© 2026 KWBU
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Banner

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Get Right Church by Lillie Jenkins

Lillie Jenkins’ “Get Right Church” is a killer gospel vamp, driven by Jenkins’ confident, brassy vocals.

If Stan Lewis’ Jewel Records released it – believe it. From its humble beginnings in Shreveport in 1963, Jewel and its sister label Paula released consistently good music, as well as some of the best African American preaching LPs ever recorded. Today it is best known for John Fred & His Playboy Band’s #1 hit, “Judy in Disguise (with Glasses),” but artists ranging from John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins to the Uniques recorded for Jewel.
        
Jewel’s gospel artists were equally compelling, including the delightful Lillie Jenkins. Jenkins released one LP for the label in 1977, but her song “Get Right Church” continues to receive airplay today. Like all of the Jewel sessions, the Jenkins’ big and sassy voice is backed by a smokin’ band – and it makes you wish the song was much longer than just 2 minutes and 27 seconds!    

Get Right Church - Lillie Jenkins

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

SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Walk Right, Feel Right by The Gospel Commanders
Despite muddy production, the Gospel Commanders’ soulful, chaotic “Walk Right, Feel Right” is an exciting 2-minute slice of Southern soul gospel.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - Precious Memories by Prof. J. Earle Hines and the Goodwill Singers
Though little-known today, Prof. J. Earle Hines and the Goodwill Singers, with songs like “Precious Memories,” were major gospel artists in the 1940s and ‘50s.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'It Rained' by Katie Jackson and the GosPearl Community Choir.
Powerhouse vocalist Katie Jackson is joined by the GosPearl Community Choir on the up tempo gospel rave up, “It Rained.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Winding Chain” by Sons of Faith
The otherwise unknown Sons of Faith’s recording “Winding Chain” is a superb example of Deep South soulful gospel, a mournful, heartfelt two-minute gem.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "No Greater Love" by Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir
Keith Pringle and the Pentecostal Community Choir’s version of Jeffrey LaValley’s “No Greater Love” was an instant classic.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - “The Non-Violent Man,” by Bill Spivey and the Sons of Truth
Bill Spivey and the Sons of Truth’s vibrant, up tempo “The Non-Violent Man” was a tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Let Freedom Ring" by Pinkard Singers
The otherwise unknown Pinkard Singers released a single – but highly engaging -- 45 for the short-lived RaptureA label in the early 1970s, “Let Freedom Ring.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "I Am A Pilgrim" by Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was a national treasure during her lifetime and increasingly turned to religious music later in life, including this sprightly version of the old folk spiritual, “I am a Pilgrim.”
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Roll Jordan, Roll" by Rev. Kenneth Glover
The Rev. Kenneth Glover turns the old spiritual “Roll Jordan, Roll” into an amped up “sending song” of the highest order.
SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - "Reflections of the Man Inside" by Eddie Robinson
Bariton Eddie Robinson’s “Reflections of the Man Inside” also features top Motown producers, arrangers and musicians.

Robert F. Darden is the author of two dozen books, most recently: Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume II: Black Sacred Music from Sit-In to Resurrection City (Penn State University Press, 2016); Nothing But Love in God’s Water, Volume I: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement(Penn State University Press, 2014); Jesus Laughed: The Redemptive Power of Humor(Abingdon Press, 2008), Reluctant Prophets and Clueless Disciples: Understanding the Bible by Telling Its Stories(Abingdon Press, 2006); and People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music(Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2004).