I’ve talked in the past about how gospel groups have the greatest names in the world. I submit for your consideration The Melody Kings of Greenwood, Mississippi, featuring the immortal Hilliard McSwine. Actually, I don’t know anything about Mr. McSwine or the Designer label out of Memphis, which recorded the Melody Kings on this rare 45. I do know this – the man can sing and preach!
“Will You Meet Me There,” which McSwine also wrote, is full-tilt gospel boogie... it’s really little more than a double-timed vamp, the kind that great quartets like the Melody Kings use to close their church-wrecking performances. The flip side of his 45 is “I Don’t Know What I Would Do Without the Lord,” also written by McSwine. More than half of the song is devoted to railing against how modern gospel music – and this 45 was released in 1973, mind you – isn’t really religious enough!
You can hear the entire version of “Will You Meet Me There” on the KWBU website at KWBU.org and scrolling down to “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” – check it out!
MUSIC: “Will You Meet Me There,” The Melody Kings of Greenwood, Mississippi, featuring Hilliard McSwine
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.