Brother Eugene 'Flip' Forrest is a storyteller, gospel DJ, and preacher all in one.
He began as a DJ on KMAC in San Antonio in 1949 and his success led him to increasingly bigger station until he was hired by Albertina Walker to be the chauffer, road manager, and announcer for their Caravans in the early '60s. Eventually, he found his way to KNOK in Dallas where as a DJ and program manager, his knack for creative story-telling made him a local legend.
But Flip's on-air stories had a twist - he would illustrate them with snippets of actual gospel songs by some of the biggest artists of the day. Perhaps you remember Dickie Goodman, who spliced bits of popular songs to "answer" questions by voice actors? - novelty songs like "Mr Jaws" and "Energy Crisis '74"...only Flip's songs were serious and audiences ate 'em up.
Forrest released a couple of LPs for Savoy, including "I Heard It on the Radio" which features dozens of short gospel samples.
'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.