A BUBBLING BABY, A BUBBLING JOY
On September 23, 1930, early in the morning a baby boy was born in Albany, Georgia. At that moment, of course, his family had no way of knowing that this bouncing baby boy would grow up to become one of the most beloved and respected singers and entertainers of all time. He had to triumph over numerous hardships and tragedies along the way, but he did it with style and grace.
When the boy was five years old, he became gravely ill and gradually began to lose his eyesight. By the age of seven he was completely blind. Undaunted, the boy soon learned Braille, and a few years later he began to develop his musical talent by learning to play the piano. When he was fifteen, he became an orphan. Think of that: He was blind, he was orphaned, and he was only fifteen years old. But despite all of that, he refused to give up or give in. He kept working with his music and developing his talent.
At age seventeen, he moved to Seattle where he organized a musical trio, and he began performing. In 1952, at the age of twenty-two, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records, and ultimately became a world-famous recording artis and performer.
His creative genius and soulful energy, his heartfelt sensitivity, his joy in performing the music shown in his beautiful God given voice. He and the music become one. The music seems to flow freely out of him, and it seems to come from deep, deep, within his spirit.
While being interviewed on television he was ask, “Not too long ago I watched you perform two different concerts on successive nights, and in
...