Creepy Southern Gospel Songs – “God’s Cemetery”

This will be the one and only edition of creepy Southern Gospel songs.  I remember when I was a regular member of one of the Southern Gospel message boards, the topic seemed to come up on occasion regarding creepy sounding Southern Gospel songs.

So, today I thought would be a good day to cover the creepy sounding songs of Southern Gospel music.  I picked out one song that I always thought sounded creepy, especially the opening monologue.  The Steeles recorded and also released as a single a song titled “God’s Cemetery”.  It was found on the group’s 2004 album Standing Room Only.

Give it a listen and tell me what you think.  Also, what would you consider to be the creepiest sounding Southern Gospel song of all time?

The Cheese Factor – “Lord Help Me Bury The Hatchet”

This week also sees the return of the cheese factor feature.  Not every song recorded in the history of this genre have become classics.  While memorable, some are memorable for all the wrong reasons.  This week’s ‘cheesy’ song selection comes from the Hopper Brothers and Connie.

While not a major player in Southern Gospel music in the 1970′s, the Hopper Brothers and Connie still released some quality music during this decade.  In 1975, the group released an album that has one of the most unusual album titles of any album in my Southern Gospel music collection; Lord Help Me Bury The Hatchet.

While I get the intent of the message the song is attempting to portray, it still comes off as cheesy.  Listen to the first verse and chorus of “Lord Help Me Bury The Hatchet” and let me know your thoughts.  Cheesy?

The Cheese Factor – “Excuses”

Let’s start another week by grabbing another slice of Southern Gospel cheese.  The Kingsmen’s “Excuses”, from the 1981 album Live…Naturally,  was the biggest #1 hit of the group’s career and one of the longest running #1 songs in Southern Gospel chart history.

Would a novelty song such as “Excuses” be as big a hit today?  Probably not.  But, one can’t deny the fun factor the song had as is evidenced by this YouTube clip from the Kingsmen reunion video done in 1995.  What do you think; could a novelty song like “Excuses” be a success in today’s Southern Gospel market place?

The Cheese Factor – “The Laughing Song”

In this week’s edition of the cheese factor, we take a look at George Younce and his performance of “The Laughing Song”.  While I am aware that this was meant for kids and yes it was a fun moment to break up the program when done in the live setting, it still is pure cheese.

Let the video speak for itself.  Here is a YouTube clip I found, which many may have already seen, of a concert performance in 1986.  What say ye?

The Cheese Factor – “First Day In Heaven”

As we kick off another weekend, I thought I would get back to the cheese factor.  While I am always posting about the best Southern Gospel has to offer, there has also been a lot of cheese recorded over the years.

This week I thought I would feature a classic Southern Gospel tune that I always thought was cheesy, even when hearing it as a kid.  ”First Day In Heaven” has probably been sung or recorded by every major quartet that was ever a part of Southern Gospel music.

While the song may be fun to showcase quartet harmony, it doesn’t negate the fact that it is pure cheese.  I found this YouTube clip of Jake Hess & Imperials singing “First Day In Heaven”.  Is there any agreement or am I off base on this one?

The Cheese Factor – “Which Came First (The Chicken Or The Egg)”

I trust everyone got their taxes done, as today is the deadline to have them filed on time.  With that thought in mind I figured the best post I could do today is the cheese factor post.  While this post won’t focus on all the cheese in Washington, it will look at those cheesy songs recorded in Southern Gospel music.

While the Lewis Family was always a bluegrass gospel group, they spent most of their career touring the Southern Gospel circuit playing on many of the biggest Southern Gospel concert stages.  Many years ago the group recorded a novelty song titled “Which Came First”.

The group decided to place the song on their 50th anniversary album released in 2002.  Of all the songs the Lewis Family recorded in their career, to include this song on a commemorative recording was a bit puzzling.  But, if not, we wouldn’t have a cheese factor post this week.

Listen to the Lewis Family sing one of the cheesiest songs I’ve ever heard; “Which Came First (The Chicken Or The Egg)”.

The Cheese Factor – “Tucked In With Jesus”

In this week’s edition of the cheese factor comes a song recorded by Jerry & the Singing Goffs in the early 1970′s.  While the concept of the song “Tucked In With Jesus” is understood, it comes off sounding a bit creepy.

You can put 40 years on a song and it still doesn’t take away the cheese factor.  So where does “Tucked In With Jesus” rate on the cheese scale of 1 to 5?  Listen to the first verse and chorus.

The Cheese Factor – “Go Jonah”

The Cathedrals are not even immune from pure Southern Gospel cheese.  This week’s cheese factor selection was suggested, via email, by David Bruce Murray.  The Cathedrals recorded a re-write of the Oak Ridge Boys country mega song “Elvira” on a 1982 custom recording Oh Happy Day.  The song, “Go Jonah”, took the “Elvira” melody and attempted to make a gospel song out of it.

While the song may be fun, one can’t deny that it belongs in the cheese factor.  The Kingsboys recorded the song around this time period and more recently Triumphant Quartet was found recording and performing this song.  This week’s cheese factor even comes with a YouTube clip of the Cathedrals performing “Go Jonah”.

So on a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate “Go Jonah” in regards to its ‘cheese factor’?