Vern Gosdin - vocals, guitar, mandolin; Kathy Burdick - vocals; Jimmy Capps - guitar; Sonny Garrish- pedal steel guitar; Jon Goin - guitar; Beverly Gosdin- vocals; Vern Gosdin - guitar, vocals; Mitch Humphries - piano; Jerry Kroon - drums; Larry Paxton - bass; Bobby Thompson - guitar
Known as "The Voice," Vern Gosdin initially emerged as a bluegrass and country gospel artist in a group with his brothers. Born and raised in Alabama, he and brother, Rex, moved to California in 1961 at the onset of the folk boom, working the coffee house circuit. Eventually, they ended up in a bluegrass band called the Hillmen, which featured future Byrds member Chris Hillman.
The affiliation with Hillman led to a long association with him and other Byrd members Roger McGuinn, Gene Clarke (Gosdin and his brother did an LP with Clarke in 1967), and the late Gram Parsons. The Gosdin Brothers often worked with The Byrds, especially during their country-rock phase, but in 1972, they split and Vern Gosdin moved to Atlanta to raise a family and focus on songwriting. In 1976, he was asked to help with the initial recordings of singer/songwriter Emmylou Harris, just emerging from the shadow of the late Gram Parsons.
Gosdin's work with Harris landed him a deal with Elektra, and that, along with hits he had penned for Janie Fricke, helped put him back in the country music spotlight. He lost a deal with Elektra in mid-1980s, and did a few LPs on indie labels until re-signing with Columbia in 1986. He had a string of hits there as well.
This show, which was recorded for the Silver Eagle Cross Country radio series, was actually released as a live LP in 1997, but has since gone out of print. It features his two biggest solo hits of the early 1980s, "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong, Do It Right" and the set-closing "Way Down Deep." Known for his deep and soulful baritone voice, Gosdin offers up a long version of the Roberta Flack classic, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." He seems most comfortable doing his own originals, and clearly enjoys himself during more upbeat songs such as "Mother Country Music." Other highlights include "Today My World Slipped Away," which went on to become a classic.
Gosdin continues to record and tour, but has not had a charted hit since the early 1990s.