Family Businesses

I know that one of the goals of Christian agrarians is to get families involved in family businesses together.  And I think we have a good role model in Bill Gaither.

 

Some of you don't recognize that name.  But many of you will.  Bill and Gloria Gaither are (or at least, were ... I think still are) from Alexandria, Indiana.  They started out as school teachers in the early sixties, and spent the weekends making music as the Bill Gaither Trio (including, for a while, Bill's brother Danny).  Gaither music took the Christian world by storm in the '60's and '70's -- I don't know what their most famous song was: perhaps He Touched Me, or Let's Just Praise the Lord, or Because He Lives, or another of the many dozens of songs they penned.  Eventually they started self-publishing (I believe the John T. Benson company in Nashville had been their original publisher), and then started introducing other new artists (Don Francisco, Steve Green, Larnelle Harris, and Sandy Patti are a few that come to mind).  Eventually the Gaithers decided someone needed to preserve the good old-time quartet gospel music, and so they started doing the Gaither Homecoming Concerts, with guest artists from all across the Christian music spectrum.  They also wrote books (at least Gloria did, co-authoring a book with Shirley Dobson, wife of the psychologist).

 

Well, I was shocked this evening when I discovered that they are dabbling in another line in the family business.

 

First, I didn't see Bill's name anywhere in the project, so maybe I'm stretching things a little bit.  BUT I still think this is interesting.  Some of you have seen the kid's movie, Hoodwinked.  I'm always scared to talk about movies, 'cause invariably there is a scene that I forgot about that is offensive to someone, and I just recommended it.  But I really liked Hoodwinked when I saw it back in January.  Well, tonight I saw part of the material on the bonus DVD that was released with the Hoodwinked DVD, and lo, and behold, Bill and Gloria Gaither's son, Benjy was one of the characters (voice behind the animated character) in Hoodwinked.  The bonus DVD also included a full-length feature film made by the same people, called Wobots.  Guess who produced it.  Yup, Benjy Gaither.  Now, get this!  Guess whose voice was the voice of the counselor at the orphans' home.  I about fell out of my chair.  No, it wasn't James Dobson (although that would have been type-cast).  No, it was Gloria Gaither!  Yes, Gloria Gaither is now doing animated films.  Okay.  One film.  I about fell out of my chair.  (I already said that, didn't I.  Oh well, now I've said it twice.)  I had the live-double-album vinyl that the Bill Gaither Trio did in about 1974, and I think I would recognize Gloria Gaither's voice anywhere.  And, indeed, her name rolled with the credits at the end of the film.

 

Now, I'm mostly kidding about this being a family business.  But those Gaithers have their fingers into everything.  And for some who may think I'm being critical of the Gaithers, I'm not!  I actually have a reasonably positive view of them.  (I mean, let's face it.  How many folks were writing amillenial prophecy songs in the '70's against the tide of Hal Lindsey and the dispensationalists.  I don't think The King is Coming quite fit the dispensational chart mold.)

 

Anyway, just wanted to report the interesting development.  And for folks who never heard of the Gaithers, nor any of the songs that Gaither wrote that I mentioned, I guess you can simply wish you hadn't wasted your time reading this post.