A thought occurred to me this morning that made me smile. Over the years as a Gospel music collector I have come across a few oddities. You know how sometimes a secular singing star will cut a Gospel album? Well, my recollection was not necessarily of those known as singers per se. TV actors and pro athletes have dabbled in sacred music from time to time—often with comical results. Let’s face it, Terry Bradshaw was a legendary Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and sports broadcaster. Could he sing? Well, he did an album of Country Gospel sometime in the late seventies or early eighties. Search for it and if you can find the record let me know if he should quit his day job. Not a Steelers fan? Then try Kathie Lee Johnson’s Gospel gems she recorded way back when. Who? You may know her now as an original co-host of morning talk shows, Kathie Lee Gifford. Yes, that Kathie Lee.
I am not making a judgment on their talent. Believe me, I’m not a critic. It just seems weird these particular people not known primarily as singers taking up, of all things, Gospel music. For example, Lisa Welchel who played Blair on the NBC sitcom classic The Facts of Life. She did a Gospel record. Who, except me, would remember that?
There are also well known singers who’ve done Gospel albums. It may be surprising: Bob Dylan got “saved” in the 80’s and gave us a couple. Of course, B.J. Thomas, famous for his signature hit Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, was a Gospel star for a while. Countless Country music stars: Glen Campbell, George Jones, Alan Jackson, Charlie Daniels and Grandpa Jones all did religious projects. Perhaps most famous singer of all time; Elvis Presley, won Grammys for his Gospel albums, an accolade ironically not rewarded for his secular work.
At the risk of sounding critical, take the best known of all the non-singers who has made his living in music: Pat Boone. In the fifties he remade such classics as Tutti Frutti and Long Tall Sally into bland pop imitations of the Little Richard originals. By the 1980’s Boone had migrated into Gospel with a charting hit, Let Me Live. Little Richard himself got religion numerous times over the years and has recorded at least one Gospel album. Whew! It boggles the mind. Could it be possible that old stars never die, they just get saved?
Stay tuned
©2010 Neal Rhoden and Gospel Aircheck. All rights reserved.
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