A Grandmother’s Prayer ebook

Description

How do you go from Abilene to Nashville, to Beverly Hills, to the rest of the world?

How does the musical influence of a country kid from West Texas expand globally? Chris Christian’s story begins in Abilene with a Grandmother’s prayer. Her prayer was that Chris would reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mayme Christian Smith instilled in her grandson that he could become anything he wanted to become. Chris has done just that.

A Grandmother’s Prayer isn’t just the story of Chris Christian, it’s the story of the early days of Contemporary Christian Music and, in a way, the stories of many Artists, celebrities and professional icons that have intersected Chris’s life.

It’s also a story of how the gospel can reach the ears and hearts of millions through the power of music and the answer to a grandmother’s prayer.

• 12 full-color insert pages
• includes online resources at www.GrandmothersPrayer.com

Contents

Foreword by Pat Boone

1. The Prayer that Changed Everything……………………..19
2. I Heard It on the Radio…………………………………….27
3. From Small Beginnings……………………………………..34
4. Off to Music City with $100……………………………..40
5. The Best Things Happen at Opryland……………………53
6. Mister Las Vegas…………………………………………….58
7. Elvis and Me………………………………………………..65
8. Nashville, Take-Two………………………………………..74
9. A Studio Called Gold Mine……………………………….84
10. Amy, BJ, and the Birth of an Industry……………………100
11. Robbie Patton, Clive Davis, and Studio 54……………127
12. Can I Swim with the Big Fish?…………………………..132
13. Hanging with the Kardashians…………………………..144
14. Home Where We Belong……………………………….154
15. The Movie Studios………………………………………..159
16. Gerbert’s World…………………………………………..165
17. A Dallas Cowboys Christmas……………………………169
18. RadioShack Days…………………………………………176
19. Basketball………………………………………………….181
20. Music Babies………………………………………………190
21. Things that Shouldn’t Have Happened…………………204
22. Since You Asked…………………………………………..208
23. Lessons Learned………………………………………………215
24. Appendix………………………………………………………217

My grandmother, Mayme Christian Smith was one of the godliest women I had ever known. She was always praying for me and instilling in me the idea that I could become anything I wanted to be.

Since I was a small boy, she prayed that God would use my talents to go into the world with the Gospel. Her prayer has been answered over the course of my lifetime through a series of defining moments that should not have happened and only God could orchestrate.

The first of these defining moments was in 1960. It was a day like any other in Mrs. Patterson’s 4th-grade class at Crockett Elementary in Abilene, Texas, but this day would set my path, and change my life as well as the lives of many others.

Whatever success or recognition I’ve seen in this life, I believe, is a result of the answer to A Grandmother’s Prayer.

Chris Christian has been a songwriter, record producer, and a record label executive. He has produced or had songs recorded by Elvis Presley, Olivia Newton-John, Natalie Cole, The Carpenters, Sheena Easton, The Pointer Sisters, Al Jarreau, Amy Grant, Patti Austin, Dionne Warwick, The Imperials, B.J. Thomas, B W Stevenson, Marilyn McCoo, Jerry Reed, Dan Peek, Cheryl Ladd, Jane Olivor, Pat Boone, Robbie Patton, Steve Archer, Donnie Osmond, Cotton, Lloyd & Christian and others.

Outside the music industry, Chris helped create the popular children’s television series “Gerbert,” scored the movie “Dakota” starring Lou Diamond Phillips, produced two albums with the Dallas Cowboys, purchased the biggest movie studio sound stage between California and Florida, served as CEO of an entertainment conglomerate with three Fortune 500 Companies and is Vice Chairman of the Dallas Wings professional WNBA team.

Chris was inducted into the West Texas Music Hall of Fame, and the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2007.

Chris and his wife, Shanon live in the Dallas