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| From the broadcast
the weekend of July 21st & 22nd, 2012: |
 Since the 1980s, the
Greenes — as a leading Southern Gospel group — have been
a part of The Gospel Greats program. They've undergone some changes
over the years. Here's how I covered that on the program: "In their heyday,
the Greenes includeed brothers Tim and Tony Greene and sister
Kim Greene. Kim married Dean Hopper of the Hoppers —
and moved to that group. Taranda Kiser replaced Kim, and later married
Tony Greene. But some significant health problems forced Tim Greene
to leave the group several years ago. And Tony developed health
problems of his own, which claimed his life in 2010. When that happened,
the Greenes, as such, were no more. But, now the name has passed back
to one of the original members, Tim Greene. And his group is the
'Greenes' once again." Today's group includes Tim, of course,
along with tenor Keith Skiles and baritone Jason Gordon.
The Greenes' new CD is entitled "We Need America Again," which
is also the current radio song from this group. Tim wrote most of the songs
for this new CD, including that very special new song, "I Will Hold You"
— a song reminiscent of Isaiah 41:10. More information about the Greenes
can be found on their website,
http://www.thegreenesmusic.com/.
(Please note the address was mentioned incorrectly on the air. An old
address was given.)
The Greenes' CD featured on this program, "We Need America
Again," is available from our mailorder service, Springside. Just call
1-800-38-MUSIC to order. You can order easily from our webstore by
using this
link to go directly to this item. (Orders over $40 in the USA qualify
for free shipping.)
 The Statler Brothers,
our Artist Spotlight guests on this program, were the winners of the Southern
Gospel Music Association's James D. Vaughan Impact Award last fall. And that's
when we got a chance to visit with them about their Gospel music roots —
roots they never entirely got away from throughout their long signing career.
They always included Gospel songs in their concerts and even on their weekly
TV show which aired on the Nashville Network. I loved Harold Reid's
story about how, when they were just teenagers, they managed to get themselves
invited to sing at a concert they just "happened" to visit. The Statler Brothers
have been officially retired as a group since their last concert on October
26, 2002. But they're still very well known and loved by country and Gospel
music fans everywhere. Their website:
http://www.statlerbrothers.com/.
 I enjoyed hearing
Greater Vision's renditions of songs Rodney Griffin of that
group wrote but which were previously recorded by other top artists. "The
Ones That Got Away" is a clever way of saying these were great songs
that, for whatever reason, Rodney sent to other artists rather than keeping
them for Greater Vision. Rodney told me the important part for him, as a
songwriter, is simply to get his songs sung: "You don't care if it's the
Piney Road Baptist Church that has five people on Sunday; you simply want
your song heard by those five people." But Rodney says it's a "great
honor" to hear his songs recorded by other top groups, reaching many people
with his songs that might not otherwise be reached. That CD is
available
here.
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