Dottie Rambo - Remembered
I am still in a state of shock. When I received a phone call from a friend of mine around 8am Sunday morning, I never dreamed the news I was about to receive would be that Dottie Rambo had been killed in a tragic bus accident earlier that morning. My heart literally sank as I was hearing the news. What a tremendous loss, but I still can't help but think what a wonderful Mother's Day she had, sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Dottie had spent her entire life singing and writing songs for Jesus. Her songs have reached literally millions of hearts and souls through such people as Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Barbara Mandrell, Happy Goodman Family, Greenes, Perrys, Kingsmen, Cathedrals, Oak Ridge Boys, Sandi Patti as well as her own family group, the Rambos; as these, along with so many other artists, have recorded and continue to record Dottie's "children", as she liked to call her songs. What a wonderful legacy she has left behind though her music. Very few people, I believe, sought the heart of the Master like Dottie Rambo did. She wrote what so many of us could not verbalize and was able to reach down and ##### our hearts though such tremendous and heartfelt offerings such as "He Looked Beyond my Fault", "If That Isn't Love", "Sheltered in the Arms of God", "We Shall Behold Him", "For What Earthly Reason", "Tears Will Never Stain the Streets of that City", "I've Never Been This Homesick Before", "I Will Glory in the Cross", "I Just Came to Talk with You Lord", "In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul" and so many more. One of my all-time favorite Dottie Rambo songs is one of her more obscure tunes the Rambos recorded back in 1981 called "You Will Have to Live the Song". That song could have been Dottie's testimony; as the song basically says "you will have to live the song before you know." Every note and every tear shed as Dottie travailed over her songs, she has lived (though it wasn't always easy) and she could convey those messages better than anyone.
Dottie's songs are such a wonderful portrayal of who she was and who Christ is. She allowed you to see her heart, all the while showing the listener the very heart of God. Countless people found comfort, tranquility, joy and love through her music, and though she walked through many valleys to bring us these songs, the very essence of those songs helped us through our very own dark days. Though her songs were so complex at times, they were yet, so very simple and easy to understand. Even as a child growing up on the Rambos music and Dottie's songs, I understood what she was writing about. I remember as an 8 years old child totally comprehending the message behind "In the Valley He Restoreth My Soul". Oh how that song has elevated me to spiritual heights when I needed it most. Dottie's songs could be quite serious; but she was also in many ways, a child at heart; as she so wonderfully displayed in her children's musical, "Down by the Creekbank" (which I performed at the age of 7 years old). Though it's been close to 30 years since I performed it, to this day it brings back incredible feelings of nostalgia and warmth. Dottie's music embodied everything that was good and right. No one could craft a song like Dottie Rambo. I don't think I've heard a song she wrote that I just didn't like. Some I liked more than others, but all have touched me in some way. She wasn't just at the top of her class; she owned the whole school.
I've been extremely privileged to meet Dottie on several occasions, the last being the middle of last year (2007) when she sang at South Henderson Pentecostal-Holiness Church in Henderson, North Carolina. I was able to spend a few moments with her as Larry Ferguson (her manager and a friend of mine) and I were helping her to the bus after the concert and I will forever treasure that time, albeit brief. I was also privileged to do an interview with Dottie about 8 years ago for this website and we talked for close to 3 hours about her music and her life; we laughed, we cried and we rejoiced. My admiration and respect for Dottie grew tremendously that evening and I will forever treasure that interview.
Being an observant person, I love to watch people. I have observed Dottie in several places and environments and have always found her to be the same, no matter where she was. Back in 2006 at the National Quartet Convention, I observed how she interacted with her fans. There was a very long line of people waiting to see her and she could have very easily just moved everyone along so she can be done with meeting people. But she took her time and intently listened to their comments and had real conversations with people when they came to meet her. She made each person feel like they were the only people in the world and that they were the only ones that mattered to her. Even some young boys (maybe around 10 or 12 years old) were so excited to meet her and she treated them with such respect. She loved people, and it was a genuine love. Most of the time, ministry isn't what is on the platform; it is usually that one on one interaction, displaying God's love and compassion, and Dottie displayed that better than anyone.
Dottie's legacy was felt in churches all across America (and probably the world) on the day she died, as I know of 3 churches around the country that used a Dottie Rambo song in their Mothers Day service, (one of them being my own church) and the people who sang those songs had no clue that she had left this world. I remember sitting at my own church as a lady stepped up to sing, "Come Spring" and thought, how ironic, but yet how appropriate. I couldn't help but smile as a slight tear ran down my face.
Dottie did not walk through this world unnoticed, as her legacy lives on and her songs continue to be an anchor of hope for those tossed on stormy seas. It could be said that each life is a song. I believe that Dottie's life was one big, beautifully written melody and she has lived that song to its fullest, all the way to the end. She spent 74 years writing this song, and that song is now complete; for what she has known only in part, is now completely made known. All the songs that she was blessed to pen, were only parts of her life song. You can literally look at each lyric and read her life story. As a testament to that, the lyric in one of her songs says, "the roads been long, I'm a little bit weary, many miles behind me, but Home's a lot nearer." Dottie has fought many long, hard battles here in this life and has endured many heartaches and struggles, but she's crossed over the river now and is standing on the other side, where she is forever "sheltered in the arms of God" in a land "where a heart will never break anymore!"
Written by James Hales
Author: AGM
| Author's Website: http://absolutelygospel.com/
Written: 05/16/2008
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Category: Feature Articles
Comments: 5
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What a beautiful article for a beautiful lady! There is not much more that can be said than what you have spoken in this article. Dottie was an awesome singer and songwriter who has left a tremendous legacy! And as you have stated ". . . . Dottie's life was one big, beautifully written melody and she has lived that song to its fullest, all the way to the end." She will be deeply missed but her spirit and music will go on! Thank you for blessing us with such a wonderful article on Dottie!
Amazed in His presence and humbled by His great love!
“God makes everything happen at the right time.” (In His Time) Eccl. 3:11
What great articles on a wonderful gracious lady. She is now freed of the pain she endured for so long & is with her blessed Savior. Our loss is heaven's gain.
God is good all the time & all the time God is good.
Elaine Harcourt
I met Miss Dottie Rambo at the National Quartet Convention. She sure did put on a wonderful show. The next yr. we went She was not there. The MOC announced that she was ill and could not make it and then we all had prayer that God would see that she was there the following yr. We attended the following yr and we were fortunate to hear Miss Dottie Rambo's beautiful voice. All I can say now is what a glorious time she is having with God and all of the other great southern gospel singers up there.
I COULD LET THE WORDS FLOW BUT, THAT HAS SO WONDERFULLY BEEN EXPRESSED ALREADY. SO MAY I SAY, DOTTIE'S MUSIC WILL LIVE FOREVER AND CONTINUE TO MINISTER TO THE WORLD THAT SHE IS NO LONGER A PART OF-WHERE THE EARTHLY MUST ENDURE SORROW,PAIN & GRIEF. BUT ONE DAY SHUOLD WE REMAIN TURE TO THE FATHER, WE TWO SHALL BEHOLD HIM.
I need the lyrics to song- God won't ever change.
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