I am
sitting here trying to collect my thoughts about the happenings of today.
Most of you have already heard about the death of George Younce. I was
saddened this morning to hear the news. I was glad that I got to speak to
him via telephone just a few days ago. Most of the time, I don't talk
about singers who pass away in my newsletters. There are hundreds and
thousands of posts about it. Usually everyone knows about it by the time
I do a newsletter. But George Younce was my hero.
I loved
him as if he were my father. I spent four great years traveling on a two
toned brown Silver Eagle with him. I watched him night after night walk
out on the stage and take the audience through a circle of emotions. I
have lots of fond memories of his expertise as a MC and a bass singer but
more than those, I would say he was the greatest communicator that ever
walked on a southern gospel stage.
I
remember one night in Lancaster, PA, we were singing and George decided to
have the audience sing "Alleluia." He started singing and asked them to
sing along. But the odd thing was, he wasn't singing the tune to
"Alleluia." He was singing the words but the tune was something we had
never heard before. I was standing beside the piano. Roger Bennett
looked up at me and whispered "Do you know this version"? I shook my head
from side to side as if to say no, but the weird thing was that the
audience was singing the melody that George was singing! Talk about a
master! George Younce was teaching them a new melody and they were
singing it the first time! There was nobody like him.
George
Younce could take an audience from a hilarious moment when telling a funny
story directly to a quiet tender moment quicker than any platform man I
ever met. I do believe that George could have been on the stage alone
with three broom sticks and he would have been a hit. I never saw anyone
that could walk out on a stage and in one minute have the audience in the
palm of his hand. He amazed me every night.
George
was always doing funny things on the bus to keep everyone in a good mood.
We could have been out on a 20 day trip and everyone was wanting to go
home. We would be sick of each other (a bus gets small after several
days) but George always tried to keep everyone in a good frame of mind.
He was so great on stage that when we hit the stage and started singing,
we forgot about being on the road for 20 days. He made it feel NEW every
night. He told the same stories onstage for years, but every night they
were funny. He sang the same songs night after night, but every night
they seemed fresh and new. He said the same "we love you" to every
audience, every night. I don't know how sincere he was in saying
that-cause some audiences are just not as lovable as others, but he made
them feel like they were the greatest audience to ever come hear the
Cathedrals.
George
gave me the greatest advice in 1983 when I left the Cathedrals. He told
me to learn to laugh at myself. He told me not to take it all too
seriously. He explained that if I am comfortable laughing at myself, then
others would feel comfortable laughing with me. And when people laugh
with you, they learn to like you.
I also
credit George with adding the "hit" part to STEP INTO THE WATER. Having
been in mixed groups all my life, naturally when I wrote STEP INTO THE
WATER, I heard it in my head as a song for a mixed group. When I sang it
for the Cathedrals, George started repeating the "in the water" and "a
little deeper" part in the chorus. He just winked and grinned and said
"it needs my part." Everyone laughed because it was funny but he was so
right. His part made that song a hit, number 1 nationwide for 9 months in
a row. Thank you George.
The
entire Younce family has been an inspiration to me. George raised 5 great
kids. George and Clara had fun with their kids. I can honestly say that
George and Clara would have rather been with their kids, laughing and
cutting up, than doing anything else.
I am glad
I got to go by and see him occasionally. I saw him last in November, the
day he got his walker. He was week and feeble that day. But he was still
laughing and telling funny "Glen" stories and remembering quartet stories
from my years with the Cathedrals.
Speaking
of Glen, I know Glen and George are dancing around on the streets of gold
tonight. It wouldn't surprise me if they haven't found a baritone and a
tenor to form a quartet.
I would
imagine the angels are listening and smiling and nodding and being blessed
that another Cathedral of Faith has made it home.
Please
pray for the Younce Family as they prepare for the funeral of this most
beloved man.
