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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Donald Vails

In his short life, Donald Vails left a great gospel music legacy with his Choraleers, including "He Looked Beyond My Faults" in 1975.

When Donald Vails died in September 1997 after a long illness, he was just 49 years old. But in that time, this child prodigy from Atlanta recorded 16 albums of superb gospel music, mostly for the Savoy label.

He also served as National Minister of Music for the Gospel Music Workshop of America.

But it is also worth noting that Vails founded the Detroit Youth Kaleidoscope, which provided academic, spiritual and musical development for thousands of young people. It was from Kaleidoscope that the Voice of Deliverance group was founded, which in 1977 released the best-selling album What a Wonderful Savior I've Found.

From one of Donald Vails Choraleers' first LPs, I Will Serve Thee, "He Looked Beyond My Fault" from 1975.

2336 Donald Vails Choraleers - He Looked Beyond My Faults.mp3

MUSIC: Donald Vails Choraleers, I Will Serve Thee LP, "He Looked Beyond My Faults," Side I, Track I (September 3, 2023)

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.

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Robert F. Darden is the author of two dozen books, most recently: Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume II: Black Sacred Music from Sit-In to Resurrection City (Penn State University Press, 2016); Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume I: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement(Penn State University Press, 2014); Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor(Abingdon Press, 2008), Reluctant Prophets and Clueless Disciples: Understanding the Bible by Telling Its Stories(Abingdon Press, 2006); and People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music(Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2004).