When I was about 16, a friend turned me on to an album by Goose Creek Symphony, Words of Earnest. One of the songs on that album stuck with me. It was a tune by the group’s leader, Charlie Gearheart, called The Gospel.
[weaver_youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcFyEXyywvc]
I’ve kept that song close by for almost 40 years now. It was one of my dad’s favorites, and he always loved to hear me sing it. I’ve always used the song as a framework for songs like Will the Circle Be Unbroken or I’ll Fly Away because it talks about singing those old songs again.
The Gospel was included on my first CD, Going Over Home, and I’m thinking about recording it again to include the thumbpicking arrangement of I’ll Fly Away that is part of the song for me now. If you catch me and the audience in the right mood, I sometimes include a bit of thumbpicking on Words of Earnest, which Goose Creek Symphony reprises on their recording of the song.
If you’re not familiar with Goose Creek Symphony, I hope you’ll visit their web site and check them out. I hope you enjoy this old standard of mine, and thanks for watching!