SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Pray on My Child" by Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers

The Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers have been a force in gospel music since their founding in 1948. A host of hit records and music industry awards later, the “Tommies” – as they are affectionately known – hold a special place in gospel music history.

I particularly like their LP, No Child is an Island, because it introduced the powerful voice of Maggie Bell to gospel music. Bell sings lead on “Pray on My Child,” and as strong as the Tommies are, they have trouble keeping up with the artist who – for a few years in the 1970s, at least – was known as “The Princess of Gospel Music.” 

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 - '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 - "No Hiding Place" by The Doves

The otherwise unknown Evening Doves deliver a spirited, rollicking version of the traditional gospel song “No Hiding Place."

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Friend Like the Lord" by The Silver Bells

The unknown Silver Bells of Macon, Georgia’s “No Friend Like the Lord” is a masterclass in a cappella doo-wop styled gospel singing.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Cross, No Crown" by Brooklyn All Stars

The Brooklyn All Stars were New York’s best-known gospel group, singing hits like the slow and stately “No Cross, No Crown.”