That Grand Ole Gospel Music

For years, Alan Jackson’s mother had asked him to record some gospel songs. The singer finally fulfilled his mother’s request this Christmas, giving her a collection of songs that he’d learned sitting next to her in the pews of the Baptist church his family attended in Georgia.

On February 28, the three-time Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year will share those recordings with generations of country fans when he releases Precious Memories, which he recorded with intimate accompaniment in producer Keith Stegall’s studio.

“We just went in there with a piano and acoustic guitar, and just laid it down, just real loose … making an album for my mama,” says Jackson, who joined the Grand Ole Opry cast 15 years ago this June. “We got a little company to press a few covers and stuff. I gave some to my family for Christmas, and a few other people, and now they’re wanting to put it out.”

Jackson’s set of 15 hymns and gospel tunes includes longtime favorites like “Blessed Assurance,” “Softly and Tenderly,” “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and “The Old Rugged Cross.” Jackson’s wife and daughters join him in singing “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus,” which, like most of the songs on Precious Memories, dates back to the Holiness and revival movements of the latter part of the 19th century.

“I love those songs, and they mean a lot to me,” Jackson says. I grew up singing just about every one of those. And I love that sound, of that organ, and that music really stuck with me and, I’m sure, affected how I hear songs now and write songs, ‘cause a lot of those old songs are really pretty, simple melodies that stick with you.”

By releasing Precious Memories, Jackson 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 renowed 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. Marty Stuart and Porter Wagoner have recently 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, recently received a Grammy nomination for their Family Gospel Favorites album.

Most of the songs Jackson sings on Precious Memories first appeared in songbooks of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (two others, “How Great Thou Art” and “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” were closely associated with evangelist Billy Graham’s crusades). Only one song Jackson recorded, Albert Brumley’s “I’ll Fly Away,” was written after the Opry began broadcasting.

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.

For Alan Jackson, as well as for the other Opry stars and their audience, 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

--For more information on Alan Jackson, click here.