SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Let Freedom Ring" by Pinkard Singers

RaptureA Records was a short-lived gospel label based in Dallas, Texas, in the early 1970s. Lesser-known artists like the Mighty Ambassadors, the Sensational Jones Singers, the Gospel Travelers, the Voices of Faith of Port Arthur, Texas, the Jubileeaires of Dallas and others released 45s for RaptureA before it apparently goes out of business about 1974.

My favorite RaptureA is by the otherwise unknown Pinkard Singers of Omaha, Nebraska. Led by the big voice of Sister Helen C. Pinkard, the group released a single 45 for the label, the patriotic “Let Freedom Ring.” The track sounds like it was recorded live in the studio but there is no mistaking the genuine emotion Sister Helen brings as she sings, “Let Freedom Ring ... America!”  

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

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