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SFR-CD-33021
Sam McGee
God Be With You Until We Meet
Again
(Old-Time Country Gospel Music)
“Mr. Sam” McGee…Guitar, Vocals
(side 1, Nos. 1, 6, Side 2, Nos. 1,2,3,4,5)
Bill Lowery…Mandolin, Vocals
(Side 1, No. 4; Side 2, No. 3)
Jim DeFriese…Rhythm Guitar, Vocal
(Side 1, No. 4; Side 2, No.3)
J.P. James…String Bass
Recorded: August 9, 1975 in Franklin, Tennessee
1 There Is A Fountain 2:50
2 Farther Along 2:37
3 How Great Thou Art 1:46
4 Life’s Railway To Heaven 2:18
5 Whispering Hope 2:51
6 Where No One Stands Alone 2:04
7 Wayfaring Stranger 2:47
8 Amazing Grace 2:05
9 What A Friend We Have In Jesus 2:21
10 Where The Roses Never Fade 3:01
11 I’m S-A-V-E-D 1:56
12 God Be With You Until We Meet Again 2:21
A few years ago I was attending one of the marathon picking sessions held
regularly in Sam McGee’s farmhouse in Williamson County Tennessee. Everybody
had taken a break and headed into the kitchen for more coffee- the strongest
drink ever served at such sessions- and for a time Sam and I were left
alone in the front room. The music, as usual, had ranged from fiddle breakdowns
to western swing, from Sam’s guitar masterpieces like “Buck Dancer’s Choice”
to popular numbers like “Yakety Sax,” but it had recently turned to sacred
music “Wayfaring Stranger,” and “Amazing Grace.” Sam turned to me and
said, “You know, when a fellow gets to be my age, he’s got to start thinking
about his Maker, and about how he stands with him. I think a lot about
it now. You know, I ‘ve always liked to play sacred numbers, only more
so lately. I’ve started playing some on the Opry, and I come to find out
that other people like ‘em too. They’re sorta like me, old and simple,
but I think they mean more to me than any other songs.”
Sam’s sacred songs have always been an important part of his life. Though
his father was a fiddler, all the vocal music Sam learned from his parents
was sacred music. He recalled his mother singing him “Christian songs”
like “Wayfaring Stranger” and others that dated from well before the Civil
War. His family were “strong church-goers,” and his father felt so strongly
about church that he refused to take his fiddle into church or play for
dances. As Sam began to develop his love for music and to develop his
skill on the banjo and guitar, he naturally wanted to use his talent to
reflect his faith. Yet at first he wasn’t sure it was proper for “church
music” to be played on the guitar or banjo. One incident helped change
his mind. As Sam told it: “I have played at these tent meeting churches;
I’ll tell you what happened one time playing a big revival tent meeting.
We used to have lots of that going through the country, and some of it
now, but not like it used to be. I was a young fellow, and I’d just got
this “Gibson Banjo-guitar, about 1928. I thought it would be fine too,
and he wanted me to bring it along, So we went, and they had a big dinner
on the ground and everything. Well, we were playing at a man’s house that
had a big long porch on it, on the south side of the house, and when we
went to eat, I left this banjo-guitar laying in a chair there. So we ate,
and we were going to start back in, some of them singing and me playing
with them, and I went to get the banjo. These heads will collect heat
in the summertime, and the head was done busted out of it. I got a little
superstitious, and thought maybe it was wrong to play it in church. But
then I got my guitar, the preacher wanted me to play, and I went ahead
and played with them; They’d sing from the hymnbooks, good sacred songs,
and I ‘d play with them. It sounded fine, everyone said, and it was a
good meeting, and I never worried much about it after that.”
Religion was a natural part of Sam’s life. He was no “Sunday Christian,”
keeping his religion bottled up in one compartment; his faith shone through
every aspect of his life, from working his farm, to raising his family,
to making his music. And when he made music, he made no apologies for
playing sacred music as a part of his natural repertoire. He loved it
as much as he loved his land, his children his wife, and his God.
Thus it is understandable that for the last few years Sam has wanted to
record a “gospel album.” He told me: “It may be that I can do two or three
more albums, but I feel like I need to do that gospel album next; I want
to make sure that I get it done.”
The idea for the album gained new impetus as Sam began playing more and
more with Bill Lowery, a champion mandolin player from Rossville, Georgia.
Bill and Sam had been friends for some time, but during the last three
years they have been playing more and more together at various fiddling
contests and bluegrass festivals. Bill’s mandolin style was a fine complement
to Sam’s famous flat-top guitar style, and the pair soon became close
musical companions. But they found they shared a great deal beside music:
though younger than Sam, Bill comes from the same Southern traditional
culture, and shares the same basic values as Sam. And these values include
a deep and abiding faith; both Bill and Sam found that they both knew
and loved that same old hymns and gospel numbers. It was only natural
that an album emerge from their friendship.
In August of 1975, then, Bill and guitarist Jim DeFriese gathered in Sam’s
big front room to record this album. Like most of Sam’s sessions, it was
a friendly, informal affair. Sam and Bill were at their relaxed best,
playing tunes both had known since childhood. Bill’s mandolin-played in
a style that’s one of the softest and most melodic in the country- often
played a harmony to Sam’s lead on his big Martin D-28 Dreadnaught. Sam
usually sang lead on the numbers, with Bill and Jim occasionally backing
him up; Jim and Bill sing by themselves on “Life’s Railway to Heaven.”
Mrs. McGee watched with approval, and on one or two occasions helped locate
a hymn in her old hymnal. Everyone had a good time, and the spirit was
close to that of those all-day singings Sam talked about.
*****
Nobody knew it at the time, but these were to be Sam McGee’s last recordings.
On Auguest 21, 1975, two weeks after recording this album, Sam McGee died
at the age of 81. This album is his final legacy to us, and his most personal;
it is the last of “Mr. Sam’s” good works, and one of his finest achievements:
---Charles Wolfe
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37130
Sound Coordinator- Bill Lowery; Recorded by-Bob Smartt;
Mixing by –Bill Baker
Produced by Steve Davis, Bill Lowery, and “Mr. Sam McGee”