Reach Out to Jesus

 Reach Out to Jesus was written by composer Ralph Carmichael.

Ralph Carmichael was born on May 27, 1927 in Quincy, Illinois. He was the son of a Pentecostal minister.

As a child, he learned to play the violin. By the time he was a teenager, he was playing with the San Jose Civic Symphony.

He grew up in the days before TV, when he listened to the radio. He later recalled “I was captivated by the chordal explosions I heard on the radio. I felt a sadness that we didn’t have that in our church. Our church orchestra sounded weak and terrible by comparison. It was embarrassing. Why? Why did we have to settle? Why couldn’t we use those gorgeous rhythms, sweeping strings, the brass, the stirring chords? That started to control everything I did.”

Billy Graham and Ralph Carmichael

He attended Southern California Bible College {now Vanguard University} and started or led a variety of groups and ensembles while experimenting to blend jazz, gospel songs, hymns and classical music and techniques together. Many in the local churches did not favor his style and techniques.

In 1948, he married Evangeline Otto, but they would divorce in 1964.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association invited him to score the music for a film in 1951, leading to a long associations and almost twenty more films.

Soon, he was arranging music for shows such as I Love Lucy, Bonanza, My Mother the Car and The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show. He also scored music for singers Rosemary

Ralph Carmichael

Clooney,Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole, whom he would work with regularly for the remainder of the singer’s life. He and Cole’s first project together was The Magic of Christmas album.

Over time, his experiments with various styles came to be accepted in local churches. He founded Light Records and has come to be known as the Father of Contemporary Christian Music. Carmichael worked closely with gospel singer, George Beverly Shea.

In 1969, he and Kurt Kaiser collaborated on a folk musical about God, Tell It Like It Is. This musical introduced the song Pass It On.

Ralph Carmichael

In 1985, he was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a year later published his autobiography, He’s Everything to Me. In 2001, he was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame.

Reach Out to Jesus was first published in 1968.

Elvis Presley released Reach Out to Jesus on his 1972 album, He Touched Me, for which he won a Grammy Award.

To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics

Is your burden heavy as you bear it all alone?
Does the road you travel, harbor dangers yet unknown?
Are you growin' weary in the struggle of it all?
Jesus will help you with all his name you call

He's always there hearing every prayer, faithful and true
Walking by our side, in his love we hide all the day through
When you get discouraged just remember what to do
Reach out to Jesus, he's reaching out to you

Is the life you're living filled with sorrow and despair?
Does the future press you with its worry and its scare?
Are you tired and jealous, have you almost your way?
Jesus will help you, just talk to him today. 

Shepherd of Love

 Shepherd of Love is composed by John W. Peterson and was sung and recorded by varies Christian singers such as George Beverly Shea, Evie etc. At present there is not much more information the at is available. 

To download the easy alphanotes and chords, look here. Enjoy!

Verse 1

Shepherd of love
You knew I had lost my way
Shepherd of love
You cared that I'd gone astray
You sought and found me placed around me
Strong arms that carried me home
No foe can harm me or alarm me
Never again will I roam
Shepherd of love
Savior and Lord and Guide
Shepherd of love
Forever I'll stay by Your side

Verse 2

Shepherd of love
Contentment at last is mine
Deep in my heart
There's peace and a joy divine
The future's brighter burden's lighter
My cup runs over each day
Your grace supplied me now provides me
All that I need for the way
Shepherd of love
Savior and Lord and Guide
Shepherd of love
Forever I'll stay by Your side

Put Your Hand In The Hand

 "Put Your Hand in the Hand" is a gospel pop song composed by Gene MacLellan and first recorded by Canadian singer Anne Murray from her third studio album Honey, Wheat and Laughter.

It became a hit single for the Canadian band Ocean, released as the title track to their debut album. The single peaked at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, kept from No. 1 by "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. The song also reached No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The single version omitted the instrumental, that occurs between the second chorus and the second verse, as well as the repeat of the chorus and the final instrumentalist chorus, that ends without the fade. It went on to become 22nd best-seller of 1971.

After MacLellan's suicide in 1995, his friend and fellow Atlantic Canadian musician Ron Hynes wrote the song "Godspeed" as a tribute, the lyrics for which reference the title of this song.

The song was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.

The song was covered in the 1970s by a number of other performers, including Elvis Presley (who also covered MacLellan's "Snowbird"), Randy Stonehill, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Frankie Laine, Donny Hathaway, Joan Baez, Dutch group Himalaya, the Les Humphries Singers, a German-language version ("Ich fand eine Hand") [I Found a Hand] by Cindy & Bert, a French-language version ("Prends ma main") by Canadian singer Renée Martel, and recorded by Bing Crosby for his 1972 album Bing 'n' Basie. It was also covered, and often sung in concert, by Anita Bryant.

Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong rendered his take on the song in a January 1976 episode of Hee Haw. Country acts Sandy Posey, Lynn Anderson, Loretta Lynn, and The Oak Ridge Boys also recorded the song.

South African singer Ray Dylan recorded it on his 2009 album Goeie Ou Country - Op Aanvraag. 

To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics: 

Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee

My momma taught me how to pray before I reached the age of 7
When I'm down on my knees that's when I'm closest to heaven
Daddy lived his life, 2 kids and a wife
Well you do what you must do
But he showed me enough of what it takes to get me through, oh yeh!

Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee
Oh yeh!

Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee
Oh yeh!

Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water
Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take a look at yourself and you can look at others differently
Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee
Oh yeh!
Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee
Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee, Oh yeh!

He Is Lord

 "He is Lord" the composer for this popular chorus is unknown at the writing of this blog. 

To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

He is Lord, He is Lord!
He is risen from the dead and he is Lord!
Ev'ry knee shall bow, ev'ry tongue confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord. 

God Is So Wonderful

"God Is So Wonderful" is a contemporary Christian song is written by Virginia Marshall in 1964 but was published in 1971.  At present, I could not find much information on the composer and the background of this song.

To download the easy alphanotes and chords, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics: 

God Is So Wonderful,
I Can’t Explain,
But I Can Say, Glory Hallelujah!
Praise His Holy Name!

Oh, God Is So Wonderful,
I Can’t Explain,
But I Can Say, Glory Hallelujah!
Praise His Holy Name!

It’s Wonderful Because He Saved Me,
It’s Wonderful That He Forgave Me.
It’s Wonderful, Wonderful,
So Very Wonderful,
Wonderful That He Is Mine.

I Cast On Him My Every Burden,
Lay At His Feet My Every Care.
It’s Wonderful, Wonderful,
So Very Wonderful,
Wonderful That He Is Mine.

Oh, God Is So Wonderful,
I Can’t Explain,
But I Can Say, Glory Hallelujah!
Praise His Holy Name!

Oh, God Is So Wonderful,
I Can’t Explain,
But I Can Say, Glory Hallelujah!
Praise His Holy Name!

For Those Tears I Died (Come To The Water)

For Those Tears I Died was written by Marsha Stevens-Pino (born Marsha Carter August 20, 1952) is a singer, musician, songwriter and recording artist of Christian songs. 

Shortly after professing to become a Christian in 1969 at sixteen years of age, Stevens-Pino wrote "For Those Tears I Died (Come to the Water)", a song that was to become widely known and sung in Charismatic Christian churches and youth-groups across the United States. Utilizing her songwriting and singing talents with sister Wendy Carter and friends Peter Jacobs and Russ Stevens, the contemporary Christian music group known as "Children of the Day" was formed. The band's first album, Come to the Water, was recorded with money borrowed from Calvary Chapel, whose minister Chuck Smith supported Stevens-Pino's career. However, her later memoir accounts that he enforced female subordination, including appointing a male bandmate as leader of the band. Smith's mentoring ended when she came out and Smith suggested that she hadn't "married the right man." 

An entry in the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music states that Stevens should be recognized as the mother of the genre.

To download the easy alphanotes and chords sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics 

You said You'd come and share all my sorrows,
You said You'd be there for all my tomorrows;
I came so close to sending You away,
But just like You promised You came there to stay;
I just had to pray!
And Jesus said, "Come to the water, stand by My side,
I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied;
I felt ev'ry teardrop when in darkness you cried,
And I strove to remind you that for those tears I died."

Your goodness so great I can't understand,
And, dear Lord, I know that all this was planned;
I know You're here now, and always will be,
Your love loosed my chains and in You I'm free;
But Jesus, why me?

And Jesus said, "Come to the water, stand by My side,
I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied;
I felt ev'ry teardrop when in darkness you cried,
And I strove to remind you that for those tears I died."
Jesus, I give You my heart and my soul,
I know that without God I'd never be whole;
Savior, You opened all the right doors,
And I thank You and praise You from earth's humble shores;
Take me, I'm Yours.

And Jesus said, "Come to the water, stand by My side,
I know you are thirsty, you won't be denied;
I felt ev'ry teardrop when in darkness you cried,
And I strove to remind you that for those tears I died."

                                   

Go Tell It On The Mountain

 "Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual song, compiled by John Wesley Work Jr., dating back to at least 1865, that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol as its original lyrics celebrate the Nativity of Jesus:

Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born.

An alternate final line omits the reference to the birth of Christ, instead declaring that "Jesus Christ is Lord". 

In 1963, the musical team Peter, Paul and Mary, along with their musical director Milt Okun, adapted and rewrote "Go Tell It on the Mountain" as "Tell It on the Mountain", their lyrics referring specifically to: Exodus and using the phrase "Let my people go", but referring implicitly to the civil rights struggle of the early 1960s. This version became a moderately successful single for them (US No. 33 pop, 1964).

According to religious studies professor and civil rights historian Charles Marsh, it was African-American civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer who combined this song with the spiritual "Go Down Moses", taking the last line of the chorus, "let my people go" and substituting it in the chorus of "Go Tell It on the Mountain". Marsh does not document this claim, but notes that Hamer was highly active in civil rights work beginning in the 1950s, and that the use of the Exodus story and the singing of spirituals played a central role in her activities.

A version was also recorded by the Wailers with Peter Tosh on lead vocal. This version contains no reference to the birth of Christ and the line is replaced by "Set my people free".  The song appears on The Best of The Wailers album (recorded 1970 and released in 1971).^{[citation needed]}

Little Big Town's 2006 non-album single version reached No. 35 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Bob Dylan references the song in his 2020 song "Goodbye Jimmy Reed," which contains the lyric, "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory / Go tell it on the mountain, go tell the real story". 

The easy alphanote version of the music can be downloaded here. Enjoy!

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!

While shepherds kept their watching
O'er silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! Above the Earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior's birth

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!

Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn

Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!