John McCutcheon -- The Greatest Story Never Told

It was a pleasant night in July. On a park bench on the shores of Lake Erie sat John McCutcheon, Tom Chapin, Michael Marks and Joe Gunderman, discussing music, golf, cigars, and the concert the three musicians had just played. After Tom and Michael retired, John and Joe went on talking about strategy for a project John is working on called "The Gospel According To Joe." It's a 45 minute story of Christmas as told in a modern setting and from St. Joseph's perspective. Details on that project will emerge later.

But John also wanted to do a song for Ornaments, and hadn't settled on one yet. Joe had this thought: Write a companion song for the Gospel project, since it is not a musical. A song that did not try to literally retell the story, just a song that would compliment the themes, and could even potentially be performed when the whole story wasn't. And premier that song on this year's Ornaments.

John responded almost immediately with the title, "The Greatest Story Never Told," and said he'd chew on it.

A month later, this beautiful piece dedicated to unsung heroes arrived in the mail, and thus another song was added to the Christmas catalog. If you're like us, music with a meaning and lyrics with depth grab you a bit more. This is one of those. Thanks, John. Very nice.

For more information about John McCutcheon, check out the John McCutcheon web site.