SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'I Want to be Free' by The Jordan Singers

The Jordan Singers were founded in 1959 by Ora Jordan Jackson and Robert Thomas in their hometown of Monroe, Louisiana where – unlike many gospel groups – they remained for most of their too-short career. The Jordans featured multiple first-rate lead vocalists ... so much so that the Chicago-based Checker label had the group come to St. Louis for the recording session that would result in the LP, I Want to Be Free in 1972... and hire gospel historian Tony Heilbut to write the liner notes.

The whole album is worth a listen, but I really like the title track, sung by Versie Gibson – in 1972, it was pretty gutsy to be singing lines like, “eliminate segregation, over the nation.” Gibson sounds a whole lot like a young Mavis Staples, and “I Want to Be Free” has that same marching-styled beat that made so many of the Staples’ freedom songs so memorable.

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

PREVIOUS EPISODES OF SHOUT! BLACK GOSPEL MUSIC MOMENTS

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - “I Want the Lord to Do Something for Me" by Straight Street Holiness Church of Fort Valley, GA

Straight Street Holiness Church’s raw recording of “I Want the Lord to Do Something for Me” has a joyful energy all its own.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - (I Was Way Down Yonder) I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray by The Kelly Brothers

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

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SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Back Home Choir

The Back Home Choir specialized in choral arrangements of the old spirituals, including this upbeat rendition of “King Jesus is All.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Myrna Summers

The multi-talented Myrna Summers can sing anything – but she’s rarely sounded better than on this haunting spiritual, “Stand By Me.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Gospel Seekers

The Gospel Seekers’ “I’ve Got Jesus” is an old time, foot-stompin’, gospel rave up of the highest order!

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Jackson Gospel Singers

New Orleans’ fiery Jackson Gospel Singers released a fistful of superb gospel songs in the mid-1950s, including “I Can’t Walk This Highway.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Marv Johnson

Early Motown pioneer Marv Johnson recorded a gospel LP in 1962, which featured this up tempo version of the old COGIC chant/song, “Every Time I Feel the Spirit.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Christland Singers

Led by the legendary R.H. Harris, the Christland Singers recorded a number of memorable songs, including their version of “I Am Too Close.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - The Townsend Sisters

Produced by the legendary Willie Mitchell in Memphis, the Townsend Sisters’ “You Can’t Hurry God” is a gospel powerhouse!