For more than 50 years, the Spirit of Memphis Quartet was one of the premiere groups on the gospel highway. At their peak in the early ‘50s, no one could touch them live. During their long history, a host of extraordinary singers sang with the group, Joe Hinton, Jethro Bledsoe, Silas Steele, Little Axe Broadnax, and others. Through it all, even after they started adding instruments, they retained their focus on – first and foremost – the power of the human voice.
One of their dozens of hits was “Standing at the Bedside” in 1955. It’s a double-time remake of the famed Norfolk Jubilee Singers’ song. Interestingly enough Silas Steele sang it with both groups!
“Standing at the Bedside” is in a long tradition of gospel songs about mama – “I Remember Mama,” “Don’t Drive Your Mother Away,” “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray,” “Hello Mother” and probably 100s more. On this wonderfully propulsive number, that’s bass singer Earl Malone taking the lead vocals... and that heavy beat is provided by a microphone placed at the feet of the Spirit of Memphis Quartet in the studio!
MUSIC: “Standing at the Bedside,” the Spirit of Memphis Quartet, 45
I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU, the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries and is funded by generous support from the Prichard Foundation.