The Black Gospel Music Preservation Program is a treasure-trove of preserved gospel music, known and unknown... now with tens of thousands of gospel recordings ... No one could possibly know them all! One of those unknown disks is by the Jordan Travelers – a single 45 on the small Psalms label. We’re not even sure when the record was released, though I’d guess late ‘60s or early ‘70s. But I’m awfully glad we were able to save it.
The two-sided 45 contains “Go Where Jesus Is” on the A side and a wonderfully chaotic double-time mess on the B side, “Tell Him What You Want.” What “Go Where Jesus Is” does have is lead vocalist Floyd Skinner ... and he’s a revelation. Skinner has one of those memorable southern soulful rasps, like a deeper Wilson Pickett. The song is slow and bluesy as Skinner powerfully urges the listener to find the peace that comes with knowing Jesus.
A group by the name of the Jordan Travelers appears again in 1976 on another equally obscure label, One-Way Records out Chicago, but even if it is the same Jordan Travelers, I haven’t got a clue. But “Go Where Jesus Is” alone tells me that this was a group that really deserved a longer career.
MUSIC: “Go Where Jesus Is” by the Jordan Travelers, 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.