Liner Notes
Down
by the River James
The hymns on this CD are mostly, though not all, ones I listened to growing up as a missionary kid in Mexico. In that foreign land, my brother Michael managed to amass an impressive array of gospel music, which he would play on a reel-to-reel Wollensack. Meanwhile, at age 11 my mother began to teach me classical music on our old upright piano.
But the effort to decipher and replicate music from the written page was often so frustrating I felt like screaming. My brain was just wired wrong for the whole endeavor. I came perilously close to giving up piano. Then, rather accidentally, I found I could add chords to simple childhood tunes and soon, to gospel. melodies. I eventually learned simple keyboard joys, like the bent note, from Floyd Cramer and Henry Slaughter, and others (including my mother, who learned piano from her aunt Esther).
Although I've explored many kinds of music over the years, I am always drawn to revisit and tinker with hymns of an earlier age. Perhaps what appeals to me about hymns is that they are, if you think about it, romantic songs. They speak of love and loss, of beauty and of sorrow, of mystery and hope “for things yet unseen.” But for me it is the melodies that arrow straight to the seeking heart. I have taken some liberties with the traditional harmonies, in the hope of making the melody—to which I’ve tried to stay true—sing clearly.
There are many people to thank for helping me complete this CD recording. My family reassured me that recording a CD was not a totally absurd idea. Joan has long urged me to record my music. My sister, Heidi, even put down hard cash against recording expenses. Salford Mennonite Church graciously lent their Kawai grand piano with its mellow tone for recording sessions. Bill Gottshall worked long to perfect the unusual and full, at times even velvety, tone of this recording. Michael helped design the CD cover. My brother Steven allowed me to use his evocative painting of the James River in Richmond. Last, I owe my mother and father for the inspiration they provided through their own love of music. —R. Robert King
