Group & Last Name Index to Full History:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Tracks are listed in chronological order by year, then alphabetically.
Listings do not reflect proper order by month or day: later oft precedes earlier.
Find on Page = F3. Not on this page? See history tree below.
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Featured on this page loosely in order of first recording if not record release (as possible).
Names are alphabetical, not chronological, per year:
| 1909 | Fisk Jubilee Singers |
| 1926 | Thomas A Dorsey |
| 1934 | Mitchell's Christian Singers |
| 1937 | Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet Mahalia Jackson |
| 1940 | Sallie Martin Clara Ward |
| 1947 | Roberta Martin Marion Williams |
| 1948 | Bessie Griffin |
| 1949 | Shirley Caesar Davis Sisters Brother Joe May |
| 1950 | Martha Bass James Cleveland Willie Mae Ford Smith |
| 1951 | Dorothy Love Coates |
| 1952 | The Caravans Albertina Walker |
| 1953 | Alex Bradford Staple Singers |
| 1954 | Cassietta George Della Reese |
| 1955 | Jackie Verdell |
| 1956 | Dorothy Norwood |
| 1957 | Inez Andrews |
| 1958 | Mattie Moss Clark |
| 1964 | Andraé Crouch |
| 1969 | Larry Norman |
|
Caveats in the employment of this page: 1. It descends in chronological
order by the year the artist or band is first found on a commercial record
issue (ideally) by year only, alphabetical thereat. One musician above
another doesn't necessarily translate to earlier issue unless the year
changed. 2. Though release dates are the aim with links to YouTube, some are
recording dates and may not be everywhere clearly distinguished. 3. Reissues
are used to represent originals without much discussion. |
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This section of modern blues doesn't actually address blues, but rather, their complementary limb of the same roots, black gospel. These histories have no page for the gospel genre, mixed as it is in early blues and folk, the genre not really taking flight in and of itself in recording until the thirties. Broadly considered, gospel music in the United States had two main origins: Its largely European influence was introduced by immigrants via such as hymns. 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God', for example, was composed by Protestant revolutionary, Martin Luther, circa 1528. The words to 'Amazing Grace' were written by Anglican clergyman, John Newton, in 1779. Having been a slave trader prior to that, it's suggested that he drew the melody from black slaves, which leads us to black gospel arising out of the rural South with the southern limb of the blues, the former spiritual (notably Baptist, Methodist or Pentecostal), the latter secular, they interbound like the fingers on one's hands when you interclasp them, yet on two hands as different as were their venues: the blues came with liquor; gospel came with church, and they weren't to be confused. Black gospel owes much to Baptist blues pianist, Thomas A. Dorsey, who began pushing the genre in Chicago in the thirties, he himself influenced by the recordings of blind pianist, Arizona Dranes, whose gospel was a merge with barrelhouse blues in the Bible Belt in Texas. Even as they merged, however, blues and black gospel demarcated like oil and water, distinctly separate as well in purpose, repertoire and styles. Divergent as they were, black gospel would also merge with R&B. It was also elemental in the development of soul music. It thus not only fits, but behoovingly, to touch upon black gospel as tangential to the blues (or R&B), they two aspects of the same coin in a Derridean differance of contrasting likeness.
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| Well to address the
earlier roots of black gospel at least as far back as it was sung along
the Underground Railroad, also known as the Freedom Train of abolitionists
involved in helping slaves escape their Southern masters to destinations in
Canada, Mexico and overseas. Among conductors were such as Peg Leg Joe and
Harriet Tubman. Among songs sung along its routes was Peg Leg Joe's 'Follow
the Drinking Gourd', published in 1928. Tubman's was a 650-mile route from
Maryland to Ontario, she making the first of 19 successful trips in 1850,
coming to free several hundred slaves during her dangerous career. (She
is said to have had a bounty attached to her that rose to $40,000, equivalent to a million
dollars these days.) Texts by Tubman were made available in 1966 on
'The Negro Woman' (Folkways Records FH 5523), read by Dorothy Washington.
Also of that period was 'Song of the Free' in 1860, put to the tune of the
blackface minstrel song, 'Oh! Susanna' (Stephen Foster 1848). 'Steal Away' was another
Underground Railroad song composed by Choctaw freedman, Wallace Willis,
sometime before 1862. That was published by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in
1901. The hymn, 'Go Down Moses' was published as early as 1962 by Reverend
Lockwood, arranged by Thomas Baker. The Fisk Jubilee Singers published their
version in 1872. 'Sweet Chariot' was composed by Wallace sometime after
1865. 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore' was published in 'Slave Songs of the
United States' in 1867. 'The Good Old Way',
was also published in 1867 in 'Slave Songs of the United States'. The Jubilee Singers published
another version in 1880 as 'Come, Let Us All Go Down'. That got
recorded as early as 'I
Went Down Into the Garden' (Okeh 40796) on March 22, 1927, by the Price the Family
Sacred Singers.
Lead Belly recorded a version called 'Down in the Valley to
Pray' in 1940 for the Library of Congress. Also of the Underground
Railroad period was 'Wade in the Water', eventually published in 1901. It
took 'Let Us Break Bread Together' until 1925 in 'The Journal of American
Folklore', also 'The Second Book of Negro Spirituals' by James Weldon
Johnson in 1927. Gospel music was used by the Underground Railroad to
code communications.
(Other codes.)
Per below is a text by Tubman with hymns written by anonymous slaves at
undetermined times, though all known during the period of the Underground Railroad.
The Fisk Jubilee Singers were among the earliest and best-known black gospel
groups. Founded at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1871,
formations of the Jubilee Singers continued throughout the 20th century and
yet perform to this day. Principal to the emergence of black gospel in the
20th century was blues pianist, Thomas A. Dorsey,
he to develop in Chicago in the thirties what he'd heard in
Arizona Dranes. As
for 'Down in the Valley to Pray' by
Lead Belly, that can be found on 'Let It
Shine On Me: The Library of Congress Recordings Volume 3' ('91). Per below,
all hymns had been composed by unknown slaves and were existent during the
period of the Underground Railroad. Text by Harriet Tubman Album: 'The Negro Woman' Issued 1966 Voice: Dorothy Washington Hymns of the Underground Railroad Published 1901 Fisk Jubilee Singers Recording: Sunset Four Jubilee Singers 1924 Published 1901 Fisk Jubilee Singers Recording: Fisk Jubilee Singers 1994 Published 1909 Fisk Jubilee Singers Recording: Fisk Jubilee Singers 1909 1940 for the Library of Congress Lead Belly 1953 Paul Robeson Piano: Lawrence Brown 1961 The Highwaymen |
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Thomas A Dorsey See Thomas A Dorsey. |
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| Gospel didn't arise to notable
distinction in recording as genre in and of itself until the thirties, due largely to
Thomas A. Dorsey
insofar as black gospel was concerned.
Among the earliest gospel vocal groups to record were the
Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet
(GGQ) founded in 1934, later to drop Jubilee from its name
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6]. Put together by
a group of students at Booker T. Washington College in Norfolk, Virginia,
the GGQ performed more in terms of a commercial barbershop quartet, not associated with the
black gospel movement in churches by such as
Mahalia Jackson who preceded them in 1931 with her obscure recording, likely
unissued,
'You Better Run, Run, Run'.) Initially recording numerous titles in August, 1937,
the GGQ released such as 'Bedside of a Neighbor' and 'Found
a Wonderful Saviour' in December that year [Bluebird B-7278 per 45worlds].
(Jackson's
'Peace in the Valley' is assumed to have preceded that.) They had also recorded such as 'Gabriel Blows His Horn'. Members of that configuration were Willie Johnson (baritone), William
Langford (1st tenor), Henry Owens (2nd tenor) and Orlandus Wilson (bass).
In June of 1940 they joined
Lead Belly on nine titles, six
getting issued in 1941 on the 78 rpm album, ''The Midnight Special' and
Other Southern Prison Songs' (Victor 27266-A). They issued the 10" vinyl
album, 'Golden Gate Spirituals', in 1950 (Columbia 6102). They visited
Europe for the first time in 1955, to relocate to Paris in 1959.
Rateyourmusic shows a fine list of 27 albums to as late as '80 Years' in
2014, that coming with secular titles as well, such as
Michael Jackson's 'Billie
Jean'. The GGQ has been in operation for eighty years, though presently with none of its
original members, having been through a revolving door of personnel over the
decades. First to leave had been Langford in 1939, he to form the
Southern Sons. His replacement was Clyde Riddick who stuck with the ensemble
into the nineties. Johnson was drafted and joined the Navy for a brief
period in 1943. Returning to the group, he was the next to make his
permanent exit in 1948 to form the Jubilaires and emigrate to France in
1959. He was replaced by Oville Brooks for about six years. Owens left
in 1950 to become a preacher and solo musician. With the exception of the
draft in 1944 to do a couple years in the Navy, Wilson was the glue of the
group to his death in 1998. As of this writing the GGQ consists of Paul Brembly (baritone
since 1971), Frank Davis (1st tenor since 1995), Timothy Riley
(2nd tenor) and Thierry Francis (bass). Some of the
traditionals
recorded by
Golden Gate.
