Reviewed by Tony Cummings

It's not often that a 21 year old book gets reviewed by Cross Rhythms. But it's taken this long to find out about the book's existence. If you didn't know, "I'll Fly Away" by Southern gospel composer Albert E Brumley is the most recorded song in Christian music history (save for one or two hymns). Published in 1932 it's a classic that has been sung by everyone from soul music legend Jackie Wilson to the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood, not to mention literally hundreds of Southern gospel groups. What this book chronicles is the story of its composer. It charts Albert's rise from the 1920s Singing Schools where shape note singing teaching scheme was to be the foundation stone of the world of Southern gospel, Albert's rise in the 1930s when he wrote not only "I'll Fly Away" but a string of other classic songs like "Turn Your Radio On", "I'll Meet You In The Morning" and "Camping In Canaan's Land". And it takes the reader around the Ozarks in the '30s and '40s and through the simple rural life of Brumley, his wife and kids as they lived out an idealistic rural dream in Powel, Missouri between 1931 and 1977 (the latter year the one of the great composer's death). The book is full of fascinating and sometimes amusing anecdotes about a simple Christian and his extraordinary ability to write songs that connected with the common man. Albert's story is told by newspaper columnist Kay Hively and Albert's musician son. It has to be said that the book's lack of structural coherence and some wince-inducing stilted writing (eg, "Brumley music has been heard on practically every television show which featured musical entertainment. The popular rock and roll group 'The Supremes' sang a Brumley song on the 'Ed Sullivan Show'") plus no index stop it from being a definitive reference work. But I'll Fly Away is still a book any serious fan of Southern gospel would find fascinating.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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