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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Golden Gate Quartet

One of the most irresistible songs in all of gospel music is the Golden Gate Quartet’s a cappella rendition of the story of Daniel in the lion’s den – “Shadrack.”

One of the most influential, talented and long-lasting of all gospel groups were the legendary Golden Gate Quartet. They began in Norfolk, Virginia, as the Golden Jubilee Quartet in the late 1920s and continued to astound audiences with their a cappella vocal prowess late into the 1970s. Like the Ink Spots and Mills Brothers and similar groups, they could do amazing things with their voices and harmonies.

The Gates had numerous hits during their long career – including musical re-tellings of Old Testament stories such as “Jonah” and “Noah,” as well as war-time classics like “Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer” and “Stalin Wasn’t Stallin’.” One great example of their close-harmony doo-wop style from the 1940s is the story of Daniel in the lion’s den – “Shadrack.”

MUSIC: (2417) Golden Gate Quartet, “Shadrack,”45 (April 28, 2024)

2417 Golden Gate Quartet - Shadrack.wav

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).