Volume 9 , Issue 3

Story Behind "It Is No Secret"

"It Is No Secret, recorded 5/17/50; released 6/19/50: the original manuscript of which is buried in the cornerstone of one of the Copyright Buildings of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and which has been translated into over 50 languages around the world and was the first song to 'cross-over' becoming #1 in Gospel/Country/and Pop categories and starting the trend for ballad style gospel songs.

Carl Stuart Hamblen's most well known is It Is No Secret, reportedly after a casual remark ("...sounds like a song") by actor John Wayne to Stuart, so it is said in 1949. Stuart attended a prayer meeting being held by a young Billy Graham in Los Angeles. He made a decision to devote his life to Christ. He gave up his drinking, his radio programs and acting career, and began traveling across the country speaking and singing at Youth for Christ rallies, Billy Graham crusades, and churches with his wife, Suzy.

In 1949, he attended a prayer meeting in Los Angeles where a young man named Billy Graham was preaching. He gave up his radio and film work and publicly announced he was devoting his life to Christ. In the early '50's, Stuart's radio show, "The Cowboy Church of the Air" was syndicated nationwide. This was also a time when commercials were done by the radio host. During this time, the syndicate sponsors wanted Stuart to do a commercial promoting alchohl, and when Stuart refused, due to the simple fact that his show was called The Cowboy Church of the Air, the sponsors told him they would pull the plug on his show. So, the last several shows, Stuart used them to let his nationwide-listening audience know why he would be leaving the air. Because of this, in 1952, the Prohibition Party asked Stuart to run for the President of the United States on their ticket. He did, and when the first returns came in he was actually ahead! When the final votes were counted, he had set a new record for votes for the Prohibition ticket, running 4th to Dwight D. Eisenhower."
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