Gaither Homecoming
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"Gaither Homecoming" is the name applied to a series of videos, music recordings and concerts, which are organized, promoted and usually presented by Christian music songwriter and impresario Bill Gaither. To date, the Gaither Homecoming title is applied to more than 60 videos, dozens of music recordings, and an annual concert tour that drew more than half a million fans in 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
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[edit] Beginnings
The very first Gaither Homecoming was barely planned and mostly improvised. In 1991, the Gaither Vocal Band had just wrapped up a recording session in a Nashville, Tennessee studio, working on an album which featured many of the great voices of Southern Gospel music. After the session, the artists stayed around to chat, swap stories and sing old strandards around the piano. Gaither recorded the impromptu session and later published it. The recording was so well received that Gaither began a series of professionally-produced videos with larger gatherings of gospel musicians.
[edit] Format
The format for almost all of the videos in the series is very similar. A studio set or theater stage is home to a group of several dozen singers, with the front row featuring artists with longstanding and legendary careers in Southern Gospel music. They would be joined by younger artists, some of them up-and-coming acts in the Gaither Music Group publishing stable. Gaither would lead the group in several songs, with soloists and groups featured in additional songs. Comments by veteran singers, who would reminisce about their careers, are a staple of the series. In later videos, the inevitability of death found its way into the videos, as segments remembering artists who had died since the previous taping were featured.
Most videos also have accompanying compact discs.
The videos and CDs regularly top sales charts, even many years after the series' inception and after the death of many favorite artists. The most recent videos, Gaither Homecoming Tour: Live From Toronto and Canadian Homecoming, were first and third, respectively, on Billboard's music video chart, and the companion CDs also hit the CCM charts. [1]
[edit] Concert series
In 1996, the video series gave birth to a concert tour, with a format similar to the videos but usually performed in the round in arenas. The concert dates are normally on Fridays and Saturdays, usually in separate cities. Contrary to stereotypes that Southern Gospel is most popular in southern cities, the tour consistently draws large crowds in many northern and western cities, and even in Canada.
In 2004, the Gaither Homecoming concert tour ranked 16th in Pollstar rankings of all tours, beating out pop music heavyweights such as Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart. [2]
[edit] Television series
The video series has been repackaged into a series of hour-long television shows. Most of these shows have appeared on religion-oriented cable television channels such as TBN, sometimes in the form of an infomercial used to sell the videos. Since 2004, the series has also appeared on many public television stations, without commercials promoting the videos.
[edit] Cruises
The Gaither Homecoming series has branched out into twice-yearly cruises. One cruise normally sails to Alaska in September, and the other to tropical ports in February. It was on one of these cruises where one of Christian music's most tragic events happened. In 2006, pianist Anthony Burger, a longtime favorite of the Homecoming series, suffered a heart attack while accompanying Gaither, his wife Gloria and Guy Penrod. Burger died 45 minutes later.
[edit] Selected Gaither Homecoming artists (past and present)
- Jake Hess
- Hovie Lister
- James Blackwood
- J. D. Sumner
- Howard "Happy" Goodman
- Vestal Goodman
- Sandi Patty
- Michael English
- Jessy Dixon
- George Younce
- Ben Speer
- Mark Lowry
- Larnelle Harris
- Anthony Burger
- Gloria Gaither
- Ivan Parker
- Guy Penrod
- Janet Paschal
- Kathy Troccoli
- Jeff Allen
- Mike Allen
- The Booth Brothers
- Cynthia Clawson
- The Crabb Family
- CrossWay
- Geron Davis
- Sarah DeLane
- Sue Dodge
- Ann Downing
- Allison Durham Speer
- Jeff & Sheri Easter
- Larry Ford
- The Florida Boys
- The Gaither Vocal Band
- Joy Gardner
- Greater Vision
- Buddy Greene
- The Greenes
- The Hayes Family
- Joel & Labrieska Hemphill
- Stephen Hill
- Dallas Holme
- The Hoppers
- The Isaacs
- Lily Knauls
- Amy Lambert
- Legacy Five
- The Martins
- Taylor Mason
- Gordon Mote
- The Nelons
- The Oak Ridge Boys
- Squire Parsons
- Tim Parton
- Wesley Pritchard
- Lynda Randle
- The Ruppes
- Ernie Haase & Signature Sound
- Reggie & Ladye Love Smith
- Brock Speer
- Ben Speer
- Faye Speer
- Mary Tom Speer Reid
- Allison Durham Speer
- Donnie Sumner
- Michael & Tanya Goodman Sykes
- The Talley Trio
- Russ Taff
- Aaron Wilburn
- Woody Wright
- David Phelps
- Gordon Mote
[edit] Videography
- 1992 A Praise Gathering
- 1993 Old Friends
- 1993 Turn Your Radio On
- 1995 Reunion
- 1995 All Day Singin' with Dinner on the Ground
- 1995 Revival
- 1995 Ryman Gospel Reunion [live]
- 1996 Homecoming Texas Style
- 1996 Sing Your Blues Away
- 1996 When All God's Singers Get Home
- 1997 Joy in the Camp: Gaither Gospel Series
- 1998 Down by the Tabernacle
- 1998 Hawaiian Homecoming
- 1998 Gaither Gospel Series: Marching to Zion
- 1998 Atlanta Homecoming [live]
- 1998 All Day Singin' at the Dome [live]
- 1998 Because He Lives
- 1998 Rivers of Joy
- 1998 Singin' with the Saints
- 1999 Singin' in My Soul
- 1999 So Glad!
- 1999 Mountain Homecoming
- 1999 I'll Meet You on the Mountain
- 1999 Sweet, Sweet Spirit
- 2000 Good News
- 2000 Memphis Homecoming
- 2000 Oh, My Glory!
- 2000 Homecoming Hymns
- 2000 Harmony in the Heartland
- 2000 Irish Homecoming
- 2000 Christmas in the Country
- 2000 Whispering Hope
- 2001 What a Time!
- 2001 God Gave the Song
- 2001 London Homecoming
- 2001 Christmas... A Time for Joy
- 2001 A Billy Graham Music Homecoming, Vol. 1
- 2001 A Billy Graham Music Homecoming, Vol. 2
- 2002 Freedom Band
- 2002 I'll Fly Away
- 2002 New Orleans Homecoming
- 2002 God Bless America
- 2002 Let Freedom Ring
- 2003 Going Home
- 2003 Heaven
- 2003 Southern Convention Songs
- 2003 Red Rocks Homecoming
- 2003 Rocky Mountain Homecoming
- 2004 Build a Bridge
- 2004 We Will Stand
- 2004 America The Beautiful: Bill Gaither's Favorite Patriotic Songs
- 2004 Tribute To Howard & Vestal Goodman
- 2004 Tribute to Jake Hess
- 2004 He Started the Whole World Singing
- 2004 Journey to the Sky
- 2004 Passin' the Faith Along
- 2005 Church In The Wildwood: Cherished Hymns
- 2005 Hymns
- 2005 Israel Homecoming
- 2005 Jerusalem Homecoming
- 2005 A Tribute to George Younce
- 2005 The Best of Guy Penrod
- 2005 Ernie Haase and Signature Sound
- 2006 Canadian Homecoming
- 2006 Gaither Homecoming Tour: Live from Toronto
- 2006 Christmas in South Africa
- 2006 Homecoming Christmas
