Silver Dollar City's former gospel band releases 50th anniversary collection album
Silver Dollar City's former house gospel band, New Bethel, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a special collection album.
"All I Needed: The 50th Anniversary Collection" is a 16-song compilation album featuring the band's top hits. The collection is accessible on major streaming services, including Spotify at spoti.fi/3MBSyrF.
Jacob Brower not only served as the album's executive producer, but he is a part of the New Bethel family. He said the collection has allowed him to create a "mixtape of my family's history and the great gospel music I enjoyed growing up."
“New Bethel music has always been gospel, of course, but we never stuck closely to any one specific sub-genre,” Brower said in a news release. “This album has everything from southern, bluegrass, a cappella, folk, contemporary, country and even some pre-disco.”
New Bethel was formed in the early 1970s by Elbert Chandler, his daughter Deborah Brower, her husband Bill Brower, and cousins Ronnie Tosh and Laura Lee Branstetter. Originally, the band performed as the New Bethel Quartet at the New Bethel Church near Anderson, Missouri. This was the church that Elbert and his wife Tressie Chandler founded.
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The band recorded its debut album, "He Promised" at American Artists Custom Records in Springfield in 1972. Over the years, six more studio albums were recorded, with the most recent being "Walkin'." This album was recorded in Joplin in 1996.
New Bethel became Silver Dollar City's house gospel band at the Wilderness Church in 1975. The band would continue to perform there until the 1990s, when the group had to move to larger venues in the park due to the sizable crowds.
Although the band's touring schedule has slowed down as the 1990s came to a close, group members may get together for occasional, one-off performances. The band’s most recent lineup includes original members Bill and Debbie Brower, along with Tony, Darrin, Angela, Laurie and Jacob Brower.
To preserve auditory history, New Bethel hired Matt Paasch of Springfield to digitize the band's vinyl albums and cassette tapes. The albums have since been uploaded to major streaming services.
No physical pressings of "All I Needed: The 50th Anniversary Collection" are available at this time.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Silver Dollar City's former gospel band celebrates 50th anniversary
