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Ain’t No Grave: The Life and Legacy of Brother Claude Ely

Name: Ain’t No Grave: The Life and Legacy of Brother Claude Ely
Rating: 3.59 (870 reviews)
Author: Macel Ely II

Macel Ely II December 1, 2010

3.59 870 Ratings

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Synopsis

Once described as the King Recording Label’s “Gospel Ranger,” Brother Claude Ely (1922-1978) was known and loved throughout the Appalachian mountains as both a religious singer-songwriter and a Pentecostal-Holiness preacher.

Few people, however, knew the details of his childhood, military service and years of hard toil in the coal fields of southwestern Virginia. What Ely was known for was his brilliance as a preacher and his songwriting gifts. Through the enormous popularity of songs like “There Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down,” Brother Claude Ely bequeathed a musical and spiritual influence that continues to resonate throughout the Appalachians and in gospel music today.

Authored by Ely’s great-nephew Macel Ely, “Ain’t No Grave: The Life and Legacy of Brother Claude Ely” is an oral biography composed from recorded interviews with more than 1,000 people in the Appalachian Mountains who knew Brother Claude Ely. An accompanying CD collects two recordings of “There Ain’t No Grave” alongside other songs and sermons.

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