Hallelujah Street

2006-05-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN

Most of my SG friends know that I'm a songwriter. What they don't know is that I'm an all-around writer with one as-yet-unpublished novel just finished, a screenplay,
a few produced stage plays to my credit, and I'm an award-winning journalist and poet. I'm not trying to amaze anybody here, I have a point to make...

I've been researching for a planned novel/stage play/musical called "When We All Get to Heaven." The basic storyline involves two Southern families, one white and one black, who are brought together by the redeeming power of Gospel Music. In doing this research, I learned a few things about the hymn writer Eliza Hewitt.

This, I pass on to you:

ELIZA E. HEWITT (1851-1920)

The writer of over 50 well known hymns, including the classics “When We All Get to Heaven” “More About Jesus” and the incomparable “Will There Be Any Stars in my Crown,” ‘Lidie’ was born on June 28, 1851, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Educated in the local school system, she graduated as valedictorian of the Girl's Normal School. She became a teacher in the tough Philadelphia public schools. But then came misery. Her career ended when she was forced to bed with a painful spinal problem. (it is said that her condition was caused by a student striking her with a piece of slate.)

Bed ridden, she could have been angry or bitter. Instead, she studied English literature and began to write and sing unto the Lord:

"Sing the wondrous love of Jesus; sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed he'll prepare for us a place."

Some of her lines came to the attention of writer and publisher John R. Sweney, who co-wrote the classic “Beulah Land” with Eliza’s cousin, hymn writer Edgar Stites.

Sweney wrote her asking for more, and set a few of her songs to music, including one of the better known: "Will there be any Stars in My Crown?" Sweney and William J. Kirkpatrick published her first hymns.

Eliza worked mostly as a lyricist; her co-writers included Sweney (who wrote the music for “Will There Be Any Stars in my Crown,” and “More About Jesus,” and Emily Wilson who wrote the music for “When We All Get to Heaven.”

We remember Eliza Hewitt today because of those hymns. Had she never been bed-ridden, she might not have written them. Among the best known: "Give Me Thy Heart, Says the Father Above," "When We All Get to Heaven," "Sunshine in My Soul," "Will there be any Stars in My Crown?" and "More About Jesus (I Would Know.)”

She partially recovered, and was Sunday School superintendent at the Northern Home for Friendless Children, and later at the Calvin Presbyterian Church.

It is said that she wrote for “When We All Get to Heaven,” for the children in her Sunday School class, which numbered 200 children at one time.

Hewitt died on April 24, 1920, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. and was buried at Woodlands Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An amazing story about an unassuming teacher who wrote three of the greatest hymns ever!

2006-04-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

MY FIRST HEART ATTACK

Hopefully the qualifier 'First' will be unnescessary. Kinda like saying 'My FIRST ex-wife' or 'my FIRST divorce.' In all of those cases, I hope and pray that there will be only one.

I wrote about my heart attack, last Wednesday April 19, 2006, on my "A Funny Thing Happened" blog at sgblognews.net. You can find that blog at:

http://funnything.sgblognews.net

I just kept thinking, while I was in the hospital, that Jake Hess had his first heart attack in the late 1960s and he lived another 35 to 40 years.

I'd be happy with another 25.

It's time for me to lose about 70 lbs. More walking. No more burgers and fries. How many cheeseburgers can a person eat in one lifetime anyway? I've had more than my share.

I have a lot more Gospel music to write. Hopefully, somebody will record some of my songs before I die. I honestly think that God put me on this earth to write Gospel music. If nothing else I've written, from the novels to the screenplays, ever gets published or produced or otherwise put out there in the public eye... that's okay.
BUT, if no one ever hears these wonderful songs about my Sweet Lord Jesus, that would be a tragedy.

Someone once said that Praise and Worship music is "Singing to the Lord" and that Southern Gospel music is "Singing ABOUT the Lord."

There's nothing wrong with that!

It's an honor to sing ABOUT Jesus!

2006-04-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

DISCOURAGEMENT

It seems like everything I do lately falls apart. I know I have lots to be thankful for: my fiancee Cheryl Bloom is doing better in this eye of the storm, the lull between chemo-and-the-mastectomy and radiation. My son is out of jail, has a job, and is working slowly towards self-sufficiency. It's all good.

Still, I'm down.

I started a new blog over at sgblognews.com called "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Gospel Sing" and nobody's read it yet.

I recorded a new song called "Ready Or Not (Here I Come)" and I put it up on my hallelujahstreet.tripod.com site... I sent out e-mails inviting people to listen to it... I posted on the new songwriting boards at sogospelnews.com and nobody's listened to it yet. I mean, the title of my post was "Hey guys, listen to my new song!" and nobody even bothered.

Or else they DID listen and it's so bad that they're all embarrassed to tell me this.

The problem is, I'm not a novice songwriter. I know how to write songs. My demo skills are limited by lack of funds, but anyone with ears should be able to hear a good song through a sparse, even rough, arrangement.

There are other, much rougher demos on the hallelujahstreet.tripod.com site, and listening to ALL of 'em shows that I can write. I think.

Maybe I just suck.

Maybe I should just plain give up.

2006-03-07T22:36:00.000-08:00

Cheryl's Operation

Praise God, Cheryl's mastectomy operation went about as well as could be expected. The doctor removed 12 lymph nodes, only 1 of which was cancerous, and Cheryl had no pain in the days right after surgery. They even gave her a morphine drip on her one night in the hospital, which she refused to use.

No pain! She believes that this is due to all the prayers she's gotten.

Tomorrow, Thursday March 8th, we go in to get her post-op "drains" removed. Then starts the healing process.

Next up: six weeks of radiation.

There are a lot of things which are still a bit heartbreaking to her. The aftermath of having had the mastectomy is a hardly a bed of roses.

They left her with numbness in her upper arm, an extra flap of skin dangling under her arm which looks like a small punching bag. She wanted them to remove the other breast, so she would never have to worry about going through this again. The surgeons refused to do this, which gets Cheryl mad enough to spit nails.

Pray for her, and us, as the recovery begins. As she begins to grow back her hair, begins to get feeling back in her hands and feet (numbed by the chemo) and deals with being "lopsided" as she puts it.

God is good. He understands the "whys" when we don't.

2006-02-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

Cheryl Update

As many of you know, my fiancee, Cheryl Bloom, has been undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer for about six months now. We have earnestly coveted,and thankfully recieved, your prayers for Cheryl and for me.

Yesterday, we learned that the chemo is no longer being effective, so surgery is scheduled for only a few days from now: Tuesday February 28th, at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa. She'll be undergoing a modified radical mastectomy of the right breast, with lymphectomy.

Please keep this in your prayers during the surgery and during the month or so of healing.

Thank you.

In Jesus,

Chris Becker

2006-02-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

Who am I now?

My friends and fans out there, especially my pals at Southern Gospel News, have had plenty of chance to hear me go on and on about the good old days, when I was a teenaged quartet man on the west coast in the 1970s, when I helped promote shows by legends like the Statesmen and the Blackwood Brothers, etc. Fortunately, the good old days are just that... old. Like Steve Martin once said, "I'm tired of these old cliches... let's make some NEW cliches."

What have I done lately?

As much as I’d love to be out on the road, singing bass or even baritone with a group, right now that’s not possible. My fiancée, Cheryl Bloom, has breast cancer. We’re fighting that battle right now. She’s undergone round after round of chemotherapy. Her mastectomy surgery is probably going to be scheduled for March. We are indeed grateful for all the many prayers we’ve gotten.

Pray, also, for my son Andy Becker, 23, who’s in county jail right now awaiting trial for revocation of probation. He’s now back trying to serve the Lord Jesus, so at least something positive came out of all this. Pray that his relationship with Jesus will go deep… not just be another case of “Jailhouse religion.” Andy is a very talented musician in his own right. Maybe someday you’ll see him on the road with me.

My Music

I’ve been writing a lot of gospel songs in the past couple years. If any of you are interested in hearing them, and I don’t necessarily mean this as a “pitch,” it’s okay to just be casually curious, to listen just as a friend.

