"Just a Closer Walk with Thee" - Patsy Cline (Live)

For a Jewish kid I sure love gospel. There is nothing like careening down the road; or up one for that matter; on a blind curve singing about Jesus and just feeling good. Like I said, for a Jewish kid this is probably not quite kosher; or normal.

My love for the music comes from 2 places; the transistor radio I constantly had at my side; especially at night; and the history I read about slavery and the Negro Spirituals. Those 2 things are the most to blame for my passion for gospel music. Plus it just makes you feel really good.

Hank Williams took gospel to a whole different level; as did James Brown and Jerry Lee Lewis. It morphed into rhythm and blues and then rock and roll. But it all began with the gospel music. And gospel music came from the African-American Diaspora; which began in Africa when the first slave was either abducted or sold into slavery.

The ancient rhythms and chants of the slaves became the field hollers and spirituals of the Caribbean plantations, and later the pre-Civil War Era. During Reconstruction the music spread up the Mississippi River; with each port adding its own flavor.

But all that has little to do with this song and Patsy Cline. Not sure what year this is from, but it is obviously the audio from a radio show in the late 1950’S. Patsy Cline performed this song a score of times on the radio; and even on television. There was just one hitch; she did it differently each time. Sometimes slow; sometimes fast. Blues; or up tempo. This was her true artistry as an interpreter of songs. And this version is one of my favorite gospel songs.

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

I am weak but Thou art strong

Jesus keep me from all wrong

I'll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee

Just a closer walk with Thee

Grant it Jesus, is my plea

Daily walking close to Thee

Let it be dear Lord, let it be

When my feeble life is over

Time for me will be no more

Guide me gently, safely over

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore

Just a closer walk with Thee

Grant it Jesus, is my plea

Daily walking close to Thee

Let it be dear Lord, let it be

"Ranch Party" with Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline (1957)

Here’s another example of the weekend entertainment which we missed in the city when I was growing up. Where we had Sullivan, they had Tex. And I think they may have gotten the better part of the deal!

Tex Ritter; John’s father; was a staple of the country music scene in the 1950’s. He was there at just the right time, too. He was showcasing acts that were changing the face of music, like this show with Johnny Cash. We didn’t even hear him on the radio in New York until a few months after the record was a hit all over the interior portions of the country. (I was very young, about 3 years old at the time, so I had to look that up.)

And Patsy Cline was another example of where the city was now sometimes lagging behind the more rural areas in entertainment. Up until then it had always been the big city setting the pace via the radio.

The point is that with the growing influence of the mass media, we were becoming more homogenized as a nation. Soon, what was considered to be “hillbilly” music would become rock and roll, taking the world be storm, and ushering in the 1960’s; one of the most mercurial decades this nation has ever known.

I love looking at these old shows, especially now, living down south in North Carolina. They are windows back into time which let me see what the people who are native to this state were seeing at the time. In turn, that gives me perspective on who they are today.