COVER STORY

That Grand Ole Gospel Music

The Grand Ole Opry and RCA Records Nashville have come together to celebrate and showcase the amazing gospel music that is performed regularly at the Grand Ole Opry each year by country music's biggest stars. This unique collection features twelve gospel songs recorded live at the Grand Ole Opry by artists including Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels Band with Mac Powell, Sara Evans, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Loretta Lynn, Ronnie Milsap, Brad Paisley, Ricky Skaggs and The Whites, and Carrie Underwood. How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites Live From The Grand Ole Opry will be released on February 5.

"When I was asked to be a part of this project, I wanted to choose a classic song that had stood the test of time," shares Carrie Underwood. "I wanted a standard gospel song that has really touched people."

How Great Thou Art features standard gospel classics including "I'll Fly Away," "Give Me Jesus," "Old Rugged Cross," and "How Great Thou Art," among others. Many country artists grew up singing in church as their first experience with music, so being a part of this project is a natural fit for many of today’s country music stars.

"I grew up singing gospel tunes right out of the hymnal at our church," explains Sara Evans. "Historically, gospel music has played a large part in the Grand Ole Opry and I am very honored to be a part of this album."

With the release of How Great Thou Art, this esteemed list of performers joins a proud tradition that goes back to country music’s formative days. The earliest Opry performers like Uncle Dave Macon and fiddler Sid Harkreader included religious songs as part of their repertoire, and for decades no Opry performance was complete without a performance of Roy Acuff’s “The Great Speckled Bird,” which described the church as a bird “spreading her wings for a journey” to Heaven.

The Opry’s homes over the years have included a pair of religious meeting places. For a while during the ‘30s, the Opry held its weekly shows at the Dixie Tabernacle, a large, East Nashville revival house that had a sawdust floor, slat benches and sides that could be “rolled up” in hot weather to allow breezes to cool the crowds.

The Ryman Auditorium, perhaps the Opry’s most famous venue, continues to be affectionately known as the “Mother Church of Country Music.” The Ryman, with its bright, stained-glass windows and hard, wooden pews, began its life with a religious purpose. Originally called the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the red brick hall opened in 1892, built by riverboat captain Thomas G. Ryman so that Methodist evangelist Sam Jones would have a place to hold his revivals. The Ryman was the Opry’s regular home from 1943 to 1974, and the show still returns there during the winter months.

During the 1940s and 50s, gospel quartets were right at home on the Ryman stage. Wally Fowler and the Oak Ridge Quartet, the John Daniel Quartet, Claude Sharpe and the Old Hickory Singers, and the Jordanaires all called the Opry home during those years. Fowler and Daniel are both inaugural members of the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame.

In addition to the pure gospel acts, the Opry has always featured plenty of country artists who have made religious music a part of their performances. Gospel recordings were once common, even expected, for country singers, especially during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Hank Williams recorded songs like “I Saw the Light” and “House of Gold,” along with a series of religious-themed recitations under the pseudonym Luke the Drifter. Red Foley, host of the Prince Albert-sponsored network portion of the Opry recorded numerous gospel numbers so popular that they found their way into juke boxes across America – offering a little redemption right alongside the drinkin’ and cheatin’ songs. Grandpa Jones, The Bailes Brothers, Martha Carson, Bill Monroe, The Louvin Brothers and Wilma Lee Cooper are but a few of the other acts who brought the good news to the Opry stage.

Of course, country superstars don’t release gospel albums the way they once did, so Jackson’s Precious Memories is something of a throwback to the days when acts like George Jones, Charley Pride and Loretta Lynn released albums with spiritual themes at the same time they were having their biggest hit records.

Connie Smith once stipulated in a recording contract with Columbia Records that she be allowed to record one gospel collection for every two secular albums she released. Stu Phillips became an ordained Episcopalian minister. Porter Wagoner won three Grammys for his collaborations with Southern gospel’s renowned Blackwood Brothers. Other Opry members who have won Grammys for their gospel recordings include Charley Pride, Barbara Mandrell, Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis.

Today, gospel music continues to be an important part of the Opry repertoire. In the past few years, Marty Stuart and Porter Wagoner released acclaimed gospel titles. Randy Travis revived his career with a series of country gospel recordings, including the chart-topping single “Three Wooden Crosses.” The Gatlin Brothers, who like many other Opry stars grew up listening to the harmonies of the Blackwoods and the Statesmen quartets, received a Grammy nomination for their Family Gospel Favorites album.

Today, a typical Opry broadcast may include performances from across the spectrum of sacred music. A bluegrass group like the Osborne Brothers or the Del McCoury Band may pick a spiritual tune. An older star may sing a favorite folk hymn. Vince Gill might sing “Go Rest High on That Mountain” or frequent guest Josh Turner could perform “Long Black Train,” two modern songs deeply rooted in gospel. Top gospel acts like the Kingsmen, the Gaithers and the Crabb Family regularly make guest appearances on the Opry stage.

Gospel music endures as a powerful force that unites generations. The songs evoke vivid emotions and remain a way for the “circle” about which the Carter Family once sang to continue unbroken. These precious memories still linger and still have the power to flood our souls.

-- By Brian Mansfield (revised on January 4, 2008 by opry.com)

Click here to order the HOW GREAT THOU ART album! And be sure to tune in to GAC on Saturday, February 9 at 8 p.m. ET for the premiere of "How Great Thou Art: Gospel Favorites From The Grand Ole Opry" television special.