SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Blind Willy Harris

In recent years, music lovers have re-discovered producer Juan D. Shipp’s fabulous D-Vine Spirituals label out of Memphis. Fat Possum Records’ re-releases of classic D-Vine 45s have even been featured on NPR and Free Record Day.

Shipp and engineer Clyde Leoppard started D-Vine in 1970 and over the next 15 years released an astonishing array of gospel artists, including the Gospel Wymics, the Pure Heart Travelers, the Exciting Legion Airs and Blind Willie Harris and the Sensational Six.

Harris’s rendition of the beloved gospel song “Jesus Loves Me” is a perfect example of what D-Vine did best – fueled by a Stax Records-styled horn section, it’s slow and gritty and bluesy and absolutely drips with soul.

MUSIC: Blind Willie Harris and the Sensational Six, “Jesus Loves Me,” 45.

PREVIOUS EPISODES OF SHOUT! BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC MOMENTS

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - God Can by The Mighty Sons of Glory

With ferocious songs like “God Can (Never Underestimate),” you’ll wonder by Tommie Ligons and the Mighty Sons of Glory weren’t bigger gospel music stars!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - All These Things to Me by The Stars of Virginia

The Stars of Virginia’s “All These Things to Me” is a joyous romp – the fitting legacy of a great group that disappeared too soon.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Gone by Teddy Huffman and the Gems

Teddy Huffman and the Gems were the only all-Black gospel group to rule the Southern Gospel music circuit with hit songs like “Gone.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - God is Still on the Throne by The Mighty Southern Echoes of Washington D.C.

The incredibly obscure Mighty Southern Echoes of Washington D.C. have become a favorite of rare gospel vinyl collectors with songs like “God is Still on the Throne.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Get Right Church by Lillie Jenkins

Lillie Jenkins’ “Get Right Church” is a killer gospel vamp, driven by Jenkins’ confident, brassy vocals.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Walk Right, Feel Right by The Gospel Commanders

Despite muddy production, the Gospel Commanders’ soulful, chaotic “Walk Right, Feel Right” is an exciting 2-minute slice of Southern soul gospel.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Precious Memories by Prof. J. Earle Hines and the Goodwill Singers

Though little-known today, Prof. J. Earle Hines and the Goodwill Singers, with songs like “Precious Memories,” were major gospel artists in the 1940s and ‘50s.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'It Rained' by Katie Jackson and the GosPearl Community Choir.

Powerhouse vocalist Katie Jackson is joined by the GosPearl Community Choir on the up tempo gospel rave up, “It Rained.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Winding Chain” by Sons of Faith

The otherwise unknown Sons of Faith’s recording “Winding Chain” is a superb example of Deep South soulful gospel, a mournful, heartfelt two-minute gem.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Greater Love" by Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir

Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir’s version of Jeffrey LaValley’s “No Greater Love” was an instant classic.

“Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU and the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries.