Mary Jayne/Various Artists "A Tribute To Polly" (Singtime/Circle C Productions, 1964-?) (LP)
(Produced by Dick Friesen & Willard Lawson)
There's no date on this disc, but there's a good chance it came out before the Singing Together album, below. The label address is in Stockton, and the liner notes mainly concern themselves with Polly Johnson's funeral and memorial service, and with reckoning with the senseless tragedy that killed Ms. Johnson earlier that year. The set includes vocals from both Polly Johnson and Mary Jayne, as well as a poem from Willard Lawson, and organ accompaniment by Ruth Farber. Much of this record was recycled from an earlier album, Words And Music For Meditation, which was probably Polly Johnson's first record: most fo the tracks are the same, but arranged in different order, with the addition of a track featuring Mary Jayne's "A Tribute To Polly."
Polly & Mary Jayne "Singing Together... Like We Did Back Home" (Word Records, 1965-?) (LP)
(Produced by Kurt Kaiser)
This album wound up being a posthumous tribute to Polly Johnson. It features arrangements by Jim Owens and backing vocals by the Dick Bolk Singers.
Mary Jayne "I Touched The Heart Of God" (Zondervan Recordings, 196--?) (LP)
Mary Jayne "I Believe In Miracles" (Word Records, 1966-?) (LP)
Arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael...
Mary Jayne & Barbara "Singing Together... Like We Do At Home" (Word Records, 1968-?) (LP)
A duets album made with her oldest daughter, Barbara Gaetke. The liner notes make mention of Mary Jayne's original duets partner, Polly Johnson, who is said (by her mother) to have sounded a lot like young Barbara. Arranged and conducted by Jim Owens.
Mary Jayne "How Wonderful" (Word Records, 1968-?) (LP)
With backing from the Ralph Carmichael Strings...
Mary Jayne "He Just Loves Me More And More" (Word Records, 1972) (LP)
(Produced by Billy Ray Hearn & Charlie Tallent)
Mary Jayne/Various Artists "Building For Tomorrow's Sunrise: The Music Of Aimee Semple McPherson" (Word Records, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Owen)
A songbook tribute to Pentecostal songwriter, faith healer and radio celebrity Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944) who moved from tent revivals where she spoke in tongues to founding a megachurch based in Los Angeles and becoming one of the most famous broadcasters of the 1920s and '30s.
Gene Gaither & Mary Jayne "Sing A Song Of Love" (Word Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Rick Powell)
Mary Jayne married former rockabilly artist Gene Gaither in 1973, and recorded a couple of albums with him. They are sometimes credited as The Gaithers, though they are not to be confused with the nationally-known and tremendously influential Bill Gaither Singers.
Mary Jayne "Come To The Water" (Word Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Lee Hazen, Pat Higdon & Ronn Huff)
Mary Jayne "My Wonderful Lord" (Word Records, 1976) (LP)
Gene Gaither & Mary Jayne "Friendship With Jesus" (Word Records, 1977) (LP)
Mary Jayne (aka Mary Jayne Gaither) was one of California's most popular gospel singers of the 1960s and '70s, originally working in a duet with singer Polly Johnson (1940-1964) and later with composer-arranger Ralph Carmichael, and with her husband Gene Gaither (1926-2005). Mary Jayne's professional career dated back to the early 1960s: she and Ms. Johnson met each other in Minnesota, where they formed a musical partnership and decided to move out to the West Coast together in 1962. Landing a live TV show in Sacramento, they abandoned secular country music in favor of an evangelical calling, and were one of the most popular gospel acts in Northern California up until Johnson was killed in a 1964 plane crash caused by a mentally ill hijacker who shot the pilots and caused the deaths of all aboard. Though shaken, Mary Jayne soldiered on and recorded several more albums following the tragedy that took her friend's life. In 1973 she married ex-rockabilly artist Gene Gaither and formed a duo sometimes credited as The Gaithers, which is not to be confused with the better-known Bill Gaither Singers. Here's a quick look at Mary Jayne's work...
