Ready -Charles D. Tillman

This song of consecration admonishes believers to be ready and willing to serve the Lord in whatever capacity they’re called. The text appeared in England’s “Keswick Hymnbook” and was attributed to Asa C. Palmer, but biographical information about him is scarce, and the actual source of the text is unknown. “Ready” first appeared in 1903 in Charles D. Tillman’s book, “The Revival No. 4,” with the tune composed by Tillman. Tillman identified the author with the initials S.E.L. and used no dates.

Charlie Tillman was born in Georgia in 1861, the son of a Baptist preacher and evangelist. As a young person, he showed talent in music and sang in the church’s male quartet. He helped his father in evangelistic work, earned money by painting houses, and was a traveling salesman for a music company out of Raleigh, North Carolina.  In 1887, he began a career as a singing evangelist and song leader. He also started a music publishing business in Atlanta, Georgia, which published more than 100 gospel songs and twenty-two gospel song collections.

Tillman was a self-taught singer, pianist, and composer and was a major influence on gospel songs in the South. He was responsible for publishing the spiritual “Give Me That Old Time Religion” after hearing it sung in 1889 at a camp meeting in Lexington, South Carolina. He quickly scribbled the words and tune on a scrap of paper and later added more verses and arranged it. The song was soon published in Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian hymnals. One of Tillman’s best-known songbooks was “The Assembly Book,” published in 1927 and adopted by the state school systems of Georgia and South Carolina for use in assembly programs. In 1930, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) devoted an entire radio program to Charlie and his songs.

"Ready” originally had five verses, but Tillman arranged the first verse into a refrain. A colleague of Tillman’s, James C. Moore, Baptist preacher, writer of more than 500 songs, singer, and teacher, commented on Tillman’s use of S.E.L. in identifying the authorship of “Ready.” Moore explained that S.E.L. was a term he’d adopted from Tillman, which simply meant "selected."

The text of this gospel song is the expression of one who is totally sold out to the Lord. The stanzas remind the believer what one must be ready and willing to do for the Lord.  ... love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, (Deuteronomy 11:13).

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