SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Mighty Skylights

In the 1950s, the Vee-Jay label in Chicago tuled multiple genres in record music - doo wop, blues, gospel and even pop music with the Four Seasons and the first Beatles albums. As one of the first Black owned labels in the country, Vee-Jay's releases have always been worth seeking out...including classic albums by the Staples Singers, the Swan Silvertones, the Blind Boys of Mississippi, and others.

One of the lesser known artists on the label are the relatively obscure Mighty Skylights. The grouo, which came out of doo wop, along with labelmates the Spaniels, the Dells and the El Dorados, were a unique combination of smooth harmonies and a raspy-coiced (and sadly uncredited) lead singer - who sounds more like Janis Joplin than anyone else! From 1957, here's the Skylights singing Thurmon Ruth's "I Need Thee."

MUSIC: The Mighty Skylights, "I Need Thee," - 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.

RECENT EPISODES OF SHOUT! BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC MOMENTS

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Christland Singers

Led by the legendary R.H. Harris, the Christland Singers recorded a number of memorable songs, including their version of “I Am Too Close.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Townsend Sisters

Produced by the legendary Willie Mitchell in Memphis, the Townsend Sisters’ “You Can’t Hurry God” is a gospel powerhouse!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Rosie Wallace and the First Church of Love, Faith, and Deliverance Choir

Few could match the power of Evangelist Rosie Wallace and the First Church of Love, Faith and Deliverance Choir of Philadelphia!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Harold Smith Majestics

The Harold Smith Majestics could sing anything, from light classic to gospelized Broadway tunes to classic gospel like “The Lord Will Carry You Through.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Newberry Singers

Led by Edwin Newberry, the always innovative Newberry Singers sound like no other gospel group on their own composition, “Trouble Will Soon Be Over.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Sarah Vaughan

The incomparable Sarah Vaughan recorded a handful of spirituals during her long career, including this gentle version of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Patterson Singers

The Patterson Singers’ “I’m Moving Up” features an irresistibly up tempo closing gospel vamp.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Swanee Quintet

In there more than 70 years together, the Swanee Quintet released a host of great gospel songs, including this one - “The Lord’s on My Side.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Dorothy Love Coates and the Original Harmonettes

The legendary Dorothy Love Coates was one of the true stars of gospel music and her powerful “99 ½ Won’t Do” was adopted as a freedom song during the civil rights movement.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Rev. Morgan Babb

The Rev. Morgan Babb’s passionate version of “Lord, You’ve Been Good to Me” spontaneously emerges from the altar call during one of his legendary sermons.