SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Back Home Choir

The Back Home Choir was one of the last of the big choral groups dedicated to singing the spirituals, following the likes of Wings Over Jordan and the Hall Johnson Singers. The group was founded in the gospel hotbed of Newark, New Jersey, by the Rev. Charles Banks and ranged in size from 60 to 100 voices ... and all carefully auditioned by Banks himself... though many of the vocalists came from the famed Abyssinian Baptist Church choir in Harlem.

The Back Choir’s first album for the RCA Victor label, I Do Believe, was released in 1958. It’s a strong album of spirituals, with Carrie Smith carrying many of the lead vocals – including “I’ll Fly Away,” “Roll Jordan, Roll,” the title track, and, my favorite, an uplifting ... and upbeat ... version of “King Jesus is All.”

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

PREVIOUS EPISODES OF SHOUT BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC MOMENTS

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "He Got Up" by Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar Mass Choir

One of the many highlights from 1983’s live Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar Mass Choir album is the lively “He Got Up.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Church, Let’s Get Ready for the Resurrection" by The Sensational Nightingales

Guitarist, singer-songwriter and tenor, JoJo Wallace led the Sensational Nightingales after June Cheeks left the quartet for a solo career.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'Warming by the Devil’s Fire' by Rev. Johnny Blakey

The Rev. Johnny Blakey’s emotional sermon “Warming by the Devil’s Fire” is the perfect accompaniment for the Halloween season!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'Devil Gonna Get You' by The Gospeleers

For Halloween, a spooky old jubilee number by the Gospeleers – “Devil Gonna Get You.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'Somebody Touched Me' by Washington Temple Camp Meeting Choir

Sister Ernestine Washington’s recording of “Somebody Touched Me” with the Washington Temple Camp Meeting Choir shows us just why she was called the COGIC “Songbird of the East.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'God Put a Rainbow in the Sky' by Bishop Lawson's Radio Choir

The Bishop Lawson Radio Choir, directed by Prof. Clinton Utterbach, recorded some powerful gospel music in the 1950s, including this rendition of “God Put a Rainbow in the Sky,” featuring James Lowe.

SHOUT! BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC MOMENTS - What a Friend We Have in Jesus - Reba Jones

Reba Jones takes the old gospel tune “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and turns it into a breathless, double-timed rave up vamp!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - God Can by The Mighty Sons of Glory

With ferocious songs like “God Can (Never Underestimate),” you’ll wonder by Tommie Ligons and the Mighty Sons of Glory weren’t bigger gospel music stars!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - All These Things to Me by The Stars of Virginia

The Stars of Virginia’s “All These Things to Me” is a joyous romp – the fitting legacy of a great group that disappeared too soon.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Gone by Teddy Huffman and the Gems

Teddy Huffman and the Gems were the only all-Black gospel group to rule the Southern Gospel music circuit with hit songs like “Gone.”