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! ===Recording career (1951 to 2013)=== Shea has recorded approximately 500 vocal solos<ref name="georgebeverlysheamusic.com"/> on more than seventy [[album]]s (including nine [[compact disc]]s) of religious music on both the [[RCA Victor]] and [[Word Records]] labels.<ref name="assistnews.net"/> Shea has recorded songs with orchestral accompaniment, as arranged and conducted by musical directors, such as [[Hugo Winterhalter]], [[Ralph Carmichael]], Bill Walker, [[Nathan Scott (composer)|Nathan Scott]], [[Norman Leyden]], [[Jimmy Owens (musician)|Jimmy Owens]], [[Kurt Kaiser]], [[Danny Davis (country musician)|Danny Davis]], [[Charles Grean]], and [[Radio City Music Hall]] organist, [[Ray Bohr]].<ref name="georgebeverlysheamusic.com"/> His albums have been produced by RCA Victor's [[Steve Sholes]], [[Brad McCuen]], [[Darol Rice]], [[Cliff Barrows]], Don Hustad, [[Bill Fasig]], and John Innes.<ref name="georgebeverlysheamusic.com"/> His rich Canadian baritone voice can also be heard on Ricky Skaggs album Mosaic. ====RCA Victor and Word==== In 1951, Shea was signed to [[RCA Victor]] Records by [[Sam Wallace (journalist)|Sam Wallace]] and [[Elmer Eades]], after being "discovered" by [[Paul Barkmeyer]]. His first album for RCA Victor, released on 10-inch and 12-inch [[LP record|long-playing records]] and on 45 RPM records, was entitled ''Inspirational Songs,'' produced by [[Stephen H. Sholes]] (12 February 1911 β 22 April 1968) and backed by [[Hugo Winterhalter]] and his Orchestra. During Shea's first four years with RCA Victor, his records did not recover the cost of recording and pressing, but by the end of the 1950s, he enjoyed major success.<ref name="Cusic, 166"/> After a 24-year association with the label, he left it in favor of [[Word Records]] in 1975. ====Notable songs==== Shea is best known for his rendition of "[[How Great Thou Art (hymn)|How Great Thou Art]]," the English translation by Rev. Stuart K. Hine of the [[Sweden|Swedish]] song "O Store Gud," written in [[1886 in music|1886]] by Rev. [[Carl Boberg]] (1859β1940). Arguably Shea's most popular hymn is "The Wonder of It All," the title of which was also used by the [[UNC-TV|University of North Carolina Center for Public Television]] for their 1998 production of his life story.<ref name="assistnews.net"/><ref name="countryworks.com"/> 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