Doug Oldham (November 30, 1930 – July 21, 2010) was an American

Southern Gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...

singer and a member of the

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 ...

Early years

Oldham was the son of Dr. Dale Oldham, a minister in the Church of God. His grandfather was also a clergyman. He nearly died from pneumonia as a child.

Musical career

Oldham was a musical performer for more than 60 years, with 64 albums to his credit, often traveling and performing with his wife Laura Lee. The couple produced a CD and wrote three books together.

Early years

Oldham traveled with

Fred Waring Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also ...

and

Waring's Pennsylvanians Waring's Pennsylvanians was a dance band that was founded at Penn State University by Fred Waring. First named the Collegians, the group was formed in 1918 at Penn State by the brothers Fred and Tom Waring and their friends Freddy Buck and Pole ...

in 1951 and sang as a member of that group's Glory Voices Quartet.

Radio

Beginning in 1950, Oldham was a soloist on the ''Christian Brotherhood Hour'', after having served as soloist for several years on the broadcast of Cadle Tabernacle in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

Television

Oldham was a regular performer on ''

The Old Time Gospel Hour ''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' was a ministry program television broadcast from Thomas Road Baptist Church hosted by minister Jerry Falwell featuring the church's Sunday service. Started in 1956 by Jerry Falwell, ''The Old-Time Gospel Hour'' gaine ...

'' with

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...

, ''

The PTL Club ''The PTL Club'', also known as ''The Jim and Tammy Show'', was a Christian television program that was first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, running from 1974 to 1989. The program was later known as ''PTL Today'' and as ''Heri ...

'' with

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

and

Tammy Faye Bakker Tamara Faye Messner (née LaValley, formerly Bakker ; March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American evangelist, singer, author, talk show host, and television personality. She gained notice for her work with ''The PTL Club'', a televangelist ...

during the 1970s and 80s, and traveled with the Bill Gaither Trio and the Slaughters during the 1960s. In 1975, he sang with the

Speer Family The Speer Family was a Southern gospel family musical group. It was founded in 1921 by George Thomas ("Dad") Speer (1891–1966), his wife, Lena Darling ("Mom") Speer (née Brock; 1899–1967), and his sister and brother-in-law, Pearl Claborn (1 ...

for Christian concerts. He was also a performer on several of Bill Gaither's Gaither Homecoming videos.

Influence

The trials that Oldham faced in his life were the basis for "a number of songs ... including ''Something Worth Living For'' and ''Thanks to Calvary (We Don't Live Here Anymore)''.

Ministry

Oldham was a minister of music, having been ordained in 1955. He served in that position in churches in

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along th ...

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metropo ...

, and

. In 1963, Oldham began ministering in evangelism through music. A newspaper article noted that he "served as song director and soloist for citywide preaching missions, camp meetings, youth conventions and concerts" across the United States and in other countries.

Awards and honors

Oldham's album, ''Something Worth Living For'', was named the best gospel album of 1968 by the National Evangelical Film Foundation. In the mid-1970s, Oldham was granted an honorary doctor of divinity degree from the California Graduate School of Theology. In 2006, he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He was the recipient of two

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

and an Angel Award. In 2007,

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

named a campus recital hall at the Fine Arts Building, the "Oldham Recital Hall, in his honor and established the Liberty University Oldham Concert Hall Scholarship Fund at the Center for Worship.

Personal life

Oldham and his wife Laura Lee had three daughters, Paula, Karen, and DeeDee. He was the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree and was named an Honorary

Colonel of Alabama Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Discography

*''I've A Song'' (TDE) *''Songs that Lift the Heart'' (TDE) *''Doug and Dr. Dale Oldham - Duets and Devotions'' (TDE 506) *''Songs that Touch the Heart'' (TDE 507) *''Requests and Favorites'' (TDE 509) *''The Lord is My Song - with the Leppien Sisters'' (Universal 3661) *''Doug Oldham Sings from the Hymnal'' (Universal 3667) *''Sings Songs of Joy, Real Joy'' - with the Leppien Sisters (Universal 66621) *''Doug Oldham with Jake Hess and the Imperials'' (Heartwarming 1930) *''Something Worth Living For'' (Heartwarming 1959) *''For Such a Time as This'' (Heartwarming 1977) *''A Rich Man Am I'' (Heartwarming-Impact 1997) *''I've Got To Go On'' (Heartwarming-Impact 3039) *''Sings Jerry Falwell's Television Favorites'' (Impact 3062) *''Have You Heard... God Loves You!'' (Impact 3064) *''The King is Coming!'' (Impact 3087) *''Bathing in the Sunlight of God's Love - renamed The Family of God'' (Impact 3099) *''Sings the Best of Bill Gaither'' (Impact 3143) *''Through It All'' (Impact 3156) *''Get All Excited... Go Tell Everybody!'' (Impact 3183) *''Christmas with Doug Oldham'' (Impact 3193) *''Inspiration'' (Vista 1235) *''Live'' (Impact 3211) *''To God Be the Glory'' (Impact 3240) *''Sings More Songs of Bill Gaither'' (Impact 3272) *''The Church Triumphant ... Alive and Well!'' (Impact 3324) *''Doug/Warm'' (Impact 3345) *''Live... with the Speers'' (Impact 3353) *''Doug Oldham & Friends'' (Impact 3393) *''I Am... Because'' (Impact 3430) *''Golden Treasury of Hymns for the Family of God'' (Impact 3496) *''Sings the Old and New of Bill and Gloria Gaither'' (Impact 3529) *''Special Delivery'' (Impact 3546) *''Holiday Song'' (Impact 3562) *''What's It Gonna Take'' (Impact 3707) *''Golden Treasury of Hymns'' Volume 2 (Impact 3755) *''Count Me In'' (Impact 3781) *''Hymns of the Faith'' (PTL 1857) *''All Rise'' (PTL 1996) *''Poet of Praise'' (Lovesong) *''He Saw Me'' (Brentwood) *''The Storyteller'' (Song Garden) *''Unmistakably Doug'' *''My God Is Good''

Book

*''I Don't Live There Anymore'' by Doug Oldham (Impact Books 1973 )

References

External links

www.dougoldham.com
��Official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oldham, Doug 1930 births 2010 deaths American gospel singers Southern gospel performers Anderson University (Indiana) alumni Singers from Indiana