Search - Swan Silvertones :: 1946-1951

Swan Silvertones
1946-1951
Genres: Pop, R&B, Gospel

Track Listings (23) - Disc #1
1. I Cried Holy
2. Working On A Building
3. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
4. Down On My Knees
5. I Done Made It Up In My Mind
6. Standing In The Safety Zone
7. I'm Tired
8. All Alone
9. My Time Done Come
10. I've Tried
11. I Want My Crown
12. What Could I Do
13. These Bones Gwine Rise Again
14. I Must Tell Jesus
15. Go Ahead
16. Depending On Jesus
17. I Want To Rest
18. No
19. Not A One
20. I'll Search Heaven
21. I Got A Mother Done Gone
22. In That Upper Room
23. Use Me Lord
Track Listings (22) - Disc #2
1. I Want To Dig A Little Deeper
2. I'm Gonna Wait
3. All Night All Day
4. My God's Getting Us Ready
5. Toll The Bell
6. Jesus Never Fails
7. Jesus Met The Woman At The Well
8. Jesus Is God's Atomic Bomb
9. Over Yonder
10. Long Ago
11. Grant It Lord
12. Careless Soul
13. I Believe
14. I Got A Witness
15. Every Day Seems Like Sunday
16. Live So God Can Use You
17. Father Alone
18. My Lord Done What He Said
19. Backslider's Plea
20. Mother's Cry
21. He's My All
22. All Aboard

CD Details

All Artists: Swan Silvertones
Title: 1946-1951
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Acrobat
Release Date: 6/21/2005
Album Type: Import
Genres: Pop, R&B, Gospel
Styles: Contemporary, Traditional
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPCs: 824046300425, 669910161166, 669910307151

Synopsis

Amazon.com

This double disc collects all the earliest sides recorded by the fabulous quartet act the Swan Silvertones. Led by insanely talented tenor/falsetto Claude Jeter, the Swan Silvertones are simply one of the best bands to have ever sung gospel, or put more succinctly, to have ever sung, period. From originals to traditional hymns, this collection is fierce, fiery, and brilliant throughout. No one matches Jeter's far-reaching voice. Songs like "I Done Made It Up In My Mind" and "All Aboard" end just as it sounds like they're about to explode in an ecstatic frenzy. That control, that ability to bring a song to its near dissolution then back away, is in full effect on nearly every song here, with the exception of the slow numbers such as "I'm Tired" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." And those just might have you weeping if you're not careful. This is a very powerful and much needed selection of this great group's 78 RPM recordings. Oh, happy day! ?Mike McGonigal

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CD Reviews

A Great Quartet finds its voice.

Hank n Tennessee | Virginia, USA | 03/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD documents one of the great gospel quartets finding their true voice in recordings made for King Records of Cincinnati from 1946 through 1951. On Disc One the first sessions in July 1946 and December 1947 show the elements being assembled, but not yet perfected. Jeter later claimed that King wanted more "hillbilly" material like their first two cuts, "Crying Holy" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", and resisted the group's push for a more hard gospel sound. There is a popping, swinging "jubilee" style ensemble, with tenor leads also in the jubilee style, at times just hinting at harder gospel. Bassist Henry Bossard is added after the first session to improve the bottom end. The last cut on Disc One, "Use Me Lord", is a fairly weak cover of the R.H. Harris and the Soul Stirrers classic "I'm Willing to Run". Had they ended here, we would probably not remember them.

But on Disc Two, starting with the June 13, 1949 session, it all comes together. The popping "jubilee" ensemble can now produce whip crack syncopations as in "My God's Getting Us Ready", that build tremendous drive and is sharp enough to compare to the Golden Gates. Claude Jeter's falsetto technique can carry a beautiful number like "I'm Gonna Wait". And the third cut, from June 23, 1950, adds the final missing piece, a true "hard gospel" lead, identified in the liner notes as the Reverend Percell Perkins, although Jeter says elsewhere that Solomon Womack was his favorite lead. Whoever you credit it to, you now have the classic Swan Silvertones sound - a razor sharp ensemble, a searing hard lead, and a soaring Claude Jeter falsetto. Tony Heilbut in "The Gospel Sound" says that Claude Jeter didn't much like the King recordings, but I think that Disc Two is an essential piece of any Swan Silvertones collection, along with the Specialty recordings on "My Rock/Love Lifted Me" and the VeeJay sessions on "Swan Silvertones/Savior Pass Me Not".

The production is solid, with good liner notes and an informative 6 page booklet.

"

A Classical Music Lover's Appreciation

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 01/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The finely-tuned, finely-timed riffs of the Swan Silvertones, whom I heard as a teenager in the trailer parks of the South, have stuck in my mind ever since, so I was thrilled to find this CD in the collection of one of my country cousins. Who knows, maybe the artfulness of this quartet prepared my ears for the Hilliard Ensemble and the Orlando Consort. And the falsetto of Claude Jeter was the best and purest counter-tenor voice I ever heard before Gerard Lesne.

The Swam Silvertones were the best gospel quartet of their era, perhaps the most musical gospel singers ever. Their harmonies and rhythms were the foundation of doo-wop, white and black, as well as influential to jazz greats like Albert Ayