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THE CHUCK WAGON GANG---"AMERICA
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When I was a boy, back in the late thirties and forties, and visiting my granddaddy's farm ("POP'S PLACE") down in Dawson County, I was tuned into the quaintness and "ruralness" of it all---especially the sounds. You could hear a tractor or a truck---any motor--- at night---a long way off, if you were outside. And then there were the sounds...on his radio...
One thing I've never forgotten is Pop's old trusty upright Philco, that stood over in the corner of his bedroom (his de facto den.) Sometimes, late at night I'd listen to him and my dad talk, sitting there in their rocking chairs, and Pop would have his radio softly playing some religious music---sounded like a quartet...and the total sound was so lonesome...and rural...and it took you somewhere...so awesome that you could barely stand it.
I almost know that I heard the words, there on Pop's radio---" The Chuck Wagon Gang."
It could have been, for the "Gang" was founded in 1936, in
The Chuck Wagon Gang, called a "grass roots"---"Southern Gospel," group is a long-time American favorite and I think we can say that it is practically an American institution. During its seventy-seven year existence, it has recorded over eight hundred songs and sold over forty million records, part of them on the earlier Columbia
The present group, (which in my judgment may be the most talented of all), is made up of four singers and a guitarist. They are: Shaye Smith, alto, manager/owner, (this lady is a joy to watch and hear; she has two music degrees, and an impressive range); Julie Hudson, soprano; Stan Hill, tenor; Jeremy Stephens, bass/guitarist/emcee; and Joe Rotten, guitarist.
They sing their Southern Gospel music, if you listen closely, with great skill and finesse. They begin each stanza together, they sing the words with perfect precision; they have a good blend (so important in an ensemble), and we hear the perfection of their final closing chords. In "I'll Meet You in the Morning", the alto takes the lead, and this is done with an elegance of diction and style.
My editor/wife and I got out our ipads out the other morning over coffee, and decided we'd check into and "bone up" on this complicated business of where all the various kinds of American music came from and how it all shakes out together.
We checked "Bluegrass," Appalachian, Negro spirituals, camp meeting, shaped-note singing, Southern Gospel, Country Gospel, Western, English folk songs, Irish folk songs, Scottish folk songs, the "quartet movement," (circa 1910), and the "singing convention" movement of the early Twentieth Century---we spent several hours and I took pages of notes...a lot of which don't apply to the Chuck Wagon Gang---directly, but it was interesting!
The Chuck Wagon Gang sings plain old down-to-earth, gospel-type songs, which touch the heart. They have something going for them that appeals to the American people. The Chuck Wagon Gang has sung at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and The Grand Ole Opry.
The group has been selected for the Gospel Music's Hall of Fame, and the Smithsonian Institution's "Classic American Recordings."
We have selected several numbers below for you to access. Then you can choose further selections by checking You Tube's right margin.
I’ll Meet You in the Morning
Echoes From the Burning Bush
O Come, Angel Band
He Wrote My Name
Looking for a City
My Dream Home in Glory
I’ll Fly Away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-hwYP2O1fs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Jesus, Hold My Hand
(This is the original Chuckwagon Gang)
When the Saints Go Marching In
BY MIL
2/25/13
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