Gospel music has gotten into the blood of Becky Wittrock and her daughter, Tricia Alberts, both of Holts Summit, Mo., and members of Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City. They had to come see the groups in person. They heard songs on the radio and saw the videos. Tim Riley, bass for the 2003 Male Quartet of the Year, Gold City, said, “Bill Gaither has done so much for gospel music. Gaither is credited with rejuvenating Southern gospel music and the careers of many legendary singers as well as launching the careers of many others. All I did was expose them I let people see them and hear them sing.” “I’m like the turtle on the fencepost - I didn’t get there by myself. “Whatever I did, I couldn’t do without them ,” he said. Gaither, though, takes it all with characteristic humility. Today, there are Homecoming concerts in just about every major venue in the country, and the videos - which have sold more than 7.5 million copies - consistently rank in the top 10 on the Billboard video charts. The artists forgot about the cameras as they sang and shared stories. The response to that video was so overwhelming that Gaither decided to reassemble the artists and try to reproduce the spontaneous style, fearing it might not work. That spontaneous sing-along became the first “Homecoming” video released in 1992.
The Gaither Vocal Band was wrapping up a recording session that had included several legendary Southern gospel music artists, including The Speer Family, The Cathedral Quartet and the Happy Goodmans.Īfter the planned session ended, the artists lingered and gathered around the piano, singing, swapping stories from the old days and sharing a few laughs and tears. What has become an international phenomenon actually started with an impromptu taping in a Nashville studio in 1991.
In recent years, the Gaithers have been best known by their popular “Homecoming Series” videos and concerts. He, Gloria and his brother Danny founded the Bill Gaither Trio in the 1970s, and later he formed the award-winning Gaither Vocal Band in which he still sings bass. Those songs include “The King Is Coming,” “Because He Lives” and “He Touched Me” - the song that catapulted him into the national spotlight in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded it. The Gospel Music Hall of Famers together penned songs that are mainstays in hymnals around the world. I never realized it would become this popular. “There were piano players and singers better than me. “I became a teacher because I was not good enough to do gospel music,” said Gaither, who taught high school English in his hometown of Alexandria, Ind. More than 500 songs and dozens of popular videos later, Gaither and his wife, Gloria, were named Christian Songwriters of the Century in 2000. So, with his dream of singing Southern gospel music seemingly out of reach, Gaither went home and began writing. (BP)-Bill Gaither wasn’t good enough for gospel music.