Thoughts about Squire Parsons

Filed in Music Philosophy on May 18, 2009



I am an admirer of Squire Parsons.  Though he has written over 1,000 songs, he is most famous for Sweet Beulah Land.  Regardless of where I go either in the United States or the rest of the world, people want to hear that song. 

I recently read Squire Parson's autobiography, The Rest of the Song, and thought I would share a few highlights.

It is easy to look at people like Squire and assume they have always been successful.  But Squire really struggled early in his solo music career.  In some ways, he was a pioneer.  When he decided to be a soloist rather than a quartet man, he was going against the conventional wisdom that soloists could not make a living in Southern Gospel music.  He says he did a lot of tiny churches that did not even have sound systems where the love offerings averaged $30.

One of the things that interested me was the fact that Squire has always had to be careful not to step on church music landmines.  If you perform church music at all, you know what I mean.  The music debates can be vicious and woe to the musician who steps out of line.  Regardless of where a musician decides they should be in the debate, they are guaranteed to take salvos from those on the left and right of them.

For example, Squire was one of the first in Southern Gospel music to travel with sound tracks.  There are good reasons for tracks.  The main reason of course is that for most professional church musicians, it is simply not financially possible to travel with an orchestra or even a four piece band.  Tracks allow smaller churches to hear high quality orchestrations without the expense of live musicians.

But he recounts how many churches did not like sound tracks (often called "canned music").  He also took some heat because some of the tracks used drums and also for other aspects of his music.  He tells stories about how he adjusted the music to match the philosophy of the individual churches.

I certainly believe him because interestingly, I had a lengthy discussion with Squire about this very issue a few years ago.   He told me then that he would still change his music as much as necessary to match a church's philosophy.  As much as it pains me to say, I have to admit that this kind of humilty is somewhat rare in Christian music even among much less popular artists.

What you take away from a story like Squire Parson's is that success is not easy, hard work is necessary, and humility is always appropriate.



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Jeremy
5/19/2009 9:51:01 AM

Sounds as though I would enjoy reading this book. However, I looked on both CBD and Amazon and couldn't find one by that title. Perhaps it is out of print?

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Greg
5/20/2009 1:17:36 PM

Jeremy, you can still buy it at his website: http://www.squireparsons.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=22

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Ed Rodriguez Jr.
5/20/2009 2:14:43 PM

I met Squire about a year ago at a men's conf in NC. Very humble man.

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Rev. Dr. James L. Verner
7/22/2009 9:39:43 PM

Squire is a good role model for young people and for budding singers. He practices what he sings and stands for as a Christian.

Jim

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