Barbara Pittman The Blessings of Almighty God

Noted gospel pioneer, Sallie Martin once observed in an interview, “I’ve never been the greatest, nobody ever called me the greatest; yet, still I’ve been everywhere the greatest have been, and that’s just the way it goes.”  Another legend, Country-Western Hall of Famer, Hank Snow scored one of his biggest hits with a song called, “I’ve Been Everywhere.” These themes certainly describe Nashville’s own, Everett Drake.
As so many stage performers who have gone before, Everett was raised in the church, singing in the choir for as long as he can remember.  Today, between road trips, he still devotes as much energy as possible to his beloved First Baptist Church South Inglewood. In the early 1970s, it was his involvement with gospel music that led him to join a Nashville group called, The Johnson Ensemble.  He both sang and directed the group. The Johnson Ensemble gained the attention of gospel producer, Shannon Williams, who signed them to his Nashboro Records label, and over the next few years, several albums were released. The plaintive, “The Harvest Is Plentiful”, became one of the top selling gospel albums of the year…thus, Everett experienced singing on his first hit record.