SHOUT! Black Gospel Music Moments - 'God Put a Rainbow in the Sky' by Bishop Lawson's Radio Choir

Bishop Robert Lawson, who founded the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc. in 1919, is one of the great figures of the Pentecostal church movement. His churches spread throughout the globe from their base in New York City, aided in no small part by Lawson’s radio broadcasts in the 1930s. They featured Bishop Lawson’s Radio Choir, which always comprised some of the finest musicians, singers and arrangers in New York, including director/arranger Prof. Clinton Utterbach, who would have a long, distinguished career himself.

A good example of the Radio Choir’s recordings is “God Put a Rainbow in the Sky,” featuring soloist James Lowe, recorded in glorious mono in 1957. Though Lawson died in 1961, the denomination still remains strong, particularly in the New York area.     

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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