind that tells a story, but it can also include political rants, musings on the meaning of life, or just about anything that occurs to a dude or dudette with a guitar. As DBM said, they tend to run long. Very long. Here is a classic example of such a ballad.

The Country Ballad

The country ballad typically tells a story as well, but it revolves around a limited set of themes. Familial or romantic love, heaven, and patriotism would probably claim the vast majority of country ballads. Here is a perfect example of a country ballad.

The Piano Pop Ballad

I sort of made up this category. It’s a pop song that begins with the focus squarely on the piano and then stays there instead of drowning it out in guitars and drums (see the power pop ballad). Here’s one of my favorite examples.

The Power Pop Ballad

Otherwise known as inspirational or torch songs, these are generally sung by female divas, with an adoring crowd of fans waving lighters in the audience. One or more ear-piercing high notes are regularly involved. Here is a perfect example.

The Rock Ballad

A ballad that rocks. You don’t HAVE to have long hair,  a dirty ‘stache/scruffy beard, or a sleeveless shirt to perform it… but it does help. Observe, a perfect example. There might be lighters involved here too, except they would be real cigarette lighters, not glowsticks, candles, or whatever the cute little girls are waving in the power pop ballad.

The Orchestrated Ballad

This is the category into which many southern gospel ballads fall. It starts quietly but dramatically and builds to a huge finish with all the instruments pulling out all the stops. It also covers inspirational anthems from the Steve Green/Sandi Patti era. Here is a classic example.

There might also be room, in between country and folk, for the Western ballad as its own category. Lyrically it tends to take a classic form, but instrumentation can be sparse, orchestral or anything in between. “I Hung My Head” is an example of a Western ballad that’s been interpreted both ways.

Discuss… Do you agree with my categories? Are there some categories I left out? What’s your favorite kind? (Oh, and it’s just possible that I put the wrong Youtube links in the wrong places, so if you were expecting Sandi Patti and got Journey instead… let me know and I’ll fix it. )