Ralph Carmichael obit

Ralph Carmichael, the ‘Father of Contemporary Christian Music’, Has Passed Away

 

He was not on the list.

Contemporary Christian Music pioneer Ralph Carmichael has passed away, according to his official Facebook page. The composer and arranger was enormously successful in a variety of genres through his 94 years but was particularly influential in CCM, where he defied the traditional conventions of his day and dragged church music kicking and screaming into modern times. He inspired the likes of CMM legends Andraé Crouch, the Resurrection Band and George Beverly Shea, but also popular icons like Nat King Cole, the Carpenters, Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Presley himself. He was often heralded as “the father of Contemporary Christian Music.”

The son of a Pentecostal preacher who let him listen to mainstream music on the radio, Carmichael’s music career began at Southern California Bible College (now Vanguard University) where he started a men’s quartet, blending old hymns with modern jazz. For this innovation, he was rewarded with being unwelcome at many churches and his college wouldn’t even allow him to store his saxophone on campus, for fears that it was too “worldly.” Other churches made him hide the drumkit backstage and pastors would even pull the plug mid-concert when things got a little too secular.

But Carmichael attracted the approval of one very important Christian who changed everything: Billy Graham. Carmichael was asked to score the soundtrack to the Billy Graham Association’s The Cross and the Switchblade movie, and his funk-laden soundtrack brought him widespread acclaim. He arranged music for shows like I Love Lucy and Bonanza along with movies like The Blob, introducing his style to households across America. When he helped Bing Crosby with a Christmas special, his denomination urged him not to renew his ordination. But Carmichael hardly needed it, since his work with Crosby helped connect him to Nat King Cole, and the two were fast friends and regular collaborators for the remainder of Cole’s life.

It was around this time that Carmichael brought his creative energy to Christian music which, at the time, was still skeptical of drums and guitars. Carmichael founded Light Records as a way to get the Jesus People’s music a bigger audience, ignoring the cries of “heretic” from his critics who chewed their nails down to stubs over the blend of old hymns and big band. Among his first clients was Thurl Ravenscroft, whose CCM career never took off but you’re definitely familiar with his other gigs: voicing Tony the Tiger’s “t-h-e-y-r-e GREAT” and singing “You’re a Mean One, Mister Grinch” for Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Carmichael also championed his fellow CCM pioneer Crouch, who took on the role of his protege.

In 1985, Carmichael was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. A statement posted to Carmichael’s social media says “Ralph enjoyed his life to the fullest. He was passionate about the music that flowed from his soul and created it as the consummate professional. He cared deeply for his family and friends, and he lived out his cowboy dreams with the many horses that he owned along the way. He laughed easily, loved deeply, enjoyed a good joke or a prank, and charmed anyone who came across his path. Undergirding it all was his abiding faith in his Lord Jesus Christ.”

Author and speaker Joni Eareckson Tada posted on her social media: I was 14 years old and sitting around the campfire at my first Young Life Weekend retreat. Just the day before, I had opened my heart to Jesus Christ for the first time and, as a result, every song we lifted up around the fire that night exploded with meaning. One song seemed to perfectly express my new-found faith; it was called, "He's Everything to Me."

Never would I have dreamed that, in the future, I would collaborate with the song's author Ralph Carmichael (known as the Father of Contemporary Christian Music). In the 1970s, Ralph wrote numerous Christian songs that became immediate 'favorites' among young Christians. Ralph even helped to develop the musical score for the "Joni" movie.

But today? Ralph Carmichael (at 94) graduated to heaven and is now part of a greater, more glorious choir in heaven. I thank God for the indelible stamp this 'statesman of Christian music' made on the lives of so many believers in the 70s and 80s. Thank you, Ralph, for giving us all words to say and sing "He's Everything to Me!"

