Precious Memories

Prime Cuts: In the Garden, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, I'll Fly Away

Following in the footsteps of many country greats such as Randy Travis, Brenda Lee and Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson has added to the venerable canon of country artists singing the great hymns of the church. Unlike many other gospel CDs, "Precious Memories" does not come across as pretentious or spurious. Rather, recorded as a labor of love for his mother as a Christmas gift, Jackson's performance here is indubitably heartfelt. And wrapping his distinctive baritone around all around those vastly familar notes, Jackson gives each of these gospel chesnuts a warm glow brimming with a southern charm. With only a piano, acoustic guitars and organ, simplicity is the order of the day. However, with Keith Stegall's production, there is still that Alan Jackson familarity that has graced his last 10 studio CDs.

A listen to Jackson's spirited version of the poignantly phrased salvific hymn "Are You...Read more

Alan Jackson performs these songs the way they were meant to be sung. There seems to be some today who only want to hear contemporary Christian songs and some who only want to hear the older Christian songs. There is a place for both. Alan Jackson's rendition of these show just how great these old traditional hymns are. Simply sung, simply outstanding.

I have been an Alan Jackson fan for some time and I know I've never heard him sing quite like this. You as the listener are brought into a special place of intimacy and precious memories of Alan Jackson's and the result is a highly-emotional, deeply moving recording. It's truly an incredible experience.