SPECIAL PROGAMMING NOTE: SHOUT! host Bob Darden recently partnered with composer and scholar Dr. Stephen Newby for a one-hour radio special commemorating the 10th anniversary of the passing of gospel legend Andraé Crouch. Ten Transformative Songs of Andraé Crouch explores the life, ministry, and musical legacy of one of gospel’s most influential voices. The program builds on themes from their newly released book, Soon and Very Soon: The Transformative Music and Ministry of Andraé Crouch. You can link to the program by clicking here.
Author and Baylor University professor Robert Darden tells stories -- and plays recordings -- from the Baylor University Libraries' Black Gospel Music Restoration Project in an on-going weekly series of two-minute segments. SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments explores the distinctly African-American sound of the "Golden Age of Gospel" (1945-1975). The series celebrates this fertile musical period in American history, presenting cultural snapshots that reveal the depth of a people, their community, and the influence they have had on the rest of American music.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments has also been selected by the panelists at Feedspot.com as one of the Top 10 Black Gospel Podcasts on the web, and one of the Top 40 Black Christian Podcasts from MillionPodcasts.com.
Way to go, Bob Darden and team!
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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.” -
The Rev. Kenneth Glover turns the old spiritual “Roll Jordan, Roll” into an amped up “sending song” of the highest order.
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Bariton Eddie Robinson’s “Reflections of the Man Inside” also features top Motown producers, arrangers and musicians.
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Some of New York’s finest musicians accompany the J.C. White Singers on the funky, jazzy gospel hit, “I’m Saved.”
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The Rev. June Cheeks was one of the greatest shouters and testifiers in the history of gospel music – as his rendition of “Mountain Railroad” will surely prove!
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The legendary guitarist the Rev. Gary Davis recorded 14 stunning gospel tracks in New York City in 1935, including “I Belong to the Band, Hallelujah.”
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The Supreme Voices never quite broke through during the Golden Age of Gospel Music, but with great tracks like “I Made a Vow,” it’s clear they probably should have been stars.
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The Sweet Brothers of Vero Beach, Florida, deserved wider recognition for their soulful, slow burn gospel songs, including “I’ll Be Welcomed.”
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The Cotton Brothers of Macon, Georgia, excelled at a particularly exciting brand of gospel soul, including the rave-up, “Alright, Alright.”
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The Rev. J.R. Lockley and His Original Gospel Clefs, featuring big-voiced Ann Moncrief, deliver a killer version of the spiritual, “One of These Mornings.”
