Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Background Vocalists


There's a very old song written by G.T. Haywood that goes:

I see a crimson stream of blood, It flows from Calvary, Its waves which reach the throne of God, are sweeping over me.




My favorite version of this song "I See A Crimson Stream" had background vocalists Judy Rodman and Ellen Dockery. It was recorded around 1983. This happens to be my all-time favorite gospel song. I did some checking and found out that Judy Rodman has a list of credits so long it's incredible. She's recorded jingles, sang background for so many artists it would be difficult to name them all, and also does a great biz as a vocal coach!

I admit I'm a huge fanatic (in a good way, grin) about reading liner notes in CD's. Even before radio was a career for me, I always read the back of album jackets at who produced the record, who sang harmony, who was the backing vocalists and the musicians that played on the recording. I feel too many times that the background vocalists and musicians don't get their fair share of the credit. When you listen to your favorite artist, think about all that goes into a recording. Everything has to be right. Everything from the producer, arranger, engineer, bgv's, musicians, and more. So, today, I just wanted to honor those that have done a great job at making projects soar! If I remember right, "First Call" got their name because they were originally session artists that would get the "first call" to come in and record. By the way, Marty McCall is a great guy.

Judy Rodman and I chatted about how great her vocals were when she sang chorus on my favorite gospel song. She has one incredible voice. So, hats off to the unsung heroes (well, they did sing, uh...I'm sounding like Hank Kimball from Green Acres now). Hats off to those behind the scenes in the recording industry. Also, those in radio behind the scenes deserve credit too. Those who sell ads for the station, that do the billing, keep the engineering up to date and so much more! Have a great day everyone!

Here's a sample of Judy's MTM days with her number one single "Until I Met You"

4 comments:

  1. We're similar in that I like to scour through movie credits to see who did the catering. A great movie has great catering. If you look back at all of the Academy Award winning movies from the past 50 years... I'M KIDDING. I REALLY DON'T DO THIS.

    Actually, I'm similar in that I used to read all of the liner notes as well. However, these days I buy a lot of music online and never even SEE the notes. So, I have to stay up on what's going on via the band or artist websites.

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  2. Roger,

    That is the downside of mp3 downloads. Although I do love being able to get ten songs I really enjoy for 95 cents each and make a favorites cd. It kind of reminds me when there was a day we could buy "singles."

    Randy

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  3. Hey Randy...

    Google alert pulled up with this page for me, how bout that? Thank you for your kind words. It is nice to know people dig into the credits and know who was laboring in that vineyard! blessings... Judy

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  4. Judy,

    Thanks a million for the nice comment! Obviously, your tunes takes me back to some grand times in my life. Even if you had to "pretend" Shotgun Red was a real person! lol.

    Bless you,

    Randy

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