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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.”

As we approach Halloween, I thought it would fun to hear a few spooky gospel songs. From 1941, the Gospeleers were one of a number of old time a capella groups, including the Four Great Wonders, the Galilee Singers, the Goodwill Males Singers and others recording for the Decca label. The Gospeleers were a rare mixed quartet of male and female singers and “Devil Gonna Get You” is a great example of an old spiritual interpreted through that close-harmony jubilee sound.

The Gospeleers were part of Decca’s thriving “race records” collection – artists and songs aimed primarily at the country’s emerging African American marketplace. The quartet, alas, only recorded four known tracks for Decca and they’re pretty rare – a good copy of “Devil Gonna Get You” goes for $20 or more on eBay!   

The Gospeleers - The Devil's Gonna Get 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.

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.”
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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).