Category: Music

To those who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter! This post concludes for now the Chimesfreedom series on Best Gospel Songs by Pop Singers. Today, we feature a timeless pop hit, a relatively new country gospel song, and one of the most powerful performances ever recorded on film.

People Get Ready, The Impressions

“People Get Ready” was written by Curtis Mayfield. Mayfield performed the song well, as have others like Al Green, Eva Cassidy, Rod Stewart, Alicia Keys, Crystal Bowersox, and Bob Dylan. But the original version by the Impressions, with Mayfield on guitar, is what sticks in one’s mind when you think of the timeless song.

“People Get Ready” was released in 1965, and we associate the call for change with the social and Civil Rights movements. Indeed, the song was inspired by the 1963 March on Washington. But Mayfield’s music is straight from gospel, and the lyrics are also a testament to faith: “Faith is the key / Open the doors / and board them / There’s room for all / Among the loved and lost.”

In a Curtis Mayfield biography, Peter Burns described “People Get Ready” as “a song of faith really, a faith that transcends any racial barrier and welcomes everyone onto the train. The train that takes everyone to the promised land, really.”

The Impressions and Mayfield also performed something of a miracle in creating a hit record that also became a gospel standard covered by so many artists. Bob Marley incorporated the guitar riff and some of the lyrics into “One Love.” And Bruce Springsteen incorporated part of “People Get Ready” into his moving “Land of Hope and Dreams.”

Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the song as the twenty-fourth greatest song of all time. And one cannot really argue with that.

Can’t Even Walk, Marty Stuart

Marty Stuart has an interesting position in country music. He stands between the generations of authentic classic country music and the newer pop country music. As he has aged, he has generally chosen to reside in the former, paying tribute to the talented old guard of country, like Johnny Cash, while many other modern country singers try to emulate Billy Joel more than the Louvin Brothers.

Marty Stuart has recorded some excellent concept albums in recent years that are mostly overlooked. “Can’t Even Walk” is a beautiful song off his album of gospel songs, Souls’ Chapel (2005).

I thought that I could do a lot on my own;
I thought I, I thought I could make it all alone;
I thought, I thought of myself
As a mighty, mighty big man;
But I realize I can’t even walk
Without You holding my hand

Unfortunately, there is only the above amateur video of Marty Stuart’s “Can’t Even Walk,” but give it a listen. Also, if you like the song, check out this very sweet version of the song sung by what appears to be a talented grandmother and grandson [2016 Update: Unfortunately, the video is no longer available]. I love it and would have posted it here, but it would not be fair to put them adjacent to the next powerful professional performance. . .

How Great Thou Art, by Elvis Presley

Critics often give bad reviews to In Concert (1977), the album of Elvis Presley’s June 1977 performances recorded for a TV special. The recording of one of Elvis’s final performances may not be the quality of his earlier work when he was healthy, but the CD is worth it just for the recording of “How Great Thou Art.”

Here is Elvis, two months before he died. Overweight, sweating, with a body about to give out on him, but he still gave his gospel performances his all. The glitter on his jumpsuit seems inconsistent with the message of the song, and Elvis’s faith could not save him from his fated death.

But in his performance he finds something deep within himself to cry out for help in an incredible despairing voice. Starting at around 2:20, he builds to a note that will send chills down your spine. If you only watch one video in this series, watch this one.

There is nothing more to say after that.

Check out our other posts in the series, Gospel Songs by Pop Artists.

What are your favorite gospel recordings by popular artists? Leave a comment.

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