The Church Triumphant - A Great Song That Still Moves Me

When I was a kid my dad would play gospel music albums. (Often he played them very loud on Sunday mornings to wake everyone up for church.) This song, “The Church Triumphant,” for which I am providing a link, is one of the recordings from his many albums. The artists are the Bill Gaither Trio.

                 Click here to listen to "The Church Triumphant."

Bill Gaither was—and still is—one of the most prolific, successful and influential of all gospel music artists. (He makes those “Homecoming” videos that can frequently be seen on various cable channels. In addition to writing many classic gospel songs, he’s an incredibly savvy businessman.)

The original album on which this was recorded was released in 1973. I haven’t listened to this song in probably 35+ years. But as I was listening to it again today two things struck me:

1. The bluesy piano playing is outstanding. If you take a moment to listen to the recording listen to the piano player, particularly at the very beginning and at the ending. The stuff he plays is truly awesome. (There’s some pretty nice guitar work, too, although most of the time it is fairly low in the mix.)

2. There are two spoken word moments during the song. One is delivered by Gloria Gaither (Bill’s wife) and the other is delivered toward the end by Bill.

What they say about the church during these spoken moments is so relevant that it could easily have been written yesterday.

In 1973, when my dad purchased this album and began playing it I was 15 years old. Approximately 6 years later I had the privilege of playing in Danny Gaither’s band, Danny is Bill’s brother and he was the third member of the Bill Gaither Trio. Life can be pretty cool sometimes, huh?

I remember telling Danny how much I liked this song.  And I mentioned the piano playing. Danny laughed and told me that when they were in the studio recording the song they were, initially, thrown by the piano work at the beginning. The studio player (I believe it may have been a Nashville session legend named Lari Goss) was laying down such fancy riffs that they didn’t know where to actually begin singing.

Despite my dad’s influence, I never became a huge fan of the old gospel style of music. But I will admit that I cried today when I listened to this song. Even after all these years, it still moves me powerfully.