Bill sent out once-in-a-lifetime invitations to all former members of his Gaither Vocal Band to gather at his studio in Alexandria, IN for the first-ever reunion of the multiple award-winning group.
For 27 years, the Gaither Vocal Band has been widely recognized as the gold standard in gospel vocal groups. While members have changed over the years, those members had never all been under the same roof at the same time until Bill Gaither hosted fifteen current and former Gaither Vocal Band members at the historic reunion at his Indiana studio. In a studio lined with vintage photos and album covers of each of the various configurations of the Vocal Band, a host of video cameras captured what Bill Gaither said was a day devoted to “remembering great songs, wonderful, lifetime friendships and sharing life’s journeys.”
Joining voices and sharing stories were the three men, who first stepped before a microphone with Bill Gaither as the newly-formed Gaither Vocal Band in January, 1981: Gary McSpadden, Lee Young, and Steve Green. Also present were subsequent tenors, baritones, lead and bass singers Jon Mohr, Larnelle Harris, Mark Lowry, Michael English, Jim Murray, Buddy Mullins, Russ Taff, Guy Penrod, David Phelps, Marshall Hall, and Wes Hampton. The only constant over the 27 years, founder and patriarch, Bill Gaither, hosted the festivities, witnessed by various members of the Homecoming family, the Gaither family and wives and children of the Vocal Band members.
Green, who, with his wife Marijean, started as a back-up singer for the Bill Gaither Trio and went on to become a multi-award-winning solo Contemporary Christian artist, confessed that Bill Gaither had to teach him to sing in southern gospel quartet style.
“The first song we ever sang was ‘Your First Day in Heaven,’ and Bill had to teach me that one as well as all the others that followed,” he laughed. Gaither remembered that he prepared the members for quartet singing by harmonizing on the words, “ice cream.”
Green also pointed out that it was he who provided the name for the group.
“There were lots of names being tossed out, but one of my favorite groups of the time was the Starlight Vocal Band, and in one of our conversations, I recommended we call it the Gaither Vocal Band, and it stuck,” he recalled. He pointed out that one of the great things about the Gaither Vocal Band was that Bill Gaither allowed each group to have their own personality. “That’s so refreshing,” he added. “It’s been thrilling to watch the process through the years, because it’s so unique.”
Bill Gaither summed up the experience, “I love great voices, and I thank God he put me in a place to attract great singers. The joy comes from God, who is the hero of our stories and the one we’re here to celebrate. These songs we’re singing remind us of what matters.”
The two Gaither Vocal Band Reunion videos will be released in early 2009.
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