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December 2004 Table of Contents
Stories Behind the Songs
What Song Are You Whistling
By Lindsay Terry
Song: Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome
Psalm 51:1-19: Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
 How many of you would like to meet Andy Griffith in person?–raise your hand! I dare say most every person reading this book has his hand up right now. How would you like to have worked along side him in one of his projects? Well David Huntsinger has done so. He arranged the music for Andy Griffith's recent CD, "Precious Memories," and along with Steve Tyrell, co-produced the recording, a project which took four months to complete in 1995. There are thirty-three hymns on the CD that has already sold more than 3,000,000 copies, possibly the most successful hymn CD in history, and still going. David had the pleasure of being invited to Andy's home in North Carolina to talk about the project before they ever began work on it. David was still excited about it when I talked with him November 20, 2003.
David Huntsinger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1955. When he was only ten days old his parents moved to Los Angeles, California, where he grew up. When he was eleven years of age his parents bought a piano from their family doctor for $65.00. David said, "I had never known that I was interested in music at all, but with the coming of the piano, suddenly the interest was there. I was in love with it! I played constantly. I had a good ear for music and within a year I was playing for church services." He played piano and organ for them until he graduated from high school.
David gave his heart and life to Christ in an Assembly of God church in Norwalk, California. He grew up in a congregation where music was extremely important. In the church he had a combination of musical influences which ranged from the more traditional music of Ralph Carmichael and Audrey Mieir to Southern Gospel. One day his mother bought a very early recording of The Rambos and he played it constantly. He said, "As a kid I liked their music."
David attended the University of California at Long Beach for two years, studying anthropology. At that point in time he was approached by Hal Spencer, founder of Manna Music, about playing piano for The Rambos— Dottie, Buck and Reba. He had been playing for a group called the Monarchs. He was recommended to Spencer by Andrae Crouch who had seen David playing piano on television. Crouch said, "I’ve seen this kid on TV, and I don’t know his name but he’s really good." Spencer located David and helped make the necessary contacts, and he was soon playing for The Rambos. He continued with them for three years.
Huntsinger had written some songs earlier with his wife, Bonnie, whom he met as a young teenager—although they didn’t date until after they had graduated from high school. They were married in 1981. But while with The Rambos he became more serious about the song creating process. He says, "I loved observing the songwriting of Dottie Rambo." He worked with Reba (Rambo) McGuire on a record project called "Lady," which contained a number of her songs. It was a #1 album for an extended time.
While he was with The Rambos, Dottie knew that David was interested in songwriting, so together they wrote a very popular children’s musical, "Down by the Creekbank." It was ironic, because Dottie’s songwriting started by a creekbank when she was a small child. You can learn more of her early life in the stories of her songs that appear in this volume.
During David’s tenure with The Rambos, Dottie would often watch the television ministry of Rex Humbard in Akron, Ohio. She noticed that Rev. Humbard would open his program with, "Holy Spirit Thou art welcome in this place." She remarked to David, "That would be a good title for a song. Let’s write a one."
David told me, "I remember that we sat down on their bus and Dottie wrote the lyric very quickly. I then began to work on the music. I said to her, ‘I think it would be good to have a verse.’ I had already been thinking of a melody. Dottie then wrote an addition lyric. It all happened, initially, in an hour or two at the most. On the Rambo’s next record they included Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome. We also began to use it in the concerts. It took off very quickly. It was published in sheet music and in a choral arrangement and began to be sung very widely in churches."
"Not long after the song was written I went to Canada to play for a concert. While at the airport picking up my luggage I heard a gentleman nearby whistling a tune. I listened long enough to be sure that he was whistling the tune that I thought he was. I then broke into his music and engaged him in a bit of conversation. I asked, ‘Sir, I am interested to know the name of the song you were whistling.’ He said, ‘Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome. We sing it at our church.’ I said, ‘I wrote that song with Dottie Rambo.’ He looked at me like, ‘No way!’ That was the first time I had heard anyone, outside our concerts, sing—or whistle—the song after we wrote it. That experience I will never forget. The song has now gone around the world."
David and Bonnie, and their two dogs and two cats, live in the Nashville area where he continues to write, produce and arrange music. David has done many records and CDs of his piano, with orchestra, that have been well received. He has recently worked on a number of records for Discovery House Music, and arm of Radio Bible Class.
Reflection: I love Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome because it addresses the blessed Third Person of the Trinity, the heavenly Guest, who has taken up His abode in the hearts of those who know Christ as Lord and Savior. He is our Comforter, our Guide and our Teacher.
Taken from the book Stories Behind 50 Southern Gospel Favorites, Vol.I, by Lindsay Terry
Published by Kregel Publications, 2002
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