Dottie Rambo — 05/15/08

May 13, 2008 03:46 pm

— Gospel music lost a real giant Sunday when Kentucky native Dottie Rambo, 74, died in the crash of her touring bus on Interstate 44 in Missouri. While the native of Madisonville and member of the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame is no longer with us, it is a certainty that the many songs she penned will be sung for generations to come.
Simply put, Rambo songs such as “Sheltered in the Arms of God” “We Shall Behold Him,” “Tears Will Never Stain the Streets of that City” and many others are now standards sung in churches and by soloists and gospel groups throughout the world. You may not know who Dottie Rambo was, but chances are you are familiar with her songs.
Former Louisiana Gov. Jimmy Davis signed Rambo to a writing contract with his publishing company in the 1950s, and she later became known as a singer and performer in her own right.
Her songs were recorded by a wide-range of gospel, bluegrass, country and pop musicians, including Whitney Houston (”I Go to the Rock”), Barbara Mandrell (“I Will Glory in the Cross”), Elvis Presley (”If That Isn’t Love”) and Dolly Parton, with whom she recorded a number of duets. In the 1960s, Rambo penned a children’s musical, “Down by the Creekbank,” which has been performed by thousands of children’s choirs, including many in this community.
Rambo was inducted into the National Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In fact, she is a member for the Gospel Music Hall of Fame as both a soloist and as a member of “The Rambos.”
In all, Rambo had more than 2,500 published songs, including the 1982 Gospel Music Association Song of the Year, “We Shall Behold Him.” She was an immense talent who will continue to bless people through her music.