© 2026 KWBU
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Rev. James Cleveland and the Salem Inspirational Choir

The Rev. James Cleveland leads the Salem Inspirational Choir in a stirring version of his hit song, “I Don’t Feel Noways Tired.”

Towards the last decades of his career, the Rev. James Cleveland would release a dozen albums in a year... sometimes he’d only sing one song, but his name was enough to sell a lot of records! One of such venture was with the Salem Inspirational Choir of Salem Baptist Church in 1978.

Cleveland had just had one of his biggest hits – “I Don’t Feel Noways Tired” – and re-recorded it multiple times.

By this point in his career, his voice is a raspy husk. The Salem Inspirational Choir, under the direction of Dorethea Wade, more than makes up for it with their precision and power.

To give this live two-LP set an additional boost, Cleveland has brought along his latest discovery, keyboardist Keith Pringle – and together with the Salems, they deliver an emotional 11-minute version of “I Don’t Feel Noways Tired.”

James Cleveland and the Salem Inspirational Choir - I Don't Feel Noways Tired

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

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Faithful Wonders
The Faithful Wonders’ funky “Ol’ John (Behold Thy Mother),” first released in 1968, has been re-released multiple times on various gospel and R&B anthologies in recent years.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'Is There Anything Too Hard for God?' by The Kansas East Sunshine Band Children’s Choir’s
The Kansas East Sunshine Band Children’s Choir’s Young & Gifted Recorded Live! LP features a killer vocal by 9-year-old Crystal Morris on the funky “Is There Anything Too Hard for God?”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Old Ship of Zion" by Zion Missionary Baptist Church Music Department
From the Zion Sings LP by the venerable Zion Missionary Baptist Church of East Chicago, Indiana, comes this moving and reverent version of the spiritual, “The Old Ship of Zion.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "People Get Ready" by The Chamber Brothers
For my 500th episode of “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” I’m sharing the first gospel 45 I ever bought, “People Get Ready” by the Chambers Brothers.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - “Oh, Mother Tonight” by The Gospel Twins
The rare 45 “Oh, Mother Tonight” by the otherwise unknown Gospel Twins is a uniquely primitive addition to Baylor’s Black Gospel Archives.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Oh, Have You" by Evangelist Jessie Mae Renfro
Evangelist Jessie Mae Renfro was one of the last great traditional gospel voices, as her song “Oh, Have You” so beautifully displays.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - “No Segregation in Heaven” by Jordan Jubilee
The Jordan Jubilee’s slow and brooding “No Segregation in Heaven” was a pretty grave statement to make in the early 1970s!
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Down by the Riverside" by The Rev. Cecil Harris and His Choir
Fort Worth’s Galatian Baptist Church tears into the old camp-meeting song, “Down by the Riverside.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Pray on My Child" by Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers
That’s the powerful voice of Maggie Bell on the Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Choir’s version of “Pray on My Child.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Hiding Place" by The Doves
The otherwise unknown Evening Doves deliver a spirited, rollicking version of the traditional gospel song “No Hiding Place."

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).