Compositions by Orlandus Wilson or others.
Discographies w various credits at
1,
2,
3.
The GGQ in visual media. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet 1937 Composition: Traditional Composition: Traditional Composition: Traditional Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet 1941 Composition: William Johnson Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet 1943 Composition: William Johnson Golden Gate Quartet 1955 Composition: Robert MacGimseyGolden Gate Quartet 1964 French telecast Composition: Merle Travis Golden Gate Quartet 1967 Yugoslavian telecast Joshua Fit the Battle Of JerichoYugoslavian telecast Composition: Traditional You Better RunYugoslavian telecast Composition: Traditional First version: Heavenly Gospel Singers 1937 Golden Gate Quartet 1975 Telecast Telecast Golden Gate Quartet 2014 Composition: Michael Jackson Album: '80 Years'Composition: Robert MacGimsey Album: '80 Years' |
 Original Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet Source: earlygospel |
|
 Mahalia Jackson Source: Bio |
Born Mahala Jackson in
1911 in New Orleans, contralto, Mahalia Jackson
("Queen of Gospel") [1,
2,
3,
4,
5/Sessionography],
launches the history of black gospel on this page, having its origin, not as
music, but as a musical genre, due largely the momentum and organizational
abilities of
Thomas A. Dorsey. As music,
southern folk blues and black gospel had had a left and right hand
relationship since the early 20th century, blues branching off from (black)
gospel's roots beneath cotton. Not a few early blues musicians sang gospel
or styled it into blues, while gospel singers per se hung with tradition,
focusing on the church, evangelism and the hymns of old time religion.
Though the origins of the blues were otherwise secular (:
WC Handy,
Hart Wand,
Mamie Smith,
Ethel Waters, etc., to mention only
its more metropolitan origins apart from the rural South) both genres were
an easy blend. Black gospel would come to clap with R&B as well. As for
Mahalia Jackson, her father was a stevedore who also cut hair and would
become a minister. Her mother was a laundress who cleaned houses, but would
die when Jackson was five. Some black gospel vocalists were raised in
strictly gospel environments. But Jackson listened to blues records as well,
Bessie Smith the singer she most
admired even as she avoided secular music as a professional. She was
baptized as a youth, both into the Baptist Church and the muddy brown waters
of the Mississippi. Jackson left Louisiana for Chicago at age sixteen. She
met
Dorsey in 1929 and would
tour with him later in the thirties. Jackson may have recorded 'You Better
Run, Run, Run' in 1931 in Chicago for Decca, and apparently it did, there nothing more known about it than its assigned take number
(319999A). Mahalia slipped
the 'i' into Mahala about that time. In 1937 Jackson recorded four tracks
for Decca: 'God's Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares', 'My Lord', 'Keep
Me Everyday' and 'God Shall Wipe All Tears Away'. She was yet working with
Dorsey when in October of
1946 she recorded four tracks for Apollo: 'I Want to Rest', 'He Knows My
Heart', 'I'm Going to Wait Until My Change Comes' and 'I'm Going to Tell
God'. A couple sessions followed in latter 1947, the first in September to
yield 'Move On Up a Little Higher', which would sell a jaw-dropping eight
million copies, a very big deal with black gospel, having never been exactly
what the everyday American record buyer has ever sought at the shop. To
promote her recordings Jackson would have to say goodbye to Chicago and
Dorsey in order to tour. By
1950 she was in full swing and owned the show in black gospel. She performed
at Carnegie Hall that year, then toured Europe in '52. Columbia picked her
up in the early fifties because she was a money maker. Even as she performed
no secular music she yet shares distinction with
James Cleveland in taking
black gospel out of the church into the wider world, while pursuing gospel
not only to evangelize, but to build as a musical industry in itself. Such
the golden years of black gospel. 1957 saw Jackson at the Newport Jazz
Festival, yet again the following year. She was heard at John F Kennedy's
inaugural ball in 1961. She performed 'How I Got Over' at the March On
Washington in 1963 on the day Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech, 'I
Have a Dream', to 250,000 people. The next year she sang at the New York
World's Fair. Jackson sang 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' at King's early
funeral (assassinated at a Memphis motel at age 39) in 1968. She issued her
last of some thirty albums in 1969: 'What the World Needs Now'. 1970 found
her at the Newport Jazz Festival with
Louis Armstrong. Jackson
decided to retire in 1971. She was a wealthy girl, having grown from $25 to
record 'God’s Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares' to a worth of about four million,
using a bit of it to open a beauty parlor and florist shop. Along with
relatively minor investments in real estate life was looking forward enough when
her heart failed her, complicated by diabetes, in January of 1972
[*]. About
50,000 people attended her funeral in Chicago where, this time, 'Take My
Hand, Precious Lord' was sung by
Aretha Franklin. Three days later 24
limousines delivered her to her grave in New Orleans.
Among compositions by
Thomas Dorsey that Jackson recorded were 'If
You See My Savior' ('48) and 'Take My Hand Precious Lord' ('56). Jackson herself wrote 'Tell
the World About This'
('59).
Songwriting credits to
some of Jackson's other recordings. See also
1,
2. Jackson in
soundtracks.
Lyrics. Mahalia Jackson 1937 Composition: Traditional Composition: Thomas Dorsey Mahalia Jackson 1947 Mahalia Jackson 1956 Composition: Traditional Music: George Gershwin Lyrics: DuBose Heyward Mahalia Jackson 1958 Film Mahalia Jackson 1960 Film Mahalia Jackson 1960 Music: Thomas Hastings Lyrics: Augustus TopladyPublished 1775 Album: 'The Power and the Glory' With Percy Faith Mahalia Jackson 1961 Piano: Mildred Falls Filmed live Live in Europe Mahalia Jackson 1962 Mahalia Jackson 1963 Live in Europe Composition: Traditional Mahalia Jackson 1967 Composition: Kurt Weill/Maxwell AndersonMahalia Jackson 1970 Newport Jazz Festival Filmed live with Louis Armstrong Composition: Traditional
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|
 Sallie Martin Source: NCGCC |
Born in Georgia in 1895, gospel vocalist,
Sallie Martin, [1,
2],
was
the contemporary of
Thomas A Dorsey, generally
recognized as "father" of Black gospel. Martin would likewise become
popularly known as the "mother" of Black gospel. Raised a Baptist but becoming Pentecostal as a young woman, she
began her career in 1927 in Chicago singing in Holiness churches. Some
period afterward she was hired by Dorsey as a singer in his trio and
manager. She assisted Dorsey in the founding of the National Convention of
Gospel Choirs and Choruses in 1933. He had organized an earlier union for
choral singers the year before. Leaving Dorsey in 1940, she founded Martin
and Morris Music, a publishing house, with Kenneth Morris that year. She
also formed the Martin and Morris Singers that year, 'On the Jericho Road'
that group's first release. Also recorded in 1940 were 'Must Be Jesus Love
Divine' and 'I'm Walking with My Jesus', released much later in 1945. No
tracks by the Martin and Morris Singers are represented at YouTube. But a CD
released in 2014, 'Just A Little Talk With Jesus', contains 25 issues by
Cora and Sallie Martin released between 1940 and 1952. Martin is said to have formed Martin and Martin
in 1940 with
Roberta Martin. The
two didn't go far together though, Sallie putting together the Sallie Martin Singers
that year and
Roberta moving onward to form the
Roberta Martin Singers. The Sallie Martin Singers are thought to
have first entered the studio in 1947. That April they recorded 'Even Me,
Even Me' and 'Just a Few Days to Labor' for release in 1948. Also recorded
on that date were 'Four and Twenty Elders', and 'Jesus Steps Right In',
released in February 1950. 'You Know, Lord' and 'He's a Friend of Mine' were
possibly issued in 1950 as well. Cora
Martin,
Brother Joe May and
Dinah Washington (as Ruth Jones) each spent some
time with the Sallie Martin Singers. Martin performed with them regularly until the
mid fifties, backing off after that due the rigors of touring. The Singers
continued without her for decades to come but for occasional appearances. Martin died in June of 1988.
She was elected into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 1991.
Compositional credits
to titles recorded with daughter, Cora Martin, between 1940 and 1952.
