05/11/2026
If you’re like us and enjoy hearing the story behind what inspired a song, here’s an great article from our friend James Hales about the classic “Til The Storm Passes By”, that we recorded on our brand new album. Written by the late, great Mosie Lister, this song has been a blessing to the body of Christ for decades and has been printed in countless hymn books. We know you’ll enjoy this post and be sure to follow James page for more great content like this!
Check the comments below to listen to our arrangement of “Til’ The Storm Passes By”.
"Til the Storm Passes By" - Written by Mosie Lister
I am extremely excited about this new series titled “Songs…”! I have been gearing up for this for the last couple of months, and I have the first 20 or so songs already lined up and ready to go! For my first article in this series, I purposely wanted to start with what is probably the very first song I remember hearing as a kid. Growing up, I was always afraid of thunderstorms, and my mom would hold me and sing “Til the Storm Passes By”, as she tried to calm my fears. Funny thing though, as a grown-up I have become a weather nerd, and I am fascinated by storms and tornadoes! Some of my earliest musical memories include hearing my mom singing in the church choir and staying after church during choir practice, while I played under the pews. I may not have been fully paying attention to their singing or what they were singing about (as I was only like 4 or 5 years old), but I like to think it played an early role in my love for gospel music. Between my mom’s singing in the choir and my dad’s records, I am so thankful for this early groundwork in how music was woven into the fabric of who I am from such a very young age!
Before I go further into this article, I did want to state that since this article falls on the Monday after Mother’s Day, I’d like to use this article to pay tribute to my mom, as she laid the foundation of music for me, took me to church and fiercely encouraged my love for music throughout my entire life. I think it’s appropriate that this first article honors her, as she lovingly used this song many times to calm my fears. I love you mom, and I miss you every day!
“Til the Storm Passes By” was written by a gentleman named Mosie Lister. Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, Lister wrote a ton of classic quartet standards such as “I’m Feeling Fine”, “Happy Rhythm”, “Then I Met the Master”, “How Long Has it Been”, “Goodbye World, Goodbye”, “His Hand in Mine”, “When They Call My Name”, “Jubilee’s A-Comin’” and many, many others. Though he continued writing during the 1970’s and 1980’s, he began focusing more on choral work through Lillenas Publishing. In fact, one of Mosie’s best loved compositions during this time was the song, “He Chose Me”, which was recorded by Rusty Goodman for a musical/drama portraying the life of Peter called, “Man of Destiny”. The Goodmans actually included the song on their album titled, “Chosen”, which was released in 1982, before the group came off the road the following year. During the 1990’s and 2000’s, the Booth Brothers, as well as the Dove Brothers, Cathedrals and others began reviving Mosie’s classic tunes, as well as introducing us to many newly written songs such as “Still Feelin’ Fine”, “Love Was in the Room”, “Movin’ to the Rhythm of the Gospel”, “Thank Him for the Miracle” and others. Just about every group has recorded songs written by Lister including the Statesmen, Blackwood Brothers, Kingsmen, Cathedrals, Chuck Wagon Gang, Booth Brothers, Happy Goodmans, Perry Sisters, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Speers, Bishops, Dove Brothers Quartet, Gold City, Hoppers, Mark Trammell Quartet, Greater Vision, and even Elvis Presley!
Mosie started his early career in gospel music by singing with the Sunny South Quartet and Melody Masters Quartet back in the 1940’s. In 1948, Hovie Lister (no relation) sought Mosie to join his new quartet, the Statesmen, thus becoming their first lead singer. Within a year, Mosie decided singing full-time wasn’t for him, so he came off the road and began writing songs and doing a majority of the music arrangements for the early Statesmen Quartet. Mosie devoted the remainder of his time on earth writing songs for other people to sing, hitting the listener in the heart, bringing them closer to Jesus. Mosie not only wrote deep and meaningful songs, but he also wrote tons of fun and lighthearted tunes as well. Mosie was not a one-dimensional songwriter, as he very ably wrote songs covering many perspectives, while also encompassing many different musical styles from campmeeting and convention songs, to standard quartet tunes, as well as contemporary and choral songs, ultimately reaching millions of people all over the world!
Some of my all-time favorite Mosie Lister penned tunes include “Then I Met the Master”, “I’ve Been Changed”, “On Revival Day”, “Wade on Out”, “His Hand in Mine” and of course, “Still Feelin’ Fine” (who doesn’t love that song, right?)…but the song that has probably meant the most to me is his classic tune, “Til the Storm Passes By”. As I stated earlier, some of the earliest and most vivid memories I have involve hearing my mom sing this song to me during those summer thunderstorms. In fact, as a tribute to her, I had this song played at my mom’s funeral when she passed away in January 2015. Written in 1958, legend has it that Mosie was commissioned to write the song for Mahalia Jackson, and he penned this specifically for her to sing, but due to circumstances beyond Mosie’s control, the song somehow never made it into her hands. In my head, I can clearly hear how she would have likely sang “Til the Storm Passes By”, and I have no doubt that had Mahalia recorded the song, it would have become an international classic!
Nonetheless, “Til the Storm Passes By” did indeed become one of Mosie’s best loved compositions, being recorded by such artists as the Speer Family, Statesmen Quartet, Inspirations, Vestal Goodman, Blackwood Brothers, Couriers, Gaither Vocal Band, Goss Brothers, Doug Oldham, Greater Vision, Nancy Harmon, Teddy Huffam & the Gems and Gerald Wolfe. Being a Goodman fan, I always loved Vestal’s performance of the song on her 1971 solo album, “Hallelujah”, and in fact, it was her 1996 version from her “Moments” solo recording that I used at my mom’s funeral. Another version of the song that I particularly enjoy is by the Goss Brothers, who recorded it on their 1967 album, “Revival Favorites”. But if I had to nail down my all-time favorite performance of the song, it would have to be Gerald Wolfe’s stunning performance from his self-titled solo album that was released in 1988. The album was produced and arranged by Lari Goss, and he created a massively stunning arrangement of this song for Gerald on that album. This particular performance of the song is a true artistic masterpiece, from Gerald’s commanding vocal performance to the amazing music track, as well as the serene sounds and music that finish out the song; it’s a perfect culmination of lyric, music and vocals. Eventually, Gerald would re-record the song several years later, on Greater Vision’s 1997 recording, “When I See the Cross”, where they basically adapted Lari Goss’ arrangement from Gerald’s solo album, but with some tweaks to the arrangement and with slightly less production work.
“Til the Storm Passes By” is a song I have heard throughout my entire life, and I have sung it many times in church as well. Along with God’s Word, this song has not only helped bring peace and solitude to the storms that were raging outside, but it has also helped many times with the storms that were raging within…which reminds me of another wonderful tune that says, “Sometimes He calms the storm, and sometimes He calms me”! That song is a whole ‘nother article for another day!
Southern Gospel Music has an endless treasury of remarkable songs…some are lighthearted and fun, some are very serious and will hit you where you live…but they are all part of the rich and unique, and storied history of this genre, with many of these songs constantly playing in the background of our lives, giving us strength for the journey! I hope you will enjoy this new weekly series, as each Monday we take a look at some of the amazing songs that have become such a big part of our lives!
To listen to “Til the Storm Passes By”, check out the first comment in the comment section, as I included a link so you can hear the song! Also, let me know what you think of this song, as well as any specific memories you may have associated with it, or a favorite performance that is exceptionally meaningful to you!
