SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Mighty Skylights

In the 1950s, the Vee-Jay label in Chicago tuled multiple genres in record music - doo wop, blues, gospel and even pop music with the Four Seasons and the first Beatles albums. As one of the first Black owned labels in the country, Vee-Jay's releases have always been worth seeking out...including classic albums by the Staples Singers, the Swan Silvertones, the Blind Boys of Mississippi, and others.

One of the lesser known artists on the label are the relatively obscure Mighty Skylights. The grouo, which came out of doo wop, along with labelmates the Spaniels, the Dells and the El Dorados, were a unique combination of smooth harmonies and a raspy-coiced (and sadly uncredited) lead singer - who sounds more like Janis Joplin than anyone else! From 1957, here's the Skylights singing Thurmon Ruth's "I Need Thee."

MUSIC: The Mighty Skylights, "I Need Thee," - 45.

I'm Robert Darden..."Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments" is produced by KWBU, the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries and is funded by generous support from the Prichard Foundation.

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