RECORD BUSINESS Biographical Sketches o f Recording Artists BEN and BETH ALLEN
i THE LON ELY SHEPHERD “ The other day I met a shepherd on a mountain slope to whom I offered some tracts, saying, ‘You who live in such a lonely place — |if you accept Jesus Christ, you will be happy forever.’ As he poured I out to me all his bitter sorrows, I I told him that the Word of God is the only medicine that can cure I the wounds of the heart. “ Next day I went to give him a New Testament, for which he was very grateful. He said that he and some other shepherds had read the tracts I gave him and that it was the first time in their lives they had heard of salvation through Christ. I asked him whether he realized that he was a sinner, and he said that he did. ‘Do you know why Jesus came to this world and died? I continued. ‘To cleanse us from sin,’ he answered. ‘Then why don’t you go to Him to save you?’ I asked. As I talked on, he became more and more thoughtful. ‘Yes, I want to be saved,’ were his last words that evening.” Thus Gregory, a student at our Macedonian Bible Institute who knows what it is to suffer persecu tion for the cause of Christ, tells of his encounter with a seeking soul. The school which he attends is unique in Greece. It was founded to train young men and women for full-time Christian servicej and to do missionary work while they are still in training. Even more impor tant than our many-sided relief program is the preparation of young Greeks to reach their own people with the Gospel. How would you like to help fit a young man or woman for the Lord’s service in Greece? If you would be interested in a full ($25 a month) or part scholarship, we will be glad to send you the picture and testimony of the one you are helping. Also you will have the thrill of personal correspondence. Just write to the American Mission to Greeks, Inc., Rev. Spiros Zodhiates, General Secretary, Dept. K, P.O. Box 423, New York 36, N.Y. (In Canada: i 90 Duplex Ave., Toronto 7, Ont.)
S i n g i n g together in the choir of the Old Fashioned Revival Hour be gan a life of singing together for Ben and Beth Allen, this month’s record spotlight personalities. Their new al bum of sacred folk songs on the Chris tian Faith label makes the ideal Christmas gift. Ben Allen was bom and reared in Garden Grove, Calif., while his wife, Beth (Elizabeth) hails from Minne apolis, Minn., from which city her parents moved when she was two. “We had been singing together at the Revival Hour for about two years,” Ben recalls, “ when we decided that a life of music together would be ours. They’ve been wonderful years, too!” The Allens have one son, Mark, age seven. Beth Allen had many opportunities for her musical talents in high school, singing with the glee club. After this time she studied voice at U.S.C. “ It was Nora Bume, pianist for the then ‘Pilgrim’s Hour,’ ” Beth recalls, “who introduced me to Leland Green, direc tor of music for the program and also for the ‘Revival Hour.’ ” “ Leland Green was my high school music teacher,” Ben recalled. “He was a wonderful instructor and teach er, and I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities he gave me to testify in song.” After high school, Ben attend ed Fullerton Junior College, Univers ity of Redlands, and holds the bach- ellor and master of music degrees. He is employed by the Los Angeles City Schools System as Radio-TV Consul tant, assigned to the production of a weekly television youth program. The Allens have worked together in a number of Southern California churches. For three years Ben was choir director at the First Brethren Church of Long Beach, and a year and a half in the same position at the First Baptist Church of Whittier. Today, he is director of music at the First Bap tist Church of Temple City, Calif. Ben and Beth Allen have been known for their delightful styling of folk music. Ben said, “ I guess I was destined for it. I can remember many years ago strumming a guitar for my own amazement. There were four boys in our family and so we had a quartet. Being the youngest, I was the top tenor. Beth Allen started the singing of folk music because, as she explained, “ I wanted an instrument
BEN AND BETH ALLEN light enough so we could carry it around to meetings.” (Beth plays the Irish harp, rarely ever made any more.) “ It would be hard to describe folk music,” Ben stated, “ except that it is any type of music which has been handed down from one generation to another, sometimes for several cen turies. Spirituals are one form of folk music, known particularly in the South.” To the question, “Where does one find folk music?” Ben answered, “We spend our vacations looking for it. We’ve been to the small towns of Oregon, Washington and parts of Canada.” As to the most popular current folk song, “He Got the Whole World in His Hands,” seems to be the favorite, the Allens feel. “We’ve recorded it in our new album,” Ben said with a smile. The Allens are regularly fea tured on the “ Old Fashioned Revival Hour,” the “ Bible Institute Hour,” and have sung with the “Morning Chapel Hour.” As to what they like to do most of all, Ben responded by saying simply, “Making people hap py! As God’s children, we have a joy which the world doesn’t understand. I believe the Lord has given us the privilege and responsibility of making His peace and joy known to those who know Him not.” Certainly the Allens are accomplishing this each time they sing the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
DECEMBER, 1958
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