I just love this voice. Evangelist Jessie Mae Renfro was born in Waxahachie in 1921 and with her passing in 1996, we lost one of the last great traditional gospel voices. She was so compelling that Don Robey signed her to his Houston-based Peacock Records in 1951 as the first female artist on that label.
Renfro, who married the Rev. J.R. Sapp in 1952, was revered in the gospel community, releasing powerful songs like “God is Wonderful,” “You’ve Got to Move” and this one, “Oh, Have You,” from 1956 -- a gloriously slow and bluesy gospel lament, backed by a superb studio band.
Evangelist Jessie Mae Renfro Sapp - "Oh, Have You."
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 - "Oh, Have You" by Evangelist Jessie Mae Renfro
Evangelist Jessie Mae Renfro was one of the last great traditional gospel voices, as her song “Oh, Have You” so beautifully displays.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - “No Segregation in Heaven” by Jordan Jubilee
The Jordan Jubilee’s slow and brooding “No Segregation in Heaven” was a pretty grave statement to make in the early 1970s!
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Down by the Riverside" by The Rev. Cecil Harris and His Choir
Fort Worth’s Galatian Baptist Church tears into the old camp-meeting song, “Down by the Riverside.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Pray on My Child" by Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers
That’s the powerful voice of Maggie Bell on the Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Choir’s version of “Pray on My Child.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Hiding Place" by The Doves
The otherwise unknown Evening Doves deliver a spirited, rollicking version of the traditional gospel song “No Hiding Place."
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Friend Like the Lord" by The Silver Bells
The unknown Silver Bells of Macon, Georgia’s “No Friend Like the Lord” is a masterclass in a cappella doo-wop styled gospel singing.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Cross, No Crown" by Brooklyn All Stars
The Brooklyn All Stars were New York’s best-known gospel group, singing hits like the slow and stately “No Cross, No Crown.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Coward Soldiers" by The Caravans
The Caravans ruled the Gospel Highway in the 1950s and ‘60s with songs like the upbeat “No Coward Soldiers.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Jericho March" by Grace Emmanuel Singers
The music of Daddy Grace’s United House of Prayer for All People is an ecstatic rave-up, fueled by a dozen honking trombones!
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Follow the Star" by Edwin Hawkins
Edwin Hawkins and his friends deliver a wonderful serene and soothing Christmas ballad, “Follow the Star,” to close out a tumultuous 2025.
