Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments - "All Ready Been to the Water"

KWBU | By Robert Darden

Published February 3, 2019 at 8:35 AM CST

Like the best of the thousands of self-pressed LPs by African American churches across the country, Hello Sunshine by the Mt. Tabor Missionary Baptist Church is a joyous gospel romp - lacking in studio polish, but more than making up for it with spirited singing and playing.

In "All Ready Been to the Water" the choir comes roaring in after 30 seconds of rocking piano and organ vamp, led by powerful vocalist Arnett Pointer - filled with raw, exciting and passionate gospel energy.

1905_mt_tabor_mb_church_-_all_ready_been_to_the_water.mp3

"All Ready Been to the Water" by the Mr. Tabor Missionary Baptist Church Combined Choirs LP, Hello Sunshine. Side I Track II.

Art and Culture

Robert Darden

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).

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