Here's a list of songs that Dottie recorded with the Imperials in her 1965 album entitled, "Dottie Rambo & the Imperials".
The Church Triumphant
Keep a Lamp Shining Bright
Til There's a Mountain to Move
That Same Road
One Day Nearer Home
I Want to Live So I Can Die Right
The Good Ole Days
God's House of Rest
Wait For an Answer
This is the finale on the series of posts on Dottie Rambo. I started this series last August and now I'm wrapping up this series with the 23rd and final post. I've been chronicling the major events in her life that have impacted her music. Some of the information I've written was very sketchy. Some of the information didn't have much meat on the bones. However, I utilized many YouTube clips so you the blog reader could have a fuller understanding of what I was trying to point out.. I featured YouTube clips of Dottie Rambo giving testimony about her life from the Dove Network in 2007. I also featured YouTube clips of Dottie speaking about her back troubles in the late 80's and her subsequent recovery in a conference she spoke at in 1994.
Beginning from her early days of living at home up until the time of her death, Dottie Rambo has written approximately 2500 songs throughout her entire life beginning at the age of 8. I mentioned about some of the events that transpired in her life which inspired her to pen down certain songs such as "He Looked Beyond My Fault", "Sheltered in the Arms of God", "In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul", etc. She has without question been one of the most gifted and prolific songwriters of the twentieth century. My focus was to highlight some of the major life events that transpired in her musical and songwriting career. She was very gifted. Also, she played a great price for the gift that God gave her, which has been evident throughout her life. Nevertheless, she was very faithful in developing and using that gift. She has written songs that will stand through the test of time. She's written songs that have been a great blessing to me and thousands of others throughout Dottie's lifetime and in the years since she passed away. Many gospel groups have recorded many of her songs on their albums over the years. She was a good singer, guitar player, and most of all--songwriter.
I've never taken time to elaborate on my opinions concerning Dottie. I didn't agree with her on many things concerning her association with the charismatics in her later years or her associations with musicians in the country music field. Even though I didn't agree with her on many things, I did enjoy many of the songs she had written throughout her lifetime. Her songs have been and are such a blessing to many people today. I was thinking to myself a few months ago how her songs have been such a blessing. I was wondering why her songs have been such a blessing given the fact I didn't agree with her concerning her associations with Paul and Jan Crouch and other charismatic leaders, for example. There's one thought that came to my mind. When Dottie first discovered the gift she had for songwriting at the creek near her homee,she told her mother about it. Her mother told her she would pay a great price for that gift. That statement became reality at the age of 12 for Dottie. For four years of her life, Dottie sang country music. She learned to play the guitar listening to Chet Akins on the Grand Ole Opry. She sang and played country music until the age of 12 when she was converted at a revival meeting in a church. After her conversion, she stated she no longer wanted to sing country but sing songs unto the Lord. That didn't bode well with her father. At that time her father was not saved and he was a drunkard. He would have no part of it. If Dottie was to remain in his home, she would have to sing country. If she chose to sing gospel, then she would have to leave home. She made the decision to leave home and sing gospel. Nevertheless from the age of 12 she would travel across the country singing in churches. She would sing in revival meetings and write her songs (as a single woman) until she married Buck in 1950 at the ago of 16. That decision molded and shaped her life. According to what I heard on Dottie Rambo specials on YouTube, her dad would years later get saved following a near fatal car accident.
In 2 Samuel 24:24 King David stated unto Araunah that he wouldn't offer burnt offerings unto the Lord which cost him nothing. The greatest sacrifice we can offer unto the Lord is ourselves. Even though I may not have agreed with her on many things, she did pay a price at a young age to be faithful to what she felt God wanted her to do in her heart. I believe as a result her songs have been such a great blessing over the years. A gift endowed to us from God is very precious. It's something we should take seriously. God has a will and a purpose for everybody in this world. God's most important purpose for man is to become born again. After that, God wants us to dedicate and use the talents He has bestowed upon us for his honor and glory. That requires a sacrifice upon our parts. What if Dottie hadn't been willing to pay the price and leave home to use her gift to sing and write gospel? One may never know. For one thing her songs may not have had the impact that they do today. Also, her dad may not have gotten saved. Nonetheless, her willingness to do what she felt God wanted at the age of 12 more than likely led to her dad getting saved some 20+ years later. Being faithful and obedient to God is very important. God blesses faithfulness.
Dottie Rambo wrote more songs than any other gospel songwriter in the twentieth century. That's why she was dubbed as the queen of gospel music. As far as I know, she's second to Fanny Crosby who wrote over 8000 songs a century earlier. Dottie Rambo is an icon in gospel music and songwriting. She has definitely earned her place in gospel music's songwriting hall of fame.
Dottie Rambo Homegoing (Sheltered in the Arms of God)
Gloria Gaither (There Has to be a Song)
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