SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Walk Right, Feel Right by The Gospel Commanders

Detroit’s feisty HOB label – which stands for “House of Beauty” since it was started in the basement of a beauty shop – released a wide variety of gospel acts in its 40-year history, including some of Shirley Caesar’s best work.

 In 1973, South Carolina’s Gospel Commanders released their only HOB 45, “Walk Right, Feel Right,” featuring the songwriting and soulfully raspy lead voice of Nathaniel Nichols. “Walk Right” is a glorious mess – with sloppy production and instruments and vocals stacked indiscriminately. But Nichol’s commanding voice cuts through the noise and makes it worthwhile. The Commanders would go on to produce a fine LPs in the early 1980s for the AIR label out of Atlanta, then – sadly -- disappear.    

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 - Walk Right, Feel Right by The Gospel Commanders

Despite muddy production, the Gospel Commanders’ soulful, chaotic “Walk Right, Feel Right” is an exciting 2-minute slice of Southern soul gospel.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Precious Memories by Prof. J. Earle Hines and the Goodwill Singers

Though little-known today, Prof. J. Earle Hines and the Goodwill Singers, with songs like “Precious Memories,” were major gospel artists in the 1940s and ‘50s.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'It Rained' by Katie Jackson and the GosPearl Community Choir.

Powerhouse vocalist Katie Jackson is joined by the GosPearl Community Choir on the up tempo gospel rave up, “It Rained.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Winding Chain” by Sons of Faith

The otherwise unknown Sons of Faith’s recording “Winding Chain” is a superb example of Deep South soulful gospel, a mournful, heartfelt two-minute gem.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Greater Love" by Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir

Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir’s version of Jeffrey LaValley’s “No Greater Love” was an instant classic.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - “The Non-Violent Man,” by Bill Spivey and the Sons of Truth

Bill Spivey and the Sons of Truth’s vibrant, up tempo “The Non-Violent Man” was a tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Let Freedom Ring" by Pinkard Singers

The otherwise unknown Pinkard Singers released a single – but highly engaging -- 45 for the short-lived RaptureA label in the early 1970s, “Let Freedom Ring.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "I Am A Pilgrim" by Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters was a national treasure during her lifetime and increasingly turned to religious music later in life, including this sprightly version of the old folk spiritual, “I am a Pilgrim.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Roll Jordan, Roll" by Rev. Kenneth Glover

The Rev. Kenneth Glover turns the old spiritual “Roll Jordan, Roll” into an amped up “sending song” of the highest order.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Reflections of the Man Inside" by Eddie Robinson

Bariton Eddie Robinson’s “Reflections of the Man Inside” also features top Motown producers, arrangers and musicians.