Record Rewind – Teddy Huffam & Gems

As I was formulating ideas on why I wanted to start a blog, about Southern Gospel music, my initial thought was how can I be relevant with so many other bloggers bringing ideas to the table on the same subject.  Where can I fit in?  Where can I be different?  Will anyone really care?  I realized I wanted to focus on the new generation of Southern Gospel music and its artists and varying styles while also introducing today’s Southern Gospel fan base to some great classic Southern Gospel music.

As a reader of this blog you will soon come to realize you will get a lot of music clips, both audio and video.  The plan is to meld both current/modern and classic Southern Gospel music and try to show the reader that past the recording processes of different time periods the music is still great, no matter what era it is found.

That brings me to another feature I plan to bring you periodically, something I would like to refer to as record rewind.  Providing today’s Southern Gospel audience to some great classic music.

The first feature shines the spotlight on Teddy Huffam and the Gems.  To my knowledge, Teddy Huffam and the group were one of the first black artists to market themselves in the industry.  Teddy and the Gems won a talent competition circa 1973, held at what use to be the Hoppers annual singing at Watermelon Park in Berryville Virginia.  By 1977 the group released its first album with Canaan Records, one of the biggest Gospel labels of that time period.  Along with their debut release, in the same year the group also released a live album titled, Live! Souled Out.  The album’s most notable songs were “John The Revelator”, “Just In Time”, and “Wait Til You See My Brand New Home”.  “John The Revelator” and “Wait Til You See My Brand New Home” became standards for the group.

Take a listen to some of the excitement from this 1977 release.  For any serious Southern Gospel record collector, especially if you enjoy live recordings, this LP is must have.  This is the kind of album that needs to be re-released in digital format for today’s Southern Gospel audience.

Free Music Contest

I wanted to send a quick note to let everyone know that tomorrow evening will be my first free music contest post.  I plan to give away free music at least once a month.  It will actually lead into my iPod track of the week for next week.  Hidden within a puzzle of sorts will be the title of the song that I have already selected as my iPod track of the week.  First one to correctly identify the song title and artist, via email, will win.