SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Old Ship of Zion" by Zion Missionary Baptist Church Music Department

Some of my all-time favorite music in the Black Gospel Archives at Baylor University are the self-pressed albums by individual churches. Sometimes they’re fund-raisers, perhaps for a new roof. Other times, they’re just for the joy of singing. The venerable Zion Missionary Baptist Church of East Chicago, Indiana, has been around more than 70 years and they’re released several of these LPs.

I particularly like this one, Zion Sings, which includes the church’s Music Department’s favorite hymns, spirituals and gospel songs. One of the highlights is the slow and reverent version of the old spiritual, “Old Ship of Zion,” featuring a particularly moving solo by Delores Page.      

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'll be Welcomed' by The Sweet Brothers

The Sweet Brothers of Vero Beach, Florida, deserved wider recognition for their soulful, slow burn gospel songs, including “I’ll Be Welcomed.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Alright, Alright by The Cotton Brothers

The Cotton Brothers of Macon, Georgia, excelled at a particularly exciting brand of gospel soul, including the rave-up, “Alright, Alright.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'One of These Mornings' by The Rev. J.R. Lockley and His Original Gospel Clefs

The Rev. J.R. Lockley and His Original Gospel Clefs, featuring big-voiced Ann Moncrief, deliver a killer version of the spiritual, “One of These Mornings.”

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'You’ve Got to Live the Life' by The Echoes of Life

New York City’s Echoes of Life turn Thomas Dorsey’s beloved “You’ve Got to Live the Life” into a rough and raspy old school gospel shout.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'You've Got to Move' by Abbysinnia Baptist Church Young People’s Choir

In 1959, the Abbysinnia Baptist Church Young People’s Choir recorded a cheerfully up tempo version of the old spiritual “You’ve Got to Move” for the famed Gotham Record label.

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Ol" John (Behold Thy Mother) by 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 - "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.