This week is” Gaither Week”. William James Gaither (born March 28, 1936) is an American singer and songwriter of Southern gospel and contemporary Christian music. He has written numerous popular Christian songs with his wife Gloria; he is also known for performing as part of the Bill Gaither Trio and the Gaither Vocal Band (GVB). In the 1990s, his career gained a resurgence (as well as the careers of other southern gospel artists), as popularity grew for the Gaither Homecoming series. Bill Gaither was born in Alexandria, Indiana in 1936 to George and Lela Gaither. He formed his first group the Bill Gaither Trio (consisting of Bill, his sister Mary Ann (1945–2018), and brother Danny Gaither) in 1956 while a college student at Anderson College, to which he had transferred after one year at Taylor University. He graduated from Anderson in 1959 with a major in English and a minor in music, after which he worked as an English teacher. He married the former Gloria Sickal in 1962. He tried for a few years to manage both a music career and his full-time teaching job, but he quit his teaching job in 1967 and worked full-time in the Christian music industry. He recorded his breakthrough song “He Touched Me” in 1964]. Gaither was influenced by Southern gospel singers such as Jake Hess and Hovie Lister and by groups such as the Speers, the Statesmen, and the Happy Goodmans. Gaither founded the Gaither Music Company, which includes the functions of record company, concert booking (Gaither Management Group), television production, copyright management (Gaither Copyright Management), retail store, recording studio (Gaither Studios, formerly Pinebrook Studios) and telemarketing for the Gaither organization reside. He also runs a retail center called Gaither Family Resources. Gaither’s daughter, Amy, is married to Charlie and Janean’s son Andy. Amy and Andy both have PHDs in theatrical/ music. Amy is a Actor/Singer/Director/Teacher. Amy has sung at VHUMC several time in the past. At 10 years old, she sang for the Billy Graham Crusade in front of 100,000+ people. She and Bill were both at Charlie’s funeral a few months ago. See https://www.amyhayesartist.com/
“He Touched Me” – While Bill Gaither was accompanying Dr. Dale Oldham on his evangelistic crusades, the preacher said to him, “Bill, the word ‘touch’ is a very popular word. It comes up so often in the New Testament stories about Jesus touching people’s eyes and healing them, or touching people’s lives and changing them. It’s a special, spiritual word and you ought to write a song that praises His touch.” So he did. That week, Dr. Oldham’s son Doug Oldham began singing it in the meetings. Doug was also the first to record the song (in 1964). Not long after that, the Bill Gaither Trio recorded it. In 1965, The Imperials first recorded “He Touched Me” for their album The Happy Sounds of Jake Hess and the Imperials, then recorded a newer version in 1969 for the album Love Is The Thing. It was this version that Elvis Presley heard, and made him want to record it himself. On May 5, 1971, Elvis recorded it—along with the Imperials (as backup singers)—and was released as a single. It became the title track of his 1972 Grammy Award-winning album
