Tim has been in SG music for many years and is an excellent pianist. While he could never fill Roger’s shoes on the emcee duties of the group, Tim’s piano skills are an excellent fit for Legacy 5.
I can’t image how difficult it was to fill in for Roger during his illness, but hopefully the fans will accept seeing Tim in Roger’s spot behind the piano. The group must continue on as they enter the post-Roger era.
Continue to pray for the entire L5 family as they are still coping with the loss of a legend…….
The home-going service for Roger Bennett was excellent. At times, it was very difficult to hold back the tears. I can’t imagine being on stage and trying to sing for the loss of a best friend. My hat is off to Legacy Five and especially to Scott Fowler.
You could tell at times the song lyrics were difficult to get out, but Scott did a fine job leading the congregation in “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” & “Victory In Jesus”. Jeff Stice was amazing at the piano, but of course that is all you would get from Jeff anyway. Jeff is a class act.
I know that Roger will be missed, but I really liked what Phil Hoskins said. “We will be with Roger a lot longer than we will be without him”. I’ve never heard more comforting words.
In a newsletter from L5 this morning, we learned that the funeral service for Roger would indeed be broadcast via the internet. Here is the newsletter:
We just got word from the staff at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN, that they are able to provide a live video stream of the funeral services for Roger Bennett on Wednesday afternoon, March 21, at 2 pm.
The Bennett family has decided that it would be a nice thing to offer to those who were not able to come… you can watch the funeral services by just clicking thru to the Brentwood Baptist website and then clicking on “live stream”…
Once again, thank you for your prayers and concern at this difficult time.
To be honest, I had all intentions of making my first blog post (with the exception of the welcome post) about my favorite quartet of all time, The Kingdom Heirs. But due to the passing of one of the most beloved piano players in the history of Southern Gospel music last Saturday, I feel that Roger Bennett is more deserving. Not because of his passing, but because of the memories that Roger has forever etched in my heart.
My first memory of Roger Bennett came about 20 years ago when a friend of mine loaned me a cassette by The Cathedrals. The title of the recording was “Travelin’ Live” and I remember being in awe of each person that sang on the project. It was many years later that my interest in Southern Gospel would really take flight and wouldn’t you know it, that same cassette found it’s way back into my collection. My friend had told me to keep it and it had been forgotten in storage for 15 years or more. One day I remembered that I still had it and I was surprised that I could still remember most of the words to the songs as I played it back over and over again.
One song in particular that really stuck out to me on the project was entitled, “Homeland”. It featured Roger Bennett, along with Mark Trammell & Danny Funderburk. George Younce sang bass on one of the choruses, but it was primarily recorded as a trio. I remembered George calling on Roger to say something before they did a turnaround on the song. It’s kind of eerie listening to these words from Roger as we mourn his passing:
You beckoned to my loved ones and how my tears did flow
And though I tried, I could not hide, how it hurt to see them go
But now I know that they left this world and moved to a better place
And someday soon you will call me too and I will see them face to face
Since this project is so hard to find, many people probably have never heard it, I feel lead to share a clip with you that are reading this (Please do not ask me to share the song file with you). Listen closely to the lyrics of this song……I hope you can find the same comfort in them as I have!
You will need to use IE to view/listen to this……sorry FireFox users!!!
Roger, I know you are in a better place, but your “Legacy” will forever remain to those of us that you’ve touched with your music and your ministry. I can’t help but imagine that you, Glen, & George are already singing around the throne of the Almighty.
