Search - Loretta Lynn: Songs of Inspiration on DVD

EXTRAORDINARY DVD - Vintage Loretta Performances

"Tee" | LA | 06/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I ordered this DVD when there was little information about it available on the net. The cynic in me wondered if this was indeed a full DVD of Loretta Lynn singing gospel music. It seemed to good to be true. Would it be all Loretta? Would the term "inspirational" be broad and include "feel good" songs and not pure gospel music. Well, I've got the DVD and it has truly floored me. Folks, this is a DREAM COME TRUE for Loretta Lynn fans!! These are 21 COLOR sacred song performances of Loretta's from her many years on the Wilburn Brothers syndicated TV show. The show did not air in my area or it did when I was very little, but apparently each episode included a religious song by either Loretta, the Wilburns, or a guest star. The disc says the show ran from 1963-1974 although I believe Loretta was not on the show the last few years and it appears to me the performances are all 1965-1971. Many of the performances are songs from Loretta's legendary first two gospel albums HYMNS and WHOS SAYS GOD IS DEAD but she is most definately singing them live here and her voice is as awesome as ever. Additionally, she performs several songs she never recorded for records. The Wilburn Brothers join her on a couple of songs, including a extraordinary trio performance of "Oh, Come Angel Band" (I have played this track over and over in the first day!) and even guest star Grandpa Jones joins in with them on "In the Sweet By and By". Other members of the Wilburn family pitch in on a few other tracks and there is a fine duet of Loretta and Geraldine Wilburn singing "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again". Loretta runs the gamut of gospel on these tracks from traditional ("How Great Thou Art"), country gospel ("Everybody Wants to Go Heaven", of course EVERYTHING here is country gospel LOL), pop gospel ("I Believe"), rock gospel ("Put Your Hand in the Hand"), and soul gospel ("He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"). Loretta also sings inspirational staples made famous by the likes of gospel singers George Beverly Shea ("I'd Rather Have Jesus"), Del Delker ("Ten Thousand Angels"), and Red Foley ("Peace in the Valley") as well as legendary songs found in almost any church hymnal ("The Old Rugged Cross", "In the Garden", "Precious Memories"). In all, 21 great, moving performances by a superstar at her peak. I'm excited by this DVD, if there are this many religious performances of Loretta's available from the Wilburns show, there must be enough for at least five secular DVDs of Loretta's appearances there. And let's hope the great Wilburn Brothers themselves will be on a DVD or two from MPI to say nothing of the awesome guest cast through the years.

The video quality is generally excellent, a few have very slight color fades but mostly it's highly watchable and fine. This is a awesome, moving, truly INSPIRATIONAL DVD that you will absolutely love if you enjoy country or gospel music and if you even just like Loretta it's a "must have". I would put it right up there in the TOP FIVE COUNTRY MUSIC DVDS out on the market today."

An impressively diverse collection of impressively performed

Midwest Book Review | Oregon, WI USA | 11/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

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Loretta Lynn is an American country music icon who in Songs Of Inspiration gives voice to an impressively diverse collection of impressively performed classic and contemporary gospel songs. Showcased in video clips of her stage performances as a regular on "The Wilburn Brothers Show" where she was a regular performer from 1963 to 1974, these twenty-one selections reveal an amazing vocal talent. The pieces comprising this outstanding, 50-minute, DVD include How Great Thou Art; He's Got the Whole World in His Hands; I'd Rather Have Jesus; Where No One Stands Alone; In The Sweet By and By; Ten Thousand Angels; The Old Rugged Cross; Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven; Precious Memories; I'm Getting Ready to Go; If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again; Peace in the Valley; When They Ring Those Golden Bells; Put Your Hand in the Hand; If You Miss Heaven; Standing Room Only; Who Says God is Dead!; The Third Man; O, Come, Angel Band; I Believe; and In the Garden. No truly dedicated Loretta Lynn fan can fail to acquire their own personal copy of Songs Of Inspiration!
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