Merry Christmas!
Today I am re-posting a blog I wrote several years ago, the story of the first time I heard the beautiful Christmas song Mary, Did You Know.
“Mary, Did You Know” by Buddy Greene & Mark Lowry.
It was in the early 1990s at a small live concert and the song was sung by Buddy Greene, one of its composers.
A friend had asked us if we would like to go to Fort Recovery to hear Buddy Greene, a Christian musician known for playing the harmonica. My friend and her husband had seen Buddy perform several times and she knew that I liked harmonica music. Our son Jeff, who was around 12 at the time, also went along, so it would have been about 1994.
I do not remember where the event was held, only that it was at a church in Fort Recovery. Chairs were set up in their fellowship hall and a small group had gathered that Friday night to hear some Christian music played on the harmonica. We had seats in the first or second row and we even got to meet Buddy Greene after the show.
Buddy Greene is quite talented and is a very good entertainer. In addition to the harmonica, he played his guitar, sang, and talked. He had several harmonicas and played them like I had never heard a harmonica played before.
He played traditional harmonica numbers, such as Orange Blossom Special, as well as hymns, Gospel songs, and even a few classical pieces. I never thought of Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as a harmonica number, but Buddy played it beautifully on his harmonica.
Toward the end of the evening he sang Mary, Did You Know, a song that he helped compose. That was the first time we had ever heard the song and it immediately became one of our favorite Christmas songs. Buddy explained that his friend Mark Lowry wrote the lyrics and asked him to compose the melody.
What a wonderful piece of music that has become a favorite Christmas song for many. I still get chills every time I hear it because the lyrics are so profound and meaningful.
The lyrics were written in 1984 and Buddy composed the music sometime after. Mary, Did You Know was first recorded by Michael English in 1992 and has since been sung and recorded by many others.
We got to hear it when it was a relatively new song and were privileged to hear it performed live by one of its composers.
Most recently, we saw bluegrass performer Rhonda Vincent and her band the Rage twice and she sang Mary, Did You Know at both concerts. They dressed up for their version of the Nativity during their Christmas concert.
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Berlin, Ohio, December 2022
Rhonda sang Mary, Did You Know beautifully and accompanied herself on her acoustic guitar. You could have heard a pin drop when she sang it.
Rhonda Vincent, Berlin, Ohio, December 2022
Rhonda Vincent, Berlin, Ohio, December 2022
Merry Christmas from Karen’s Chatt!
