About 30 years ago a knock came on my door and opening it I found Bishop Naylor from my local congregation standing there. Without even coming in he asked, “Tricia, would consider recording an album of hymns?” The project was humble, but all these years later I still have people from around the country wanting a CD when their old records or tapes wear out.
My favorite number on this album is “This Earth Was Once A Garden Place.” (This is Marvin Payne’s great arrangement.) There’s a good story connected with this song. I had given Michael Moody a copy of this record when it first came out – at the time he was head of LDS Church Music Committee. Among his many responsibilities he was in charge of bringing out a new hymnbook, and in that process a lot of the more old-fashion hymns were dropped. After the new addition came out, he told me why this hymn made the cut. The committee wanted to leave it out, feeling it was too antiquated to be relevant to today’s congregations. Michael told them to hang on, ran to his office and found a copy of Songs of the Heart and played this number for them. They all liked it – and that’s why the song is in the hymnbook today! (It still sounds better with guitar.)