George Beverly Shea Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===New York (1929β1939)=== As a result of the recommendation of American [[opera]] [[baritone]] [[John Charles Thomas]] (born 6 September 1891 β died 13 December 1960), Shea studied singing under Gino Monaco, Thomas's own vocal coach.<ref name="gmahalloffame.org"/><ref name="georgebeverlysheamusic.com"/> While working for Mutual Life in New York City Shea appeared on an amateur hour program hosted by [[Fred Allen]] on [[NBC radio]]. Despite losing to a [[yodel]]er, Shea earned second place, and a spot singing [[popular music]] on Allen's program, probably a precursor to Allen's ''[[Fred Allen#"It's Town Hall Tonight!"|Town Hall Tonight]].'' Although Shea "impressed the critics and scores of fans", he still didn't feel he had discovered a direction for his life.<ref name="Ace Collins 1999">Ace Collins, ''Turn Your Radio on: The Stories Behind Gospel Music's All-Time Greatest Songs'' (Zondervan, 1999):104.</ref> In 1933 a network radio director heard Shea sing and arranged an [[audition]] to sing popular [[secular]] songs for ''[[Your Hit Parade]]'', a national program with the [[Lyn Murray]] Singers broadcast on the [[NBC]] network. Shea passed the audition and was offered a job, but reluctantly turned the position down because he didn't feel right about performing secular music.<ref name="villagebiblechurchhsv.org"/><ref name="countryworks.com"/> Shea sang regularly on radio station [[WEPN (AM)#WHN|WHN]], and on Erling C. Olsen's ''Meditations in the Psalms'' broadcast on radio station [[WMCA (AM)|WMCA]], as well as doing 30-minute programs from 7-7:30 am on [[WKBO]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]]. Shea also appeared on [[WKBO]]'s "the Old Fashioned Gospel Hour."<ref name="livinghymns.org">{{Cite web|url=http://livinghymns.org/bio.htm|title=LivingHymns.org >> Al Smith Biography|website=Livinghymns.org|access-date=2020-04-23|archive-date=2020-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128085153/http://livinghymns.org/bio.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shea sang on the ''Young Person's Church of the Air'' radio program, which had been started by [[Percy Crawford]] (1902β60)<ref>"Papers of Percy Bartimus Crawford and Ruth Crawford Porter, Collection 357" at [http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/357.htm Archives, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322005306/http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/357.htm |date=2009-03-22 }}</ref> in Philadelphia in 1931 on Radio station [[WTEL (AM)|WIP]].<ref>Joel A. Carpenter, ''Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism'' (Oxford University Press, 1997):164.</ref><ref>"Papers of Percy Bartimus Crawford and Ruth Crawford Porter - Collection 357" at [http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/357.htm Archives, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322005306/http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/357.htm |date=2009-03-22 }}</ref> Shea began his recording career at the U.S. branch of [[Decca Records]] after being signed by [[A & R]] representative [[Jack Kapp]], who told Shea: "If you do better than the singer we have in mind, we will give you a contract. If not, you'll have to take the records on yourself. Shea recorded "Jesus Whispers Peace," "Lead Me Gently Home, Father," "I'd Rather Have Jesus," and "God Understands," accompanied by Ruth Crawford (wife of Percy Crawford) on the organ. About 7,000 copies were sold, and they are prized by music lovers today, the majority being Protestant Christians like Shea. {{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page