This article is about 20th-century American gospel-song writer. For the 19th-century English member of parliament, see
Charles A. Moody.
Charles Ernest Moody (a.k.a. Charbles Earnest Moody) was a
gospel[1] songwriter from
Gordon County,
Georgia,
United States. He was a member of the 1920s string band
Georgia Yellow Hammers[2] from
Calhoun, Georgia, which included members Bill Chitwood, Bud Landress, and Phil Reeve.[3] The Yellow Hammers were a very popular string band with their biggest hit being "Picture on the Wall" which sold more than sixty thousand copies in 1928.[4] Moody's individual songwriting talents were, however, dynamic.
After studying music in
Dalton, Georgia, with A. J. Sims,[5] Moody continued his studies at the Southern Development Normal School in
Asheville, North Carolina, while directing music for a
Tunnel Hill, Georgia,
Methodist church. At some time prior to 1927 when he moved to Calhoun to teach in public schools, he began his affiliation with the Georgia Yellow Hammers. In 1938, being married with a family, Moody moved back to Tunnel Hill but in 1940 relocated to Calhoun.[6]
After the Yellow Hammers disbanded, Moody was the choir director of the Calhoun First Methodist Church for many years.[7] "Kneel at the Cross" and "Drifting too Far From the Shore" are hits for which Moody is most widely known as songwriter. Moody was born October 8, 1891, and died June 21, 1977.[8] Moody married Fannie Brownlee (b. Mar. 3, 1894, d. Feb. 24, 1950),[8] They had three children: Charles Brownlee Moody (b. 1928),[9] Frances Moody Jones, Virginia Mae Moody Worth.[10][11]
It Will Be Glory (When I Shall Reach That City Fair) (1951)[31]
Let Us Hope and Pray (In This World We Have Trouble and Sadness)(1955)[32]
Georgia Yellow Hammers recorded thirty-six songs on Victor records, in February, August, and October 1927, February and October 1928, and November, 1929,[33] including:
The February, 1927 recording session, in Atlanta, featured Bill Chitwood on violin and bass vocals, Uncle Bud Landress on banjo, tenor vocals (and perhaps violin on Fourth of July at a Country Fair), and Phil Reeve and Elias Meadows, both on guitars and tenor vocals. Charles Ernest Moody performed with the Georgia Yellow Hammers on later recordings.[33]
^Faces of Gordon CountyArchived 2011-07-10 at the
Wayback Machine (accessed 2012-09-22). This website has a better-quality photo of the Georgia Yellow Hammers, Phil Reeve, Uncle Bud Landress, Charles Ernest Moody, Bill Chitwood.
^Daniel, Wayne W. (2001). Pickin' on Peachtree. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.