They're simple guitar/vocals arrangements. The link for my music website is:

http://hallelujahstreet.tripod.com

Thanks guys, I love you all.

To contact me personally for constructive criticism, prayer requests, or just to say "Hey." It's:

chrisjaybecker@yahoo.com

2006-02-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

ASCAP

I try not to publish this fact very often, but I have been both a writer-member and a publisher-member (Hallelujah! Street Music) of ASCAP for a few years now.

In my previous life as an indie recording artist in both the Americana/Alt. Country field (as Chris Jay Becker,) and as a Techno/Trance artist (as DJ Blurry Guy,) this ASCAP membership was used because I wasn’t really pitching to other artists, just recording my own songs myself.

Now that I’ve rededicated my musical talent solely to the Lord Jesus, and am not only writing Southern Gospel songs but am actively pitching them to artists, I may have to dump my ASCAP membership and go with BMI. That way, if I need to split the publishing on a song to get a cut, there aren’t any hang-ups over me being an ASCAP writer.

What do you guys think?

2005-09-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

NQC

It's time for the National Quartet Convention and, sadly, I can't go this year. Since I've come back to SG, after an absence of a couple decades, some things have changed. Like the NQC being in Louisville, KY. The last NQC I attended was the 1977 NQC in Nashville. That was an interesting NQC. Elvis had just died, and his shadow loomed large across the convention. J.D. Sumner and the Stamps put on a tribute to him that included Ed Enoch filling in capably for the King on "Burning Love." That was also the year the Oak Ridge Boys went country... they showed up in matching white "Nudie" suits, and were basically booed off the stage. Russ Taff was the new guy with the Imperials that year and people whispered that he could never fill Sherman Andrus' shoes. They sang their latest single "No Shortage" which had featured Sherman, and Russ did not fare too well on his version. Hovie Lister took the stage with the bass-less Statesmen "trio" of Rosie Rozell, Jake Hess, and Doy Ott. Hovie delighted the audience by saying, "If I've had one phone call, I've had a million from bass singers who want to sing with us... but there's this one fella that I finally said "Okay" to. I felt sorry for this poor little fella 'cause he's never had the chance to sing with a GOOD quartet before." Then he brought out J.D. Sumner! J.D. and the Statesmen sang "On The Jericho Road." I can't help but think that this was the beginnings of the Masters V.

For all the folks at NQC this year, I hope it's a memorable one, too. There are always new faces with old groups. I also love it when the alumni of a group get to sing. In 1977, I got to see both the Stamps and the Imperials do a "History of..." set. So, I can honestly say that I got to see Jake Hess and the Imperials with Sherrill Nielson, Gary McSpadden, etc, and I got to see the Stamps withaluni such as Bill Baize, Donnie Sumner, Jimmy Blackwood. That part of the show is always great.

Lord willing, I'll get there next year.

2005-09-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take this opportunity to welcome all my friends in the world of Southern Gospel Music (SG) to this blog. Many of you know me as a guy from Iowa who posts a little on sogospelnews.com. Let me tell you my story, then I can forget all that nonsense from here on out so I can talk about Jesus, the Bible, SG, whatever. I invite your comments, now and always.

I'm 46 years old, divorced. Hope to get married again soon to my lovely fiancee Cheryl, who, at this writing, is struggling with breast cancer. As always, your prayers are appreciated. I live in Cedar Rapids, IA. I attend First Assembly of God. I am an ordained minister, but I'm not acive in the ministry right now. I was once a Minister of Music, a Youth Pastor, and a staff minister/codirector of a homeless shelter.

I was born in Los Angeles, California. My parents were both ex-heroin addicts and ex-convicts when they met, so to say I had an extremely dysfunctional upbringing is putting it mildly.My parents divorced when I was 4 years old, and my mom and my older half-sister Robyn turned back to addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, and were back in prison in no time. I was raised by committee, whoever would take me.

