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Release Date: August 2, 2005 Label: INO Records Grade: A+
It's a hot summer night, and the lights overhead burn brightly. The man at the piano is sweating. The preacher is alternately using his hanky to wipe perspiration and vigorously flag surrender. The congregation is clapping in unison as they sing, the acoustics bouncing off the wooden walls and out the back door, left open for circulation, letting out the strains of worship, letting in the junebugs. Suddenly Brother Taylor begins to run the aisle. Sister Reid is slain in the Spirit. You look around, expectantly, your little legs still not able to reach the floor from your pew, and you know this is one of those nights where the preacher won't preach, because God's already talking, and the whole place is awash with a wondrously orchestrated chaos.
These are the memories stirred by Bart Millard's Hymned No. 1, songs right out of the old church hymnals and played in the distinctive style of the old country churches that seem to always be in revival, a unique blending of bluegrass and southern gospel.
Using a deceptively slow beginning, Millard quickly builds into a rockabilly version of "Just A Closer Walk With Thee," which smoothly segues into an original country remaking of "Mawmaw's Song (In the Sweet By and By)", which adds new verses to the respected chorus, reflecting the singer's personal history with his grandmother. In fact, it is quite likely that this will be the song to be the crossover hit with the Country music listeners, who are already familiar with the singer's previous crossover that brought the cross over, "I Can Only Imagine," which he performed as lead singer for MercyMe.
Seven years old, upon my knees
On the third row pew, trying to see
My grandma sing "In the Sweet By and By."
It wasn't the sweetest sounding thing
But there's something about when grandma would sing
That moved your feet, stirred something up inside.
To see her grin from ear to ear
One thing for sure was very clear
This wasn't just a song, it was her life.
Millard is completely at home with this selection of hymns, and makes the listener feel the same with his takes on "Have a Little Talk With Jesus," which has all the feeling of being played right there in your living room with a group of close friends. And it wouldn't be song service without "Power in the Blood", which the singer delivers with outstanding appogiatura.
Bart Millard Hymned #1 Track Listing
01. Just a Closer Walk With Thee 02. Mawmaw's Song (In the Sweet By and By) 03. Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior 04. Have a Little Talk With Jesus 05. Precious Lord, Take My Hand
06. Softly and Tenderly 07. Sweetest Name I Know 08. Power in the Blood 09. My Jesus I Love Thee / 'Tis So Sweet 10. The Old Rugged Cross
Not everything has the down-home feel, however. "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" has all the studio feeling of the 1970s Elvis spiritual albums, and "Sweetest Name I Know" has a funk bass and organ thumping throughout that gets the torso moving (although there's a bit of an Elvis segue between chorus and verses here as well.)
Wrapping up this set are a pair of altar calls, "My Jesus I Love Thee / 'Tis So Sweet" and "The Old Rugged Cross", standards that endure for a reason, and which Millard renders with a sweet simplicity of delivery that doesn't detract from the message with the music.
It's not often that I notice the background singers on a solo artist's album, and I'm sure they too often get short shrift because of such oversights. So while I should be expected to mention that country superstar Vince Gill joins in on "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior," I simply cannot say enough about the harmonies provided by Becca Bramlett.
These songs of comfort simultaneously remind us of when we were growing up, and that we're still growing. Hymned No. 1 (and the title hints that this might -- and ought to -- be a series of albums) should be a staple in every gospel collection
