The Chetboard

Going back about 40 years, my Mom and Dad recorded a few Country Gospel albums. I had the pleasure of playing guitar on a couple of those. I thought I'd share two of the songs with you, since I know many of you are Country Gospel fans.

The first is called Waiting At The Alter, and I play Dad's Country Gentleman on it (now mine and the same one I've used on a few YouTubes). Note that it has about a 5 or 6 second delay before the music starts.

http://drkeener.s3.amazonaws.com/music/ ... _Alter.mp3

Dad wanted me to do the break exactly Paul Yandell did it for the Louvin Brothers. I was a bit reluctant to, as I was afraid Paul might hear it someday and get upset at me stealing his licks. But, I gave it my best.

The second song is Ain't No Grave. My Dad plays the lead on this and I get a Jerry Reed rhythm in the background.

http://drkeener.s3.amazonaws.com/music/ ... _Grave.mp3

I used an old Gower flattop on that ... it was pretty much the guitar I learned on (that and an old SilverTone). I gave that guitar to my oldest grandson a few years ago.

Sometimes I would travel with Mom and Dad as they went to different churches, and both of those songs always turned heads. People really appreciated fingerstyle guitar in those days. The Jerry Reed licks really turned heads, since a lot of folks hadn't heard that sort of rhythm before, especially in Gospel music.

I am indebted to my brother for making mp3's of these tunes. He searched for the longest to find the CD's and couldn't, and couldn't find them at Mom's either. (We both have so much it's hard to find things at times.) He persisted and finally found that a cousin had the CD's and he made the mp3's from them. Of course, we never would have had the CD's to begin with if he hadn't converted the 78's to CDs years ago. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

And, Paul, if you happen to see this, I hope you take my playing on Waiting At The Alter as a bit of a tribute to you.

Update: I never would have been a picker at all if not for my Dad being such a good Atkins and Travis picker. Hence, I thought I should add this recording he did of Old Rugged Cross. I play background on it.

http://drkeener.s3.amazonaws.com/music/ ... _Cross.mp3

That's great Bruce! What a treasure to find those recordings!

Those cuts were great, Bruce. I'd like to hear some more of that.

Thank you Chuck and Richard.

I've added one more tune to the posting: one of my Dad playing Old Rugged Cross, with me playing background.

I don't feel at liberty to share more than these, since my parents paid licensing fees to do the recordings, even if that was 40 years ago. I really need to discuss with my brother how we should handle these old recordings. Perhaps we can make some fresh CDs and make them available for a fee. I don't know.

Thanks again
Bruce

WOW Bruce!!!! Thanks very much for sharing these treasures with us. I grew up with this kind of music and nearly all my picking nowadays is in this vein. This was a great surprise my good friend!!

You never cease to amaze me Bruce. You just keep coming up with gems. I sure wish I had more keepsakes of my parents. As you said. These things tend to get lost. You are very lucky that you found them. Thanks for sharing them with us.

Bruce,
I'm not what you'd call the biggest Country Gospel fan, but these are just beautiful, thanks so much for posting! I know from experience it's a great thing to have recordings (of any kind) of loved ones now gone, for they are things that cannot ever leave.

Wondering how old you were when these were recorded? You have a very real talent there, my friend!
David

Roger, Ron, and David: thank you all very much.

David, I would have been about 22 or 23 when we made those recordings (I'm 61 now, so that makes them ballpark 38 or 39 years old). I was a better picker then than now ... had lots of time to play and spent hours at it many days.

Thanks again, fellas.

I really enjoyed listening to those songs. Really fine pickin' there, Bruce.

Bill B.

Bruce, those are a real treat! I thought I'd check the Chet Board one last time before going to bed and this was a nice way to wrap up my day. Thanks for posting these. -Tom W.