“Turn Your Radio On” was written by Albert E. Brumley, the Arkansas gospel songwriter whose catalog includes “I’ll Fly Away.” Brumley wrote it in the late 1930s, when radio was still new in rural homes, and it was first recorded by Lulu Belle and Scotty.
The song treats the radio as a kind of pulpit. It invites the listener to tune in to a heavenly station, to get in touch with God, and to hear the gospel music carried over the air; the simple image of a radio dial becomes a figure for faith and joy.
The song became a gospel and country standard.
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