Albert Edward Brumley (October 29, 1905 – November 15, 1977) was an American shape note music composer and publisher, prolific in the genre of southern gospel.

Biography

Brumley was born near

Spiro, Oklahoma Spiro is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,164 at the 2010 census, a 2.8 percent decline from the figure of 2,227 recorded in 2 ...

on October 29, 1905, into a family of sharecroppers. He spent much of his early life chopping and picking cotton on his family's farm. In 1926, he enrolled in the Hartford Musical Institute of

Hartford, Arkansas Hartford is a city in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 642 at the 2010 census. Clergyman James T. Draper, Jr., president of the Southern ...

, and studied there through 1931. The institute was led by Eugene Monroe Bartlett (1884–1941), owner of the Hartford Music Company and composer of the well-known gospel song "Victory in Jesus". Brumley purchased Hartford Music Company in 1948. Brumley married Goldie Edith Schell in 1931. They lived on the banks of

Big Sugar Creek Big Sugar Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 waterway in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri. The creek starts near the Arkansas state line. B ...

in Powell, Missouri, where they raised six children. "

I'll Fly Away "I'll Fly Away" is a hymn written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley and published in 1932 by the Hartford Music company in a collection titled ''Wonderful Message''.Richard Matteson, Jr.''The Bluegrass Picker's Tune Book'' Mel Bay Publications, 2006 ...

," "Turn Your Radio On," "If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)," "I'll Meet You in the Morning," " Rank Stranger," and "He Set Me Free" are among a host of favorites written by Albert E. Brumley. He wrote over 800 songs. He established the ''Albert E. Brumley Sundown to Sunup Gospel Sing'' (now ''Albert E. Brumley Gospel Sing'') in 1969 in

Springdale, Arkansas Springdale is the fourth-largest city in Arkansas, United States. It is located in both Washington and Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas. Located on the Springfield Plateau deep in the Ozark Mountains, Springdale has long been an important i ...

. Brumley has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame,

Gospel Music Hall of Fame The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1972 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals and groups in all forms of gospel music. Inductees This is an incompl ...

, and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Albert Brumley was a member of the Church of Christ and is buried at Fox Church of Christ Cemetery near Powell, Missouri. He died November 15, 1977. Brumley's son Tom, who would die in 2009, later became a respected steel guitarist in country music and songleader in the Church of Christ in Powell.

Notes

External links

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Biographical Sketch on the Life of Albert E. BrumleyBrumley MusicEncyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Brumley, Albert
1905 births 1977 deaths American male composers American gospel singers American members of the Churches of Christ People from Spiro, Oklahoma Songwriters from Oklahoma Christian hymnwriters Hymnwriters *Writers Southern gospel performers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Singers from Oklahoma 20th-century American composers American Christian hymnwriters American male songwriters {{Oklahoma-stub