After returning to Hee Haw following a hiatus in which she dealt with drug addiction, Lulu Roman turned over a new leaf, by adding gospel music to her repertoire.
In 1975, Roman performed the gospel standard, "One Day at a Time", co-written by Kris Kristofferson, on Hee Haw. Intro by co-host Buck Owens, who discovered Roman at a comedy club a few years earlier.
It wasn't until after this spot was recorded in 1974 that Hee Haw's producers formally created the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet, whose membership was fluid during the course of its run.
Here, Buck Owens & Gordie Tapp are holding hymn books as they, along with Grandpa Jones & Roy Clark, perform "There's Power in The Blood". Intro by Archie Campbell.
From The Andy Griffith Show (where else?):
A visiting businessman (Robert Emhardt) starts to leave as Andy & Barney (Don Knotts) are singing "The Church in The Wildwood", and is inspired to join in.
While Ray Stevens had a hit on the pop & country charts with "Turn Your Radio On", Andy Griffith covered it on The Carol Burnett Show, both in 1972. We've shown you Stevens' version, now check out Andy at the top of his game.
Over the last few decades, the Super Bowl hype has been just as much about the commercials, and how much advertisers are willing to spend, as the game itself, adding more water cooler talk for the morning after.
Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the slain US Attorney General, dug up an old campaign ad made for his uncle, John F. Kennedy, 64 years ago, and revamped it for today. Unfortunately, the RFK Jr. version is not available on YouTube at the moment, but if you wonder where he got his inspiration, here's the original:
Twisted Sister released their first Christmas CD as their final studio record in 2006. The first single is a rendition of "O Come All Ye Faithful", as the band pay a call on a bickering couple. That it took them two decades plus to make this record makes us wonder if they could've done it sooner.....
Despite the fact that he was a heel (villain) for most of his career, Windham Rotunda, aka Bray Wyatt, who passed away last week at 36, was likely a Christian off-camera. Why else would Wyatt, playing the part of a cult leader, use the gospel standard, "He's Got The Whole World in His Hands"?
"World" has its roots, though, in an African-American spiritual, and was first recorded for the US & UK charts by Laurie London in 1958. London hit #1 on the US pop chart, making "World" the only gospel record to "strike the summit" of the pop chart.
In 1976, on her self-titled syndicated variety show, Dolly Parton teamed with Kenny Rogers for the first time. While Wyatt only recited the chorus over and over again, we get the complete version here, with Rogers & Parton on guitars.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe has been regarded as the "Godmother of Rock". An early pioneer as a guitar player, her use of sound distortion opened the door for generations of guitarists and singers, from Chuck Berry, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton to Lita Ford, Joan Jett, and Chrissie Hynde.
From 1964, Sister Tharpe brings forth the tale of Noah in "Didn't it Rain?":
Folk singer. Actor. Social activist. Legend.
Those words are not nearly enough to describe Harry Belafonte, who passed away at 96. In his memory, we serve up a snappin' rendition of "In My Father's House", a gospel standard, from The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
When I wrote an obituary for Aretha Franklin a ways back, I said that her acting debut was in 1980's "The Blues Brothers". I should've amended that to read, "feature film debut", because this was 8 years after her actual acting debut.
You see, Aretha guest starred on Room 222 during season 3, her one and only primetime acting gig. As Inez, Aretha blends right in with the ensemble.
In 1965, Curtis Mayfield wrote & recorded "People Get Ready" with the Impressions. Mayfield sang and played guitar, and "People", with its gospel themes, was a huge hit.
20 years later, guitar icon Jeff Beck covered "People", with vocals by long time friend Rod Stewart, who had played with the Jeff Beck Group before going solo.
Most of us knew the late Hamilton Camp as a character actor with a resume that included roles on shows as diverse as He & She, The Monkees, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as the voice of Gizmoduck for Disney.
What we didn't know was that before he landed his first TV acting gig, he was a singer-songwriter who released his debut single, "Pride of Man", all the way back in 1964. "Pride" was covered by Gordon Lightfoot and Quicksilver Messenger Service, among others. While there is no actual video footage of this track, a YouTube poster brought this to the fore, nearly 60 years after its release.
First recorded by The Clara Ward Singers in 1949, Herbert Brewster penned "The Old Landmark" was most famously covered by James Brown and the Rev. James Cleveland Choir in 1980's "The Blues Brothers", in a pivotal scene where Joliet Jake (John Belushi) gets a divine revelation to reform the band.
But, let's skip the theatrics on Easter Sunday, and move forward in time to 2008, and the Rev. Charles Hayes with the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir.
We know a lot of country artists have some gospel in their background. From Johnny Cash and Ferlin Husky to the Oak Ridge Boys and Josh Turner.
In 1989, Dolly Parton appeared at what looks like an awards show to perform the Easter hymnal, "He's Alive".
Nearly thirty years after The Beverly Hillbillies made her an icon, Donna Douglas turned up on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, and performed a cover of "Wings of a Dove", made famous by country singer Ferlin Husky years earlier. Actress Debra Paget does the intro:
