“Have You Got Oil in Your Vessel?” by the Golden Crowns of Charlotte, NC, is a marvelous artifact from gospel music’s golden age.
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Welcome to Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments. I’m Robert Darden.
As more and more radio stations began playing gospel music in the 1950s and ‘60s, some widely popular gospel DJs became power brokers themselves. One such DJ was Reid Leath of WRPI in Charlotte, North Carolina. When Leath recommended the hometown Golden Crowns to gospel powerhouse Savoy Records, they listened.
The resulting recording, titled Have You Got Oil in Your Vessel?, got the full Savoy treatment upon its release in 1965 – including a shocking red cover by the legendary cover artist HARVEY. The Golden Crowns were a first-rate quartet and the LP has a host a great songs – but for whatever reason, it failed to catch the attention of gospel music fans. The group released a few more 45s for various smaller labels before disappearing in the 1980s. Today the Crowns are probably best known because deep soul singer Al Anders sang for the quartet for a time.
Still, the title track is a wonderful window into the fast-vanishing legacy of the southern black gospel quartet, led by a shouting, raspy-voiced lead vocalist, boasting pin-point harmonies and a tightly polished backing band. “Have You Got Oil in Your Vessel?” may not have sold like “Oh Happy Day,” but it’s a marvelous artifact from gospel’s golden age.
MUSIC: “Have You Got Oil in Your Vessel?” by the Golden Crowns from their LP, Have You Got Oil in Your Vessel?, Side 1, Track 1
I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU, the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project at Baylor University Libraries and is funded by generous support from the Prichard Foundation