 

Filmography

 

Composer (27 credits)

 1985 The Miracle (TV Movie)

 1980 The Anita Bryant Spectacular (TV Special)

 1979 Joni

 1971 The Late Liz

 1970 His Land (Documentary)

 1970 The Cross and the Switchblade

 1969 The David Frost Show (TV Series)

 1968 The Julie London Special (TV Special)

 1967 The Gospel Blimp (Short)

 1967 Center Stage (TV Mini Series) (1 episode)

- The Barbara McNair and Duke Ellington Special (1967)

 1966 For Pete's Sake!

 1966 Lucía

 1965-1966 My Mother the Car (TV Series) (30 episodes)

- Desperate Minutes (1966)

- When You Wish Upon a Car (1966)

- The Blabbermouth (1966)

- Absorba the Greek (1966)

- It Might as Well Be Spring as Not (1966)

 

 1965-1966 O.K. Crackerby! (TV Series) (17 episodes)

- Operation Susan (1966)

- 3+1=1 (1965)

- Smile and the World... (1965)

- Bitter Ravioli (1965)

- Crackerby and the Cuckoo Game (1965)

 

 1965 Sea of Souls

 1965 The Restless Ones

 1965 The King Family Show (TV Series)

 1964 Man in the 5th Dimension (Documentary short)

 1960 Shadow of the Boomerang

 1959 4D Man

 1958 The Heart Is a Rebel

 1958 The Blob

 1957 The Persuader

 1955 Wiretapper

 1954 Souls in Conflict

 1953 Oiltown, U.S.A.

 1951 Mr. Texas

 

Music department (17 credits)

 2010 Blob Town (Documentary short) (composer: original score)

 2009 The 81st Annual Academy Awards (TV Special) (music arranger)

 2001 The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (composer: stock music - as Rico Calle)

 1971 A City of the King (TV Movie) (musical arranger)

 1971 The Late Liz (conductor)

 1971 Love Is (TV Special) (musical director)

 1970 The Smokey Robinson Show (TV Special) (musical director)

 1970 The Cross and the Switchblade (conductor)

  Center Stage (TV Mini Series) (music - 1 episode, 1967) (musical director - 1 episode, 1967)

- The Barbara McNair and Duke Ellington Special (1967) ... (music) / (musical director)

 1966 For Pete's Sake! (conductor)

 1962 The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show (TV Series) (musical director - 3 episodes)

- This Is Our Country (1962) ... (musical director)

- Western Hit Parade (1962) ... (musical director)

- Roy, Dale, and the Kids at the Fair (1962) ... (musical director)

 1960 Shadow of the Boomerang (conductor)

 1959 4D Man (conductor)

 1958 The Heart Is a Rebel (conductor)

 1958 The Blob (conductor)

 1954 Souls in Conflict (conductor)

 1951 I Love Lucy (TV Series) (composer: incidental music)

 

Actor (1 credit)

 2014 DeAndre Jordan's Amazing Charles Barkley Impression (Short)

 

Soundtrack (8 credits)

 2009/I The Box (arranger: "O Say Can You See")

 2002 He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (arranger: "L.O.V.E.")

 1989 The Karen Carpenter Story (TV Movie) (writer: "Love is Surrender")

 1972 The Special London Bridge Special (TV Movie) (writer: "Love is Surrender")

 1967 Center Stage (TV Mini Series) (performer - 1 episode)

- The Barbara McNair and Duke Ellington Special (1967) ... (performer: "Solitude", "I'm Beginning to See the Light", "Mood Indigo", "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "Satin Doll", "I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good", "Sophisticated Lady", "I Feel a Song Coming On", "For Once In My Life", "Don't Rain On My Parade", "The Lady Is a Tramp", "The Shadow of Your Smile", "I've Got Your Number", "Alley Cat", "Big Bad Bill", "Aren't You Glad You're You?", "Tired", "Hello, Dolly!", "What now my Love ?" (Et Maintenant))

 1965 The Restless Ones (writer: "The Restless Ones", "Sing, Sing, Sing a Song of Strength", "He's Ev'rything to Me" - uncredited)

 1958 The Heart Is a Rebel (writer: "The Heart Is a Rebel")

 1957 The Persuader (writer: "The Persuader")

 

Self (6 credits)

 2014 Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark (Documentary)

Self

 2012 The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song (TV Movie documentary)

Self - Conductor 1961 Version, The Christmas Song

 1974 Oral Roberts at Expo '74 (TV Special)

Self (as the Ralph Carmichael Orchestra)

 1971 A City of the King (TV Movie)

Self - Conductor

 1971 Love Is (TV Special)

Self - Conductor

 1962 The Roy Rogers & Dale Evans Show (TV Series)

Self - and his orchestra

- This Is Our Country (1962) ... Self - and his orchestra