We don’t know much about the wonderfully named Rev. H.B. Crum and His Mighty Golden Keys. Their first records begin appearing in the mid-1950s and over the next decade or so they’ll release 45s for the Sharp, World Wide, Regent, Atlantic and Gospel labels – and all are superb examples of the transition between old time gospel doo-wop harmonies and the new hard-charging, hard-shouting gospel style to come.
The Mighty Golden Keys lone LP for the Savoy-distributed Sharp label was released in 1962 and despite classic gospel songs punctuated by Crum’s raspy, emphatic voice, they seem to fade away after that. But Crum and the Keys did leave us some memorable gospel tracks, like this high energy vamp, “I Can Feel Him.”
I’m Robert Darden … “Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments” is produced by KWBU and the Black Gospel Music Preservation Program at Baylor University Libraries.
