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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Bible Way Church of God

The Bible Way Church of God Choir’s “What Do You Say About Jesus?” features the church’s longtime pastor, Little Abraham Swanson.

Best known as the original home of James Brown and the Famous Flames, King Records in Cincinnati also had a handful of gospel artists, including The Bible Way Church of God. Bible Way had been founded in 1946 by Pastor Abraham Isaac Jacob Swanson – better known as “Little Abraham.” In 1960, the church released a live album featuring different songs by the choir and a couple of short sermons.

As a result – and thanks to King’s producers and engineers -- Let the Church Roll On sounds exceptionally good for a live album. Little Abraham introduces several of the songs, including this choice cut, a rollicking double time vamp called “What Do You Say About Jesus?” that involves not just the 75-voice choir but the entire congregation.

Music: The Bible Way Church of God Choir, Let the Church Roll On, LP, “What Do You Say About Jesus?” Side 2, Track 4

Bible Way Church of God Choir - What Do You Say About Jesus?

I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU and the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries.

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Robert F. Darden is the author of two dozen books, most recently: Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume II: Black Sacred Music from Sit-In to Resurrection City (Penn State University Press, 2016); Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume I: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement(Penn State University Press, 2014); Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor(Abingdon Press, 2008), Reluctant Prophets and Clueless Disciples: Understanding the Bible by Telling Its Stories(Abingdon Press, 2006); and People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music(Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2004).