A Farewell Celebration

Performer: The Cathedrals
Artist: Bill Gaither; Sandi Patti; The Statler Brothers; The Oak Ridge Boys; Guy Penrod; Ernie Haas; Glen Payne
Engineer: Chad Evans
Producer: Bill Gaither
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Additional personnel includes: Bill Gaither, The Statler Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, Sandi Patty, Guy Penrod. Recorded live at The Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee. A FAREWELL CELEBRATION was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. This live collection, issued on gospel stalwart Bill Gaither's record label, bids a goodbye of sorts to the Cathedrals, one of gospel's longest-running vocal groups. The tour during which this album was recorded proved to be the Cathedrals' last, as one of the quintet's founding members, Glen Payne, passed away in October 1999. The session opens with a blazing medley of "This Old House" and "When the Saints Go Marching In," led by the booming bass voice of George Younce. The buoyant Younce is a constant presence throughout the show, giving breath to subwoofer-rattling low notes and bringing a rare sense of slapstick humor to the proceedings at every turn. At one point, he even threatens in jest to slap a soloist he feels has disrespectfully wandered into the lower register--a territory Younce clearly covets as his own--during the tow-tapping "Climbing Higher and Higher." Passionate performances abound here, with sterling guest spots from the Statler Brothers and the Oak Ridge Boys. A FAREWELL CELEBRATION proves to be the perfect final act in the Cathedrals' 35-year run.

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