Further credits at 1,
2,
3. Sallie Martin 1950? There Must Be a Heaven Somewhere Sallie Martin Singers Composition: Traditional Sallie Martin 1951 Sallie Martin Singers Composition: Traditional Sallie Martin 1973 Piano: Thomas Dorsey Composition: Thomas Dorsey Sallie Martin 1979 God Put a Rainbow in the Cloud Sallie Martin Singers Composition: Reverend Andrew Jenkins/Irene Spain
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|
| Born in 1924 or '27 in
Philadelphia, PA,
Clara Ward
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6] first sang gospel
professionally as a member of the Ward Trio with her mother, Gertrude, and
older sister, Willarene. (Her mother had formed a group called the Ward
Singers in 1931.) Multiple sources have Ward recording solo as a teenager in
1940 but we've found no documentation of such. Ward formed the Ward Singers
in 1943. Sources have that gospel group recording as early as 1947, but no
documentation earlier than 'Surely, God Is Able' in 1949 is found, the year that group toured from
Philadelphia to Los Angeles in a brand new Cadillac. A recording thought to
be from 1948 may be found under
Marion Williams. The Ward Singers
brought gospel to Carnegie Hall in Philadelphia in 1950. In addition to
running the Ward Singers, Ward founded a booking agency as well as
publishing house for gospel music. She also formed the gospel group, the
Clara Ward Specials. Ward found gospel and R&B a lively equation, moving
gospel from the church to the nightclub (including the Playboy Mansion), also trading the austere robes of
gospel for jewelry, sequined gowns and wigs. Notable in the sixties was her
performance with the Ward Singers at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1962,
thought to be the first gospel to find representation at that venue. Also of
note was her
release of 'The Heart, The Faith, The Soul of Clara Ward' circa 1966,
recorded with a symphony of 100 instruments, the Clara Ward Singers and the
Golden Voices Ensemble. In 1968 and '69 she toured South Vietnam with the USO. (USO tours were sponsored by the State Department, but performers
weren't paid.) Though the hotel in which the Ward Singers stayed in 1968 was
bombed, killing several guests, Ward later stated that her favorite concerts
were those given in Vietnam. The Ward Singers further toured internationally
until Ward's death in Philadelphia in 1973. She was interred in Glendale,
California.
Songwriting credits
to titles released by Ward on 45 rpm. Other discographies w various credits
at 1,
2.
Ward in visual media. Further reading: 1,
2.
Per below, the Ward Singers appear on all edits with the
exception of one solo by Ward (organist unknown, though Ward played both
that and piano). Per 1969 below, 'Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho' is a
traditional spiritual first recorded by Harrod's Jubilee Singers in 1922
(Paramount 12116). Other
covers of the song
at secondhandsongs. Clara Ward 1949 Solo Clara Ward 1951 Composition: Clara WardClara Ward 1952 Composition: Adeline BrunnerThere Is a Fountain Filled with Blood Clara Ward 1962 Filmed live at the Newport Jazz Festival Clara Ward 1963 Film Clara Ward 1965 Composition: Billie Holiday/Arthur Herzog Jr 1939 First issue by Holiday in 1941 (Okeh 6270) Clara Ward 1966? Album: 'The Heart, The Faith, The Soul of Clara Ward' With the Golden Voices Ensemble Album: 'The Heart, The Faith, The Soul of Clara Ward' With the Golden Voices Ensemble Clara Ward 1968 Filmed live at the Playboy Mansion Composition: James Weldon JohnsonFirst version: Famous Myers Jubilee Singers 1928 Television performance Clara Ward 1969 Filmed live at the Playboy Mansion Composition: Traditional First version: Harrod's Jubilee Singers 1922 Clara Ward 1973 Composition: Bill Withers
|
 Clara Ward Source: Black Kudos |
|
 Roberta Martin Source: Re Gospel Coro |
Blues and gospel had been something of identical twin
siblings during the early part of the 20th century. By
Roberta Martin's
[1,
2] time the two
had become so demarcated into distinctly individual genres that Martin was a
galaxy apart from the blues. Martin was born in
1907 in Helena, Arkansas, moving to Chicago with her family at age ten. She
studied piano, Arizona Dranes to later become an influence. She was playing at a Baptist church when she met
Thomas A Dorsey who
assisted her in the formation of the Martin-Frye Quartet with Theodore Frye.
That ensemble was renamed the Roberta Martin Singers
[1,
2,
3] in 1936. Martin
launched the Roberta Martin Studio of Music, a publishing house, in 1939,
adding the more cement that made Chicago the metropolitan home of Black
Gospel. Her own first composition to publish was 'Try Jesus, He Satisfies'
in 1943. Martin released her first vinyl in 1947 with Norsalus McKissick for
Fidelity Records: 'Precious Memories'. Having released several albums,
Martin's last was 'Praise God' in 1968. She died the next year on January 18, having
battled cancer, after which the Roberta Martin Singers separated, though
there would be reunions into the new millennium. Her funeral in Chicago was
attended by an estimated 50,000 people
[*].
With above 200 compositions to Martin's name, among those were 'He Knows How
Much We Can Bear' ('41), 'Try Jesus, He Satisfies' ('43), 'Only a Look'
('48), 'I’m Just Waiting on the Lord' ('53) and 'God Is Still on the Throne'
('59). Discographies of issues w various credits at
1,
2. Martin performs with the
Roberta Martin Singers on all tracks below. Roberta Martin 1947 Featuring Norsalus McKissick Composition: Georgia Jones/Roberta MartinRoberta Martin 1950 Featuring Norsalus McKissick Composition: Traditional What a Friend We Have In Jesus Composition: Joseph ScrivenRoberta Martin 1958 Composition: R.A. Martin Composition: Roberta Martin Roberta Martin 1968 Composition: Jessie Jimerson (Jessie Phillips) Album: 'Praise God'
|
|
 Marion Williams Source: Record Connexion |
Born in 1927 in Miami, gospel vocalist
Marion Williams
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5] was raised a
Pentecostal (Church of God), though exposed to the
blues, jazz and calypso of the south Florida region and was encouraged to
pursue opera. Poverty saw her dropping out of school at fourteen to work at
a laundry with her mother. She joined the
Ward Singers in 1947
[*]. Multiple
sources place her first recordings that year. Below is a sample from among the Ward Singers' first issues: 'How Far Am I
From Canaan?', given an unconfirmed date of 1948. On 'Surely, God Is Able' she is thought to follow
Clara Ward
on lead. Albeit
Ward was lead vocalist with the Ward Singers, Williams was
the gal who stole the show until she left the Singers in 1958. Mother
(Gertrude) and daughter (Clara) Ward
were very good about featuring the talents of their singers, all top rate.
But they had a reputation for shaving coin, pay
so poor that members of the group had to pay their own hotel accommodations.
Since Williams was a main draw and couldn't get a raise she formed the Stars
of Faith with Kitty Parham, another Ward Singers luminary with the same
problem. In 1965 Williams embarked on a solo career, touring the States,
Africa and West Indies. Williams was sixty when she graduated
from Pacific Union College in 1987. In 1993 she was honored by both the
MacArthur Foundation and Kennedy Center. Williams died on July 2, 1994, in
Philadelphia [1,
2,
3]. She had issued 'In This House, On This Morning' with the
Wynton Marsalis Septet that year, recorded in 1993. Discographies w various
credits at 1,
2. Williams in visual media:
*. Per 1962 below, all edits were filmed live in Utrecht,
Netherlands. Marion Williams 1948 Clara Ward Singers Composition: Reverend Herbert Brewster Marion Williams 1949 Clara Ward Singers Composition: Reverend Herbert Brewster Marion Williams 1958 Clara Ward Singers Composition: Ward/Love Marion Williams 1962 Somebody Bigger Than You and I Composition: Johnny Lange/Hy Heath/Sonny Burke Composition: Al Green/Mabon HodgesMarion Williams 1964 Composition: Thomas Dorsey Brown/Jackson album: 'Much In Common' Bass: Ray Brown Vibes: Milt Jackson Drums: Albert Heath Organ: Wild Bill Davis Marion Williams 1965 Television performance Composition: Clara Ward Television performance Composition: See Wikipedia Television performance Composition: Ward/Love Praise the Lord I Have a New Life Television performance Television performance Marion Williams 1969 Filmed live in Europe with the Stars of Faith When the Saints Go Marching In Filmed live in Europe with the Stars of Faith Composition: See Wikipedia
|
|
|
Born Arlette B. Broil in 1922 in New Orleans,
Bessie Griffin
[1,
2,
3] began her recording
career as a contralto vocalist with the Sittin' In With label in 1948,
releasing 'He Walks With Me' and 'My Trouble Is Hard'. Those with whom she
performed those recordings are less than forthcoming so it's assumed they
were name releases. She also sang with the Gospel Consolators in the latter
forties. Though she is said to have released multiple 78s with that group no
documentation is found but for one, 'Every Now and Then', in 1948 for the
King label. She also recorded 'Someday, Somewhere' in 1948 for King. It's
assumed that was a name release until documentation is found otherwise.