I accepted Jesus as my Lord the first time I heard the Gospel at age 11. I heard a lot of gospel music, mostly hymns and early CCM. At age 15, I ran away to the big city lights of San Francisco, and I wound up living for my high school years, with my dad's blessing, at a church home/Christian school. There, at that United Pentecostal Church, I discovered Southern Gospel Music. I was singing bass by age 14, so it wasn't long before I was singing in local gospel quartets, first an interracial quartet called the Gospel Truth Qt, then a group of older guys called the Echoes Of Pentecost, who sounded a lot like the classic Statesmen. Later, I was tapped to join a group called the Singing Redeemed (later known as Richard and the Redeemed.) The Redeemed were a Rambos-like trio who, once they heard little old me sing, decided they needed a bass singer. If you can imagine what the Lanny Wolfe Trio would have sounded like with Armond Morales of the Imperials singing bass, that gives you an idea of what we sounded like. We opened a lot for other United Pentecostal groups, or shared the stage with them. These groups included the Lanny Wolfe Trio, and the Hemphills.

During my time with the Redeemed, I also started helping out concert promoter Polly Grimes at some of her concerts in the Bay Area and in Los Angeles. I helped promote shows featuring the Blackwood Brothers, the Statesmen, the Stamps, the Florida Boys, the Kingsmen, the Thrasher Brothers, Willie Wynn and the Tennesseans, and others.

After high school, I went back to Los Angeles where was featured in a musical called "The Lord's Opera" which aired on PBS in New York. I played a bass singing Judas Iscariot. I was invited to join an L.A. group called Gary and the Carters, but my inclusion in the group caused such a fight between Gary Carter and his wife Charlotte that the group broke up.

I got married, moved to Nashville, got a job at John T. Benson where I ate lunch everyday with Mosie Lister and sometimes Dony McGuire.

I travelled Tennessee as half of a CCM duo called Harmon and Becker. I also attended one of the first concerts by 17 year old Amy Grant. It was in the downstairs sunday school room at Hermitage Hills Baptist Church. There was 24 of us in the audience.

Back in Los Angeles again, I joined the Calvary Chapel Musicians Fellowship and I was an original member of the group which became the Maranatha! Praise Singers. I also used to talk on the phone to a young CCM singer who lived near me, a guy named Carman Liccardello who would soon be known simply as Carman.

We moved to Oregon, then Washington. I kept singing and playing. I eventually played in a bluegrass gospel duo named Rod and Chris were I sang the high harmony and played harmonica, guitar, and dobro while Rod played the autoharp. I was a youth pastor at this time.

Then I stumbled into comedy. At first, it was Christian comedy, in churches.I had my youth group do some sketch comedy, and I did stand-up. During a period of separation, I moved back to Los Angeles and I started doing comedy at clubs like the Laugh Factory and the Improv.

Back in Washington, I kept writing songs and playing guitar. I learned to be a decent songwriter.

When I moved to Iowa, in 1997, I began recording some of my Techno/House CDs, as "DJ Blurry Guy" and my singer/songwriter alt. country songs as Chris Jay Becker. My CDs were available online through mp3.com. I even had fan mail from India, Russia, Spain, Italy.

Then, through the Gaither Homecoming Videos, I discovered that SG was still alive and kicking.

I came home to my first love, Southern Gospel Music.

I had a lot of catching up to do. I sent a couple songs to Rick Hendrix and he liked them. I sent some demos out to The Dixie Echoes, the Kingsmen, the Triumphant Quartet. We'll see what happens.

I've met a lot of great people through the boards at sogospelnews.com. Rick Hendrix, Dianne Wilkinson, Neil Enloe, John Scheidemann, Duane Nicholson, Cliif Cerce, Rev. Tabasco, Jamie Carter, Justin Endicott. It's a wonderful family. I want to thank Deon, Susan, Chris, and Amy Unthank for this wonderful gift that is Southern Gospel News.

I don't have a group out there yet, but, Lord willing, I will soon. It will most likely be a mixed trio with me singing baritone and doing my original songs. My ASCAP publishing name, which this blog is named after, is Hallelujah Street Music. I'll probably call my group Hallelujah Street as well.

Pray for me. I love all y'all.

In Jesus,

Chris Becker