Canadian Gospel Music Association, Vol. 3

Canadian Gospel Music Association was founded in 1974. Four years later, they released this LP celebrating the nominees for the 1977-78 Covenant Awards in the categories of “male, mixed, and female group.” The Covenant Awards celebrate the best in Canadian Christian music. The association and awards still exist, although it now goes by the Gospel Music Association of Canada.

I have mentioned before that I am not a person of faith, nor have I ever been, but am fascinated by certain varieties of devotional music. I am unfamilliar with all of the artists here, and honestly did not know this organisation or award existed (although neither are even a little bit surprising). Going in, I am cautiously optimistic about this LP, and hope that a few songs are to my liking.

This album was rerecorded and manufactured by Summit Sound of the tiny village of Westport, Ontario (and not, as I originally thought, the similarly named Summit Records of Tempe, Arizona, even though Summit Records is listed on the vinyl label). Summit was also founded in 1974 is still listed as being active, although their website is largely unchanged from the year 2000. It has a catelogue number of SS 1008.

This was something of a chore. I generally try and remain positive, and there is some to be pleased about, but this LP is a strong argument against Canadian Content Regulations. I am not a fan of family bands, and The Edwards Family is certainly no exception, but their song If You’re Happy Notify Your Face is a perfect example of everything wrong with that style and Christian music. The Harris Family’s song is nearly as rough, but is significantly less passive aggressive, so it eeks out a small win. I am deeply invested in the overall structure of an album, and I especially like it when the ultimate track is not only strong on its own merits, but also leaves you feeling satisfied. Easter Song completely fails on both counts.

Its not all for not, though. Jesus Abide With Me is the sort of gospel music I hope to find when I purchase these albums. The Viscounts have an excellent song here, and an honestly very good band name. He’s My Comfort is a fun, western swing-y sort of song. If they were not forcing in crucifixion references, It Wouldn’t be Enough would be a pleasant enough piano pop song. The problem isn’t the content, its that the forced rhymes really detract from an otherwise lovely song.

Overall, like most devotional music, this simply is not for me. And I know that going in, and try not to keep that in mind when writing these little articles. I probably need to do a better job of differentiating between music which is supposed to glorify the Christian god from mainstream sounding music which happens to have Christian subject matter, because I have no interest in the latter at all, while the former is truly one of my favourite sorts of music. Ry Cooder’s recording of Jesus on the Mainline has a literal permanent place on my playlist, while I would turn off the radio entirely before listening to contemporary Christian music.