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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Gwen Carter

Prepare to be moved by Gwen Curtis’ impassioned vocals on this titanic version of John Stallings’ “Learning to Lean.”

In the early 1970s, the dynamic husband and wife team of Tony and Gwen Curtis founded TCS Records in their hometown of Philadelphia. As you’ll hear, Gwen had a stunning gospel voice and was a fine instrumentalist, too. The couple released more than a dozen LPs and 45s – and all are worth checking out.

Alas, the Gwen and Tony never found much success in the gospel music world, despite stellar songs and production. Perhaps, they were just too far ahead of their time. Their “You Can’t Make Me Doubt Him” was the first gospel song I can remember with a disco beat. And “No Never” was as funky as anything on the R&B charts. But they really shined when they let Gwen tear up a slow and emotional gospel blues number like this one, “Learning to Lean.”

Gwen Carter - Learning to Lean

I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU and the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries.

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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).