Moving to Chicago in 1951, she joined
Albertina Walker's Caravans, recording
with them in December of 1953 for the States label. Among the songs on which
Griffin sang lead for the
Caravans was 'Since I Met Jesus', released in
1955. After leaving the
Caravans Griffin briefly signed up with the Parrot
label before heading to Los Angeles and Specialty Records in 1956. The
Liberty label released Griffin's debut album in 1960, 'Portraits in Bronze',
performed with the Gospel Pearls. Like other gospel artists, Griffin
emphasized evangelism over profit. Though she did release several more
albums during her career through the eighties, what juiced Griffin was
performing in person for live audiences rather than recording. During the
year of her death in 1989 Spirit Feel Records issued the anthology, 'Even
Me: Four Decades Of Recordings By Bessie Griffin'. Griffin was buried at
Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. Discographies w various credits at
1,
2. Griffin in visual media:
*. Bessie Griffin 1948 With the Gospel Consolators Composition: Thomas Dewey Bessie Griffin 1953 With the Caravans Jesus Is a Rock In a Weary Land With the Caravans With the Caravans Bessie Griffin 1955 Bessie Griffin 1962 Filmed live with the Gospel Pearls When the Saints Go Marching In With the Gospel Pearls Television performance Composition: See Wikipedia Bessie Griffin 1963 Album: 'Bessie Griffin and The Gospel Pearls' Album: 'Bessie Griffin and The Gospel Pearls' Bessie Griffin 1964 Composition: Carl Gustav Boberg Bessie Griffin 1981 Filmed live at Montreux Jazz Festival Composition: See Wikipedia First recorded version: Selah Jubilee Singers (Decca 7872) 1941 Live
|
 Bessie Griffin Source: Cross Rhythms |
|
 Shirley Caesar Source: Ticket Master |
The
Shirley Caesar
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5] was born in 1938 in
Durham, North Carolina. A Black Gospel singer, it is agreed throughout the
cosmos that she recorded in 1949 at age eleven. But nothing else seems known
about that so we can't say she didn't surface on vinyl that year. She did,
however, record 'I’d Rather Have Jesus' b/w 'I Know Jesus Will Save' in November of 1951. Billed as Baby Shirley on the
78 for Federal Records, she was described on the label as twelve years old,
though she was thirteen. It's not impossible that was recorded early enough
for release the same year, though it could well have been '52. Be as may,
Caesar joined the
Caravans in 1958. The
Caravans was the super group of
Black Gospel through which nigh everyone in the genre had passed at one
time or another. Getting hired by
Albertina Walker, who ran the
Caravans,
something meant you were going to be a star or you wouldn't be in her
ensemble in the first place. Thus it's with the
Caravans that Caesar came to
national acclaim before she left the group in '66 to pursue a solo career.
Among the songs on which Caesar sang lead with the Caravans are 'I Feel
Good', 'Soul Salvation, Lord', 'Do Something for Me', 'Roll On', 'Choose Ye
This Day', 'Hallelujah It's Done', 'I Won't Be Back', 'Jesus, I'll Never
Forget', 'He First Loved Me' and 'I Find No Fault in God'. The next year she released the LP, 'I'll Go'. She also participated in
'Jordan River' that year, an album by the Reverend Douglas Fulton Gospel
Singers Ensemble with Gwen Carter singing lead. In 1968 Caesar issued the
albums, 'A Message to the Nation' and 'My Testimony'. She has since recorded
prolifically into the new millennium. Caesar graduated in 1984 from Shaw
University in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a business degree. She has since
received a couple honorary doctorates, one from Shaw, another from
Southeastern University in Florida. She currently pastors the Mount Calvary
Word of Faith Church in Raleigh, with a congregation of about 1,500. Among
Caesar's own compositions were 'My Testimony' ('67), 'Let Jesus Fix It'
('72) and 'Hold My Mule' ('88).
Songwriting credits to releases on 45
rpm. Various credits also Discogs.
Caesar in
visual media. As of this writing Caesar maintains an internet presence at
1,
2. Per
1968 below, all tracks are from Caesar's album, 'My Testimony'. All tracks
per 1980 are from the LP, 'Rejoice'. Baby Shirley 1951 Shirley Caesar 1962 With the Caravans Composition: James HerndonShirley Caesar 1968 Composition: Shirley Caesar Composition: James Cleveland Long Way to Go to Be Like the Lord Composition: Shirley Caesar Composition: Shirley Caesar Shirley Caesar 1980 Composition: Bob Dylan Composition: Archie Jordan Composition: David Briggs/Shirley Caesar Composition: Aaron Wilburn Shirley Caesar 1984 Composition: Carman Licciardello Album: 'Sailin'' Shirley Caesar 1989 Composition: Shirley Caesar/Michael Mathis/Bernard Sterling Shirley Caesar 1997 Filmed live Composition: Shirley Caesar Shirley Caesar 2013 Composition: James Fortune/AyRon Lewis Shirley Caesar 2014 Television broadcast: Stellar Awards Composition: James Fortune/AyRon Lewis
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The
Davis Sisters
[1,
2,
3,
4/Not the country duo
1,
2] were raised to attend
the Fire-Baptized Holiness Church in Philadelphia. It was 1945 when Ruth
Davis (aka Baby Sis) founded the Famous Davis Sisters of Philadelphia, joined by her
sisters, Alfreda, Audrey, Edna and Thelma. Ruth was 17 at the time. They
signed up with Apex Records in 1947, releasing their first recordings in
1949: 'I'm Going To Tell God/The Hole Will Be Done' and 'Get Away
Jordan/Jesus Is Near'. Pianist, Curtis Dublin, had joined the Sisters in
time to contribute to those. The Sisters also recorded titles on the Gotham
label in 1949, one of them 'In The Morning When I Rise'. Imogene Greene was recruited in
1950. In 1963 the Sisters lost Dublin, also their organist, to an auto
accident. Continuing without replacement, Greene left the Sisters in '55 for
the Caravans, she replaced by
Jackie Verdell. The Sisters
would consist of several other vocalists over the years, they releasing
their last LP in the eighties. None of the original Sisters survive to this
date. Thelma died at a young age in January of 1956, developing pneumonia
shortly after delivering the last of her three children. She was fifteen
upon becoming one of the Sisters. Ruth died in 1970. Alfreda, the youngest
sister who began singing with the group at age ten, died in 1990. Audrey and
Edna are also deceased. Per below,
Composers of some of the Davis Sisters'
better known songs. Discos w various credits at
1,
2. Ruth sings lead on all edits unless
otherwise indicated. Davis Sisters 1949 Davis Sisters 1950 Davis Sisters 1955 Composition: Reverend Gary Davis Davis Sisters 1959 2nd lead: Jackie Verdell Davis Sisters 1960 Composition: Amery Smith Davis Sisters 1964 'TV Gospel Time' Host: Brother Joe May 2nd lead: Jackie Verdell Composition: James Fortune/AyRon Lewis Introduction: Jackie Verdell Lead: Alfreda Composition: Adeline Brunner 'TV Gospel Time' Host: Brother Joe May Lead: Jackie Verdell
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 Davis Sisters with Curtis Dublin Source: Music Me |
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Born in 1912 in Macon, Mississippi,
Brother Joe May
[1,
2,
3] was
a gospel singer raised Pentecostal in the Church of God. He traveled the
gospel circuit in the South until moving to St. Louis to work in a chemical
plant in 1941. His first performance was at Thomas A Dorsey's
annual National
Convention of Gospel Choirs & Choruses, probably earlier than 1949. A
performance in that venue that year landed him a recording contract with
Specialty Records. May issued 'Search Me Lord'/'How Much More Of Life's
Burden Can We Bear' in December of 1949. Sales are estimated at around one
million for 'Search Me Lord'. The next year he issued 'Do You Know Him'/'The
Day Is Past and Gone' to similar success. He then quit his day job and began
touring with other gospel groups. Yet later he would perform duets with
Willie Mae Ford Smith
at her church in St. Louis. May released his debut album, 'Walk On and Talk
On', in 1962. He would make recordings with his daughter, Annette, and tour
Europe with the musical, 'Black Nativity'. But it was in the South that May
was most at home, performing in that region until his death of stroke in
Thomasville, Georgia, on July 14, 1972, only age 59
[*]. Having released several studio
albums during the years he was recording, May was inducted into the
International Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Composers
contributing to
recordings on 45 rpm. See also
AllMusic
and Discogs. Brother Joe May 1949 Composition: Thomas Dorsey Brother Joe May 1950 Composition: Isaac WattsBrother Joe May 1959 Composition: Brother Joe May Brother Joe May 1962 Composition: Brother Joe May Composition: Brother Joe May Brother Joe May 1969 Composition: See LOC / Wikipedia Album: 'Don't Let the Devil Ride' Composition: Oris Mays Album: 'Don't Let the Devil Ride'
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 Brother Joe May Source: Last FM |
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 Martha Bass Source: Discogs |
Born in 1921, where unknown, gospel vocalist,
Martha Bass
[1,
2,
3] was mother to
Fontella Bass and David Peaston.
(She was married to James Peaston.) She first turned up in St. Louis as a
youth, finding tutelage with
Willie Mae Ford Smith Smith. She joined the
Ward Singers for about a year, making her debut, and only, recording with
that group in 1950: 'Wasn't It a Pity How They Punished My Lord'. Bass
issued her first album, 'I'm So Grateful', in 1966. In 1968 she issued her
own version of 'Rescue Me', the song her daughter,
Fontella, struck oil with in
1965. Her later career would include collaborations with both
Fontella and Peaston. Issuing
her last name album, 'It's Another Day's Journey', for Checker in 1972, she
then supported the career of
Fontella into the latter
nineties. Martha died
in September of 1998. Various recording credits at
45Worlds and
Discogs. Per 1966 below, all tracks are from Bass' debut album,
'I'm So Grateful'. Per 1969 all tracks are from her LP, 'Martha Sings Mahalia'. Martha Bass 1950 With the Ward Singers Martha Bass 1966 Composition: Reverend Herbert BrewsterComposition: Gloria Griffin Composition: Martha Bass Composition: Geneser SmithComposition: Roman Holmes Martha Bass 1968 Composition: Raynard Miner/Carl SmithAlbum: 'Rescue Me' Original version 1965 Fontella Bass Album: 'Rescue Me' Martha Bass 1969 Composition: Traditional Composition: Clara Ward Composition: Reverend Herbert Brewster
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Born in Chicago in 1931, pianist and vocalist,
James Cleveland attended the
Pilgrim Baptist Church as a boy, the same where
Thomas A Dorsey and
Roberta Martin supplied the
music. The King of Gospel, say some (though not all, due controversies in
his life), began his career in black gospel in a trio with Bessie Folk and Norsalus McKissick in 1950. Upon the disbandment of that group
Roberta Martin hired him as
an arranger and composer ('Grace Is Sufficient' '48). Cleveland would publish more than 400 compositions
during his career, such as a couple more for Martin like 'Saved' and 'Stand
By Me' in '51. Sources differ [1,
2,
3] on when Cleveland joined the
Gospelaires and made his first recordings with them. General consensus is
1950. To simplify we go with Record Connexion
1,
2,
placing their first issues in 1950: 'I Call Jesus, My Rock'/'Every Day'
(Apollo 236) and 'Oh! What a Time'/'Life Boat Is Coming' (Apollo 242). It
was 'Oh! What a Time' on which Cleveland made his lead vocal debut. Others
were led by Bessie Folk and Norsalus McKissick ('Every Day'). 1951 saw the
issue of 'Talk About a Child'/'He's Pleading in Glory for Me' (Apollo 251)
with Bessie Folk at lead. Come 1953 he was issuing with the Gospel All
Stars, several sides such as his compositions, 'That's Why I Love Him So',
'Every Now and Then' and 'Lord Remember Me'. Come the major thrust provided by
Albertina Walker in 1954, Cleveland
first recording with her Caravans in November. In 1959 he
put down his first tracks with his group, the
Gospel Chimes. 1962 saw him signing up with Savoy Records, first recording
the album, 'There Is No Failure In God', with the Gospel Chimes that
January. He recorded the LP, 'This Sunday In Person!', with the Angelic
Choir the next July, followed by 'Redeemed'/'Leave It There' in September.
That December he recorded his first solo vocals for the release of 'The Soul of
James Cleveland' the next year. His first sessions with the Cleveland
Singers was in May of '63 toward the release of 'The Sun Will Shine After a
While'. He is thought to have moved to Los Angeles, still under contract
with Savoy, when he recorded more tracks with the Angelic Choir, yielding
the song, 'Peace Be Still', among others. He was soon touring both the
States and abroad. In 1967 Cleveland joined
Albertina Walker in the launch
of the Gospel Music Workshop of America. The GMWA has since become a huge
organization holding conventions annually, growing from 3000 delegates (by
some fashion in the music business) in 1968 to 12,000 in 2008. Along with
workshops, recordings are made, most notably with a mass choir of two to
three thousand singers. With Cleveland gospel moved beyond its earlier
evangelistic concerns to those of gospel as an industry. He also involved
himself with secular musicians as earlier black gospel singers weren't
inclined to do. Cleveland founded the Southern California Community Choir in
time for its appearance on
Aretha Franklin's 'Amazing Grace' in 1972. He
also appeared on recordings with
Elton John. Cleveland further differed from
earlier black gospel vocalists in that they were performing rather than
recording artists. They sang for church audiences; Cleveland sang for the
more not attending church. Recording well over a hundred albums, sixteen of them gold
and four worth a Grammy, Cleveland had built an estate worth about five
million dollars by the time he died of congestive heart failure on February
9, 1991, in
Culver City, California. His funeral is said to have drawn an attendance of
nearly 60,000. As mentioned above, Cleveland composed several hundred titles
such as 'Ain't That Good News' ('59) and 'Prayer' ('78).
Songwriting credits
for issues on 45 rpm. See also
All Music
and Discogs.
References encyclopedic: 1,
2,
3,
4. Musical:
1,
2,
3.
Soundtracks featuring
Cleveland. YouTube
tribute site. James Cleveland 1950 Debut lead vocal w the Gospelaires James Cleveland 1954 With the Caravans With the Caravans Composition: Traditional With the Gospel All Stars Composition: Cleveland James Cleveland 1955 With the Caravans Composition: Koko Taylor James Cleveland 1959 With the Voices of Tabernacle Composition: Pearl Woods James Cleveland 1960 With Sallie Martin Composition: Cleveland James Cleveland 1969 With the Gospel Girls Composition: SK Wheatlake With the Gospel Girls With the Gospel Girls Composition: Curtis MayfieldWith the Cleveland Singers Composition: Cleveland James Cleveland 1977 Live at Carnegie Hall Composition: Bruce Johnson
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 James Cleveland Source: Black Past |
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 Willie May Ford Smith Source: Ol Skool Saint |
Born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, in 1904, gospel vocalist,
Willie Mae Ford Smith
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5], was
the contemporary of gospel singer, Eugene Smith, both important progenitors
of gospel music to arise in the fifties. Smith was raised a Baptist in St.
Louis, Missouri, from age twelve. She began singing with her four sisters in
a group called the Ford Sisters. It was 1922 at the Baptist National
Convention that she began making a name for herself. In 1927 she married one
James Peter Smith and began touring with musical revivals.
Smith's heydays were in the forties upon switching from Baptist to
Pentecostal, Baptists finding her music too aligned with secular blues. Her first issues
didn't arrive until 1950. Among
those were 'Call Him', 'Jesus Is the Name', 'Goin' On With the Spirit' and
'Pilot Take My Hand'. 'Give Me Wings' and 'What Manner of Man Is This' were
issued circa 1950. About five years later she was ordained in the Lively
Stone Apostolic Church in St. Louis, where she was satisfied to perform into
the early nineties. Shortly after the death of
Brother Joe May in July of
'72 she took her music out of the church to the Newport Jazz Festival. She
also recorded 'Going On With the Spirit' that year, thought to have been
released in '74 (possibly). That was a rare event as Smith recorded very
little. For all her stature in the field it's yet difficult to determine
just when Smith recorded what, so we hazard no discography beyond that.
There exists at least one later compilation of her early recordings. Howsoever, Smith's greater emphasis was evangelical. They were her students
who took her influence into the recording studio. Among them were
Roberta Martin,
Martha Bass and
Brother Joe May. Smith was
recipient of a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the
Arts in 1988. She died in St. Louis in February of 1974. Discography w
various credits: *. Willie Mae Ford Smith 1950 Date is approximate Date is approximate Composition: Roman Holmes
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 Dorothy Love Coates Source: Last FM |
Born in 1928 in Birmingham, Alabama, vocalist,
Dorothy Love Coates
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5], finds this
page by virtue of black gospel, a genre as decidedly not the blues as it was
intimately tied with them from their inception, especially in the rural
South via early blues musicians such as
Lead Belly. Secular blues and gospel were rivals due having much in common,
which relationship would continue thusly with the R&B that gradually evolved
into soul music.
Little Richard would mix black
gospel with rock. Coates had been born Dorothy McGruff, her father a
minister who had divorced her mother and left when she was six. Four years
later she began playing piano at her Baptist church. (Baptists were
something more conservative with gospel than Pentecostals.) She quit school
in 10th grade to become a maid of financial necessity. There was a family
group of brothers and sisters called the McGriff Singers before Coates
joined the Gospel Harmonettes when they were the Gospel Harmoneers at some
time in the forties. (The ensemble had been about since the thirties.) The
Harmonettes issued their first tracks, 'In the Upper Room' and 'Move on Up a
little Higher', in 1949, though Coates didn't participate. Coates is thought
to have first appeared on wax in 1951 with the Harmonettes on the Specialty
tracks, 'Get Away Jordan' and 'I'm Sealed'. The Harmonettes eventually
disbanded for good in the latter sixties (1970?), Coates forming the Dorothy
Love Coates Singers. Coates distinguished herself from other black gospel
singers less by multiple performances at the Newport Jazz Festival than by
involvement in civil rights. (Black gospel singers ranged from those who
kept things in church to those who took the Book where it was thought the
most needed, including hedonist venues such as the Playboy Mansion.) Coates,
however, didn't indulge in secular music, keeping apart from such as soul.
Come 1980 Coates ceased recording, though she continued performing and
appeared in a couple of films in the nineties. She died of heart failure in
Birmingham in April 2002
[*]. Per below, Coates appears with the Gospel Harmonettes on all tracks until 1973, that and and thereafter with her Singers.
Among Coates' numerous compositions were 'You Can't Hurry God (He's Right On
Time)' ('53), '99 and a Half Won't Do' ('56), 'Strange Man' ('67) and 'I've
Got To Make It' ('70). Also see songwriting credits at
45cat and discogs
1,
2,
3. Per 1956 below, all tracks with the exception of '99 1/2' (released that
year) are recordings thought to be unreleased until 1992 on the album, 'Get
On Board'. The Gospel Harmonettes 1949 Harmonettes prior to Coates Dorothy Love Coates 1951 Composition: William McDadeComposition: Roberta Martin Dorothy Love Coates 1955 Composition: William McDade Live Dorothy Love Coates 1956 Composition: Nate McNairComposition: Dorothy Love Coates Composition: Roberta Martin Composition: Dorothy Love Coates Composition: Dorothy Love Coates Composition: Reverend Herbert Brewster Dorothy Love Coates 1964 Composition: Dorothy Love Coates Dorothy Love Coates 1973 Album: 'A New Day Dawns' Dorothy Love Coates 1974 Album: 'When It's All Over' Composition: Robert AndersonAlbum: 'When It's All Over' Dorothy Love Coates 1977 Composition: Dorothy Love Coates
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Born the youngest of nine children in 1929 in Chicago, Albertina Walker (aka Queen of Gospel) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], took the reins of the Caravans [1, 2, 3] in 1952. That group had been formed in 1947 by Robert Anderson, originally the Gospel Caravan. Recordings are thought to have been made in 1949. The group became the Caravans in '51, Anderson and Walker parting ways in '52. Albeit gospel, originating in Europe, and the blues, developing out of northern urban jazz (Chicago particularly) are of quite different origins, in the rural South the two had been a mix for decades. Gospel and the blues had there been identical in origin, blues the secularization of early black music originally developed the prior century on Southern plantations. Nigh all early blues musicians sang gospel, from Lead Belly to Reverend Robert Wilkins and Reverend Gary Davis to Moody Jones but a few early examples. White folk got their gospel from such as the Carter Family. Black folk had black gospel, largely developed as a genre by Thomas A Dorsey with Sallie Martin, contemporaries of the Carter Family. Among Walker's contemporaries in Black Gospel was Martha Bass, only eight years older. Bessie Griffin joined her in the Caravans for a period in the early fifties. Walker's Southern-derived gospel (though born in Chicago, her parents from Georgia) was enormously popular in a genre that was a sliver in comparison to the huge markets for country western, jazz and rock n roll. Walker performed for both presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, in the seventies. She was the recipient of multiple awards, among them two Grammy Awards for two albums ('Songs of The Church' in 1994 and 'Paved the Way' in 2006) and a National Heritage Fellowship in 2002. Aka the "Queen of Gospel," Walker died with more than 60 albums in her wake on October 8, 2010, in Chicago. Five of those had gone gold. Among her own compositions were 'See How The Lord Has Kept Me' in '63 and 'Jesus Heard My Earnest Plea' in '65. Songwriting credits to 45 rpm issues by the Caravans. Brief list of composers to some of Walker's more popular recordings. Discos w various credits at 1, 2. Walker in visual media. Both genre-specific and the broader spectrum of Walker's career briefly represented below. Albertina Walker 1952 I Know The Lord Will Make A Way Albertina Walker 1955 With James Cleveland Composition: Koko TaylorThe Angels Keep Watching Over Me Albertina Walker 1962 Albertina Walker 1979 Composition: Curtis Burrell Albertina Walker 1981 Composition: Calvin Bridges
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Albertina Walker Source: Liberty Ink |
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 Alex Bradford Source: Last FM |
Alex Bradford brushed with blues just a bit, something
acknowledging blues as gospel's sibling, but not enough to be identified
with blues except as a Black Gospel singer, thereat removed from blues.
Born in 1927 in Bessemer, Alabama, Alex Bradford
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5]
began performing at age four and joined his first gospel group at 13. He had
his own radio show as a teenager before attending the Snow Hill Normal and
Industrial Institute where he began teaching as a student. He was thus also
known as Professor Alex Bradford. In 1947 he headed to Chicago where he
worked for brief periods with
Mahalia Jackson and
Roberta Martin. He
composed 'Let God Abide' ('53) and 'Since I Met Jesus' ('54) for the latter.
Bradford followed his Martin period with the Bradford Singers, then the Bradford Specials. His
earliest known release was in 1953
as Professor Alex Bradford for Specialty Records, 'I Don't Care What
the World May Do'. 'Too Close to Heaven' followed in 1954. That arrived to
gospel's party with a million popping corks, going gold. Bradford
experienced great success through the fifties, his popularity waning in the
sixties as he moved into theatre, touring to London with 'Black Nativity' in
1962. He began arranging for Vignette Carroll in '69 per 'But Never Jam
Today'. Come '71 he would tour a couple years with Carroll's 'Don't Bother
Me, I Can't Cope'. It was another Carroll musical in 1976:
'Your Arms Are Too Short to Box with God'. He was working on 'Don't Cry,
Mary' in 1978 when he died of stroke in Newark,
New Jersey on February 15. Bradford released over ten studio albums during
his career of over two decades as a recording artist. The larger portion of
his catalogue was composed by himself, from such as 'I've Got a Job' ('58)
to 'Sunday Mo'nin'' ('71).
Songwriting credits to titles issued on 45
rpm.
See also All Music
and Discogs.
He composed all titles below except as noted (* = undetermined). Alex Bradford 1953 I Don't Care What the World May Do Alex Bradford 1954 Alex Bradford 1955 Live Composition: Bez/Paul Davis/Mark Day/Paul Ryder Shaun Ryder/Clovis Taylor/Gary Whelan Alex Bradford 1962 Filmed live in Utrecht, Netherlands Filmed live in Utrecht, Netherlands Composition: Thomas Dorsey/Mary GardnerComposition: Richard King
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Staple Singers See
Staple Singers. |
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 Cassietta George Source: Discogs |
Born in 1929 in Memphis, Tennessee, mezzo-soprano,
Cassietta George
[1,
2,
3], is requisite to
the Black Gospel current on this page, blues arising out of the South
something of a younger sibling to black gospel, though the Black Gospel
genre proper postdated blues by a couple decades. Though blues and Black
Gospel are two distinctly different limbs they intimately intertwine. Not
all black gospel singers sang the blues, the blues being largely secular.
But countless early blues musicians sang gospel, as many as sang the more
risqué, sometimes between them. Black Gospel would also slap hands with R&B
and get infused into soul music. George graduated from high school in Canton,
Ohio, after which she returned to Memphis to sing with such as the Songbirds
of the South and the Brewster Ensemble. She left for Chicago in 1953,
joining one of Black Gospel's premier groups, the
Caravans, in 1954.
Replacing
Bessie Griffin, George is thought to have first appeared on vinyl
that year with the
Caravans on the States label. That November she recorded
lead on 'Wait For Me', though that wasn't released until February of '56.
George spent a year or so with the
Caravans, left, then
returned in 1960. George composed about 25 songs with the
Caravans (more than a
hundred throughout her career), also singing lead on such as 'Remember Me,
Oh Lord' ('62) and 'Walk Around Heaven' ('64). George issued her first of
above fifteen
albums, 'I Must Tell Jesus', in 1965, the year she left the
Caravans for a solo career
in Los Angeles. A reunion with the Caravans would occur in 1976 on the
album, 'Share'. For being one of the
Caravans' major vocalists
(which one wasn't?), and highly popular in her own right, there is
relatively little
information about her. Among George's own compositions were 'The Greatest
Gift' ('66), 'Same Train' ('67) and 'The Tremblor' ('71). Songwriting
credits at
45Cat,
Discogs and
AllMusic.
George passed onward in Los Angeles on January
3, 1995 [*].
Tribute site *. Further reading:
1,
2. Cassietta George 1962 With the Caravans Composition: James ClevelandCassietta George 1965 Composition: Elisha Hoffman Album: 'I Must Tell Jesus' Album: 'I Must Tell Jesus' Album: 'I Must Tell Jesus' Cassietta George 1967 Composition: Isaiah Jones Composition: Traditional Composition: Cassietta George Composition: Dorothy NorwoodCassietta George 1968 Composition: Cassietta George/Isaiah Jones Somebody Bigger Than You and I Composition: Johnny Lange/Hy Heath/Sonny Burke Cassietta George 1971 Composition: Johnson Oatman Jr. Arrangement: James Carmichael
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| Della Reese See
Jazz Song:
Della Reese. |
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 Jackie Verdell Source: Lipstick Alley |
Born in 1937 in Philadelphia, PA,
Jackie Verdell
[1,
2,
3/Disco] was raised a
Pentecostal in the Church of God In Christ. Verdell's significance to these histories was her first several years in the
music business as a gospel singer with the
Davis Sisters beginning right
out of high school in 1955, replacing Imogene Greene for a time. Both her
and the
Davis Sisters'
debut recordings
for the Savoy label were in NYC on
February 9, she singing lead on one of four tracks: 'He's My King'. Those
with sessions in May and August would lead to the 1955 LP, 'The Famous Davis
Sisters' (MG 14000). That included her at lead on 'Lord, Don't Leave Me' and 'Oh Happy Day'
as well. Verdell abandoned
the
Sisters by 1960 but returned in '62 and '64 for recordings.
She began her solo career with the release of 'You Ought to Know Him'/'Bye
Bye Blackbird' in August of 1961 (Peacock 1905 - See 45cat). Verdell's solo
career including secular music was less notable than that with the
Davis Sisters. The sixties found her composing such as 'You Ought to Know Him'
(above), 'Why Not Give Me a Chance' ('63) and 'I'm Your Girl' ('67). Titles
issued by her during that period on 45 RPM with
composing credits. During the seventies
Verdell worked with Jesse Jackson and Operation
PUSH (People United to Save Humanity). Jackson founded PUSH in 1971. Verdell
also moved toward theatre in the seventies, appearing in the musicals,
'Black Nativity' and 'Don't Cry Mary'. She surfaced with the
Davis Sisters
again in 1981 on the last album by that group: 'The Storm Is Passing Over'. Verdell also sang back vocals for a variety of artists, including
Van Morrison and Horace Silver.
Though a gospel vocalist probably the most removed from blues on this page, Verdell was otherwise loaded with them. Beset with diabetes, kidney disease and liver disease, she passed beyond in August of 1991.
Discographies w various credits at
1,
2.
More Verdell under the
Davis Sisters. Jackie Verdell 1955? Davis Sisters Composition: Thelma Davis Davis Sisters Davis Sisters Composition: See WikipediaJackie Verdell 1957 Davis Sisters Jackie Verdell 1963 Composition: Belford Hendricks/Cynthia Young/Clyde Otis Composition: Jackie Verdell Jackie Verdell 1964 Composition: Tucker/Scott/MaloneJackie Verdell 1967 Composition: Buddy Scott/Jimmy RadcliffeDoes She Ever Remind You of Me Composition: Buddy Scott/Jimmy Radcliffe Jackie Verdell 1973 Composition: Jackie Verdell Jackie Verdell 1978 Composition: See Wikipedia Jackie Verdell 1981 Davis Sisters Composition: Ruth Davis Album: 'The Storm Is Passing Over'
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Born in 1935 in Atlanta, Georgia,
Dorothy Norwood
[1,
2,
3,
4] was singing with Mahalia Jackson in 1955 or '56 upon venturing to Chicago. She was already
experienced with singing on tour with her family since the age of eight.
After a brief time with Jackson, Norwood joined the
Caravans.
Albertina Walker, who ran the
Caravans, is said to have
invited Norwood into the group upon hearing her on the radio in 1956,
singing 'Low Is the Way'. Norwood
first recorded with the
Caravans that year. She began her solo career in 1960.
She issued her first LP, 'Johnny and Jesus', in 1964 for Savoy, that to go
gold, which would be followed by four more of her albums numbering above
fifty. Tours in promotion of her albums included Europe where she built a
strong audience. Notable in the seventies was her 1972 tour of the States
with the
Rolling Stones, not really such an odd pairing, considering R&B's
vast capacity, though a long stretch from Black Gospel's original
church-bound evangelism of the thirties when
Thomas A Dorsey fairly
established the genre with
Sallie Martin. Well, not a
little expands full circle. As Georgia Tom and
Tampa Red have said, referring elsewise, it's
tight like that. Howsoever, Norwood wasn't the first Black Gospel artist to
take The Book to who read otherwise.
Clara Ward had found the Playboy
Mansion hospitable in 1968 and '69. In 1991 Norwood distinguished herself
again, this time with the Northern California G.M.W.A. Mass Choir, releasing
the album, 'Live', that gained a #1 spot on Billboard. She founded the
Dorothy Norwood Scholarship Foundation in 2004. In 2012 Norwood began her
own label, the Dorothy Norwood Music Group. 'An Incredible Journey', issued
in 2014, is her latest album per this writing. Discographies w various
credits at 1,
2. Norwood at
Facebook. Dorothy Norwood 1956 Standing In the Need of Prayer With the Caravans Composition: Traditional See HymnaryDorothy Norwood 1964 With the Caravans Debut album: 'Johnny and Jesus' With the Dorothy Norwood Singers Dorothy Norwood 1965 Album: 'He Will Never Let Go My Hand' Album: 'He Will Never Let Go My Hand' Dorothy Norwood 1970 Composition: Dorothy Norwood Album: 'The Dynamic Dorothy Norwood' Album: 'The Dynamic Dorothy Norwood' Album: 'The Dynamic Dorothy Norwood' Dorothy Norwood 1990 Album: 'A Wonderful Day' Album: 'A Wonderful Day' Dorothy Norwood 1998 Filmed live Composition: Kevin Dorsey/Dorothy Norwood Album: 'It's Alright' Savannah Community Choir Filmed live Filmed live Composition: Alvin Darling/Dorothy Norwood Dorothy Norwood 2006 Album: 'The Caravans Paved the Way' Dorothy Norwood 2011 Composition: Alvin Darling/Dorothy Norwood Album: 'God's Been Just That Good' Dorothy Norwood 2015 Composition: Varn Michael McKayAlbum: 'An Incredible Journey'
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 Dorothy Norwood Source: Live My Gospel |
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Contralto Black Gospel singer,
Inez Andrews
[1,
2,
3,
4], was born Inez McConico
in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1929. Her father was a coal miner married to a
woman who died when Andrews was two. She herself was a mother, earning $18 a
week as a domestic, when she began composing. She worked with the Choral
Ensemble in the forties before becoming an understudy to
Dorothy Love Coates in the Harmonettes.
Joining the
Caravans in 1957, among her first
recordings with that group was her composition, 'Come On Jesus', that year, sharing lead with
Dorothy Norwood. Andrews sang
lead on a number of
Caravans recordings, also
composing such as 'I'm Willing' ('58), Show Me The Way' ('60) and '(You
Don't Know Me) The Way The Lord Knows Me' ('61). Andrews abandoned the
Caravans in 1962 to form the Andrewettes,
composing such as 'It was Jesus in 1963'. Pursuing a solo career
later that decade, her record releases include nineteen studio albums with
one live in 1974: 'Live at the Munich Gospel Festival'. Her last was 'Shine
On Me', issued in 1991.She was elected into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 2002.
Andrews died on December 19, 2012 [1,
2].
Songwriting credits at All Music,
45Cat and
Discogs. Inez Andrews 1958 With the Caravans Composition: Inez AndrewsInez Andrews 1959 With the Caravans Composition: Traditional First recorded by Fisk Jubilee Singers 1915 See Wikipedia Inez Andrews 1960 With the Caravans Inez Andrews 1961 With the Caravan Composition: Inez Andrews With the Caravans Composition: Inez Andrews Inez Andrews 1964 With the Andrewettes Inez Andrews 1973 Composition: Doris Akers Album: 'Lord Don't Move That Mountain' Composition: Belford Hendricks/Brook Benton/Clyde Otis Album: 'Lord Don't Move That Mountain' Inez Andrews 1990 Filmed live in Washington DC Composition: Greg Bowen
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 Inez Andrews Source: Alchetron |
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 Mattie Moss Clark Source: Praise 1300 |
Born
the seventh of nine children in 1925 in Selma, Alabama, black gospel vocalist, Mattie Moss Clark
[1,
2,
3,
4,
5]
began piano at age six. Black gospel runs parallel down this page both with
and without the Blues. Though both genres were and remain widely divergent
they share the same ancestry in the Deep South, blues a secular path astray
from old time religion in black churches. Howsoever, as many early blues
musicians sang black gospel as sang the more profane. Black Gospel easily
mixed with blues, found R&B accommodating and would become an essence of
soul music. Clark, however, was a gospel, not blues, vocalist, her entry on
this page being peripheral as such. She's
distinguished from other black gospel performers on this page in that her
groups were larger, that is, choirs. She also differed in that her base of
operations was in Detroit rather than Chicago where Black Gospel was
formally developed as a genre, first in the interest of evangelism, then as
a musical industry. Clark was, however, Pentecostal, as were the majority of
Black Gospel singers (when not Baptist). Clark began playing piano before she was a teenager at
church services, her mother the minister of the Holiness Temple Church of
Christ in Prayer. Attending Selma University to study music after high
school, she then moved to Detroit to join the Greater Love Tabernacle Church
of God in Christ. Becoming Minister of Music, she would soon be training
choirs throughout the southwest Michigan jurisdiction of COGIC (Church of
God in Christ). Her first vinyl was in 1958 with the Southwest Michigan
State Choir (SMSC) on an album that went gold (the first of three with that choir):
'Going to Heaven to Meet the King'. In 1968 Clark became International
President of the Music Department for COGIC. She received an honorary
doctorate in 1981 from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, thus was
also known as Dr. Mattie Moss Clark. Clark arranged or composed well over a
hundred songs and recorded over fifty albums, most with choirs.
Songwriting credits
and such at All Music
and Discogs. She died in
Southfield, Michigan, in September 1994. Mattie Moss Clark 1959 Going to Heaven to Meet the King Composition: Mattie Moss ClarkAlbum: 'Lord Do Something For Me' 2nd LP by the SMSC Mattie Moss Clark 1978 Album: 'I'm Crucified With Christ' Michigan State Community Choir 'American Black Journal' television broadcast Mattie Moss Clark 1986 Southern California Holy Gospel Music Workshop Southern California Holy Gospel Music Workshop With Twinkie Clark Composition: Twinkie Clark Mattie Moss Clark 1990 I Can Do All Things Through Christ Filmed live Composition: Twinkie Clark Mattie Moss Clark 1994 Be Still and Know That I Am God COGIC National Music Choir
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Born in 1942 in San Francisco, gospel composer and vocalist,
Andraé Crouch
[1,
2,
3,
4], wasn't
a blues singer. He is entered here due his proximity to blues via Black
Gospel, gospel and the blues being something alike two aspects of the same
token, sharing to some degree the same origins. Crouch was among the bigger names in gospel
music, beginning his career while Black Gospel was yet in its golden era,
finding place here as a successor to black gospel singers already
mentioned, resulting from blues and gospel branching off the same stream
from each other since before Crouch was conceived. Crouch's parents owned both a dry
cleaning business and a restaurant. They also
ran a street, hospital and prison ministry. He began playing piano at church
services at age eleven. Like most Black Gospel musicians, Crouch was a
Pentecostal, forming his first group in 1960 called the Church of God in
Christ Singers.
Billy Preston played keyboards
in that group. Other members were Edna Wright, Frankie Karl, Gloria Jones,
Sondra Williams and Sandra Crouch when they issued 'It's a Blessing' in 1964
(Simpson RS-273) [Discogs]. The album, 'It's a Blessing', issued later in 1966. In 1965
Crouch put together the Disciples. Its original members, Reuben Fernandez,
Perry Morgan and Bili Thedford and Sherman Andrus recorded and issued the
album, 'Take the Message Everywhere', in 1968. Personnel began changing
after that, which we'll not follow but that in 1970 Fernandez and Andrus
left, replaced by Sandra Crouch and Danniebelle Hall. The Disciples were a
big deal in a genre (gospel) that was very small in comparison to country
western or rock. Americans were buying
Led Zeppelin and
Santana, not evangelism. Hymns traditional
and young were sung in churches by a vast population, but the music industry
didn't attend services. Early Black Gospel had had big band swing with which
to contend; by Crouch's time the musical climate was more by
request of Their Satanic Majesties. White folk had their own versions of
gospel to dispense, but rock was taking its toll on the country genres as
well. Bluegrass was such a small market as to be nigh nonexistent. Folk
music that didn't rock went nowhere. Gospel in country western, its bastion
most fierce, was fading as its "outlaws," good old boys gone astray, took
over, country western gone from country swing toward country rock. Such
the American musical zeitgeist when the
Disciples played the 'Johnny Carson Show' in 1972. The next year Crouch
issued his debut solo album, 'Just Andrae'. The Disciples' first appearance
at Carnegie Hall was in 1975. Among titles composed by Crouch with the
Disciples were 'Soon and Very Soon', 'They Shall Be Mine', 'Quiet Times',
'Sweet Love of Jesus', 'Praises' and 'I Just Wanna Know You'. They released 'Live in London' in 1978. The
Disciples' ninth and last LP, 'I'll Be Thinking of You', was issued in 1979,
the year they played Carnegie once again before disbanding. Pursuing a solo
career, in 1982 Crouch had a bit of bad luck, getting arrested for a vial of
cocaine in his pocket during a traffic stop. Crouch's explanation: it was chicken soup
powder, that then belonged to a friend. He was released with no charges.
In the latter eighties and early nineties the Andraé Crouch Choir would
appear on releases by Michael Jackson. Crouch's popularization of gospel music,
having small resemblance to what had passed before, had lasting power,
Warner Brothers Records releasing a collection of his compositions,
performed by various artists, that won a Grammy in 1996: 'Tribute: The Songs
of Andraé Crouch'. Crouch was touring when in 2014 his heart began to fail.
He died in January 2015 after a heart attack in Los Angeles
[*/Tribute sites:
1,
2]. Crouch had released nearly twenty
albums, won seven Grammy Awards, four Dove Awards (GMA: Gospel Music
Association founded 1969) and had been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall
of Fame (GMA) in 1998. Amidst his extensive catalogue of compositions are
such as 'I'll Be Thinking Of You', 'Please Come Back' and 'Jesus Is Lord'.
Discos w various credits at
45Cat and
Discogs. All Music's list of Crouch's
compositions covered by others.
Crouch in visual media. Crouch composed all titles below. Andraé Crouch 1964 With the COGICs Album: 'It's a Blessing' 1966 With the COGICs Album: 'It's a Blessing' 1966 Andraé Crouch 1972 I Don't Know Why Jesus Loves Me Filmed live at Explo Dallas With the Disciples Andraé Crouch 1975 Television broadcast Billy Graham Crusade Filmed live in New Mexico Andraé Crouch 1980 'Michael Douglas Show' Andraé Crouch 1983 An Evening of Praise and Worship Television broadcast Andraé Crouch 1986 Filmed live Andraé Crouch 1997 Album: 'Pray' Album: 'Pray' Andraé Crouch 2011 Filmed live
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 Andrae Crouch Source: All Music |
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With Pacific Gas & Electric we pause this history of modern blues. We will be entering other notable blues musicians as such occur. |
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Early Blues 2: Vocal - Other Instruments
Modern Blues 2: Vocal - Other Instruments
Modern Blues 3: Black Gospel Appendix
Early Jazz 1: Ragtime - Bands - Horn
Early Jazz 2: Ragtime - Other Instrumentation
Modern 4: Guitar - Other String
Modern 5: Percussion - Other Orchestration
Modern 7: Latin Jazz - Latin Recording
Modern 8: United States 1960 - 1970Modern 9: International 1960 - 1970
Latin Recording 2: The Caribbean
Latin Recording 3: South America
Total War - Sixties American Rock
Classical - Medieval to Renaissance
Jazz Early - Ragtime - Swing Jazz
Jazz Modern - Percussion - Song - Other
Boogie Woogie - Doo Wop - R&B - Rock & Roll - Soul
Sixties American Rock - Popular
Latin Recording - The Caribbean - South America
