Rex Bennett – “Sweet Hour of Prayer”

The Sleeve:

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
 “ON JANUARY 18, 1956, A BLESSED EVENT HAPPENED IN THE HOME OF MR. AND MRS. JAMES (DINK) BENNETT. THAT WAS THE DAY THAT LITTLE REX BENNETT WAS BORN.
 REX WAS BORN WITH GLAUCOMA AND COULD NOT SEE. IN SPITE OF HIS BLINDNESS, GOD GAVE REX SOMETHING THAT HE COULD USE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD AND BLESS THE HEARTS OF MULTITUDES.
 ONE SUNDAY MORNING WHEN I WAS WORKING AS ASSOCIATE AND MUSIC DIRECTOR FOR DR. R.D. INGLE IN THE BEREA BAPTIST CHURCH IN JACKSONVILLE, I WALKED INTO THE BEREAN CLASS AND REX WAS SINGING “SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER” AND GIVING THE RECITATION, “THE FARMER AND THE LORD”. HIS SINGING WAS SUCH A BLESSING THAT WE ASKED REX TO SING FOR THE MORNING SERVICE.
 REX WAS ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD AND WE STOOD HIM ON A CHAIR BEHIND THE PULPIT SO THAT HE MIGHT BE SEEN. HE REPEATED THE SONG THAT HE HAD USED IN THE BEREAN CLASS. THERE WAS HARDLY A DRY EYE IN THE HOUSE AND THAT SERVICE WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED BY THOSE WHO WERE THERE.
 THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A SINGING CAREER FOR LITTLE REX BENNETT. A CAREER THAT HAS TAKEN HIM INTO LARGE AND SMALL CHURCH ALIKE, TELEVISION APPEARANCES, RADIO BROADCASTS, AND GOSPEL SINGING CONCERTS.
 ALTHOUGH REX HAD BEEN SINGING ABOUT THE LORD, HE DID NOT KNOW HIM UNTIL 1969 WHEN HE ACCEPTED CHRIST AS HIS OWN PERSONAL SAVIOUR.
 REX IS NOW SEVENTEEN AND HE LOVES THE LORD AND HAS A BURNING DESIRE TO SING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.
 AS HE ENTERS INTO A NEW ERA OF HIS LIFE, WE WISH HIM A BOUNTIFUL SUCCESS IN THIS, HIS FIRST RECORDING.
 REV. H. L. HUTCHERSON”

Personal Review:
 There is not much I can say about Rex Bennett that the liner notes didn’t already, he’s a teenager who is blind and sings Gospel music.

So, the album opens with the title track “Sweet Hour of Prayer (The Farmer and The Lord)” and the song opens with a choir, before Rex begins to sing, and immediately as soon as you hear his voice you can definitely hear his distinct Florida accent, the organ and piano playing accompanying Rex is pretty good. Then comes the best part of Gospel music, the spoken word part of the song where Rex tells a story over a heavenly choir accompanying him. Back to Rex singing, and it’s good. After that comes “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow” and it’s more upbeat organ filled song, Rex gives it his all as he sings from his heart. I definitely like this song, the delivery is pretty amazing. “If I Can Help Somebody” comes next and it’s a song I know and one that I like, it’s sung pretty good by Rex, and it just takes some time to get into his accent, but he’s a good singer. After that we get some organs with the song “He Bought My Soul” and some nice guitar too. It’s good. “Let Me Touch Him” ends the A-Side of this album, it’s a slower one, but it’s pretty good. I enjoy it. Rex is good at singing.

The B-Side opens with “The Wonder of It All” and it’s pretty good, it’s not the song I thought it was, but I enjoyed this one too, Rex gets some high notes in there too along the way. Then comes “Until Then” and it seems to be a more upbeat song, and it has good vocals and backing music. We continue with the song “Who Am I” and it opens with some good piano playing and Rex begins to sing again, giving it his best as he sings his heart out, he’s like really good, I think he should cut a country album, or something faster paced. The album continues with the song “If You Know the Lord” and it;s organ filled once again and it’s pretty good, I really like this one, the vocals are pretty good. We continue on and end the album with the song “Fill My Cup” and it’s a slower paced song, but Rex gives it a fine touch with his vocals, and it’s good with the faint organ playing. All in all, not a bad song, it begins to pick up. Song and album are both good.

Interesting Facts:
None.

Track Listing:
A1 – Sweet Hour of Prayer (The Farmer and the Lord)
A2 – I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
A3 – If I Can Help Somebody
A4 – He Bought My Soul
A5 – Let Me Touch Him

B1 – The Wonder of It All
B2 – Until Then
B3 – Who Am I
B4 – If You Know the Lord
B5 – Fill My Cup

Label:
Vincent Sound Recording Studios

Catalog Number:
NV22473

Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
Piano & Accordion – Winston Miller
Organ – Karen Miller
Bass & Guitar – Ronnie Combs
Drums – Fred Mack
Voices – Gene Hodges Singers
Producer – Gene Hodges
Engineer – Tom Markham

Other Albums I Own by Rex Bennett:
None.

Released:
1973

Related Vinyls:

Glenda Lee (Day) & Richard Miller – “Special: Dixie Echoes (’66)” Gary (Dee) Bradford – “Good Ole Gospel Music” Jerry D. Brown – “A Crippled Boys Prayer” Gene MacLellan – “Gene MacLellan”