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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Blend Wright Trio

The Blend Wright Trio were a poppy, upbeat gospel group led by the multi-talented Eleanor Wright, who recorded for Savoy in the 1960s.

The peppy, poppy Blend Wright Trio of Germantown, Ohio, charmed gospel audiences in the 1960s and early ‘70s. Led by Eleanor Wright and her two sister-in-laws, Audrey and Erving, the Blend Wrights toured widely across the U.S. and even into Europe. Though all the singers were first-rate vocalists, it was Eleanor’s keyboards and composing skills that set them apart.

The Blend Wrights’ best work is found on a couple of records with gospel powerhouse Savoy Records, produced by the legendary Rev. Lawrence Roberts. Also: Something else that distinguished the trio was that they were also one of the few Seventh-Day Adventists gospel groups ever. Here’s Eleanor’s “Let Down Jacob’s Ladder” from their 1963 LP, Let Down the Ladder.

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

The Blend Wright Trio - “Let Down Jacob’s Ladder” (Let Down the Ladder, LP - Side 1, Track 2)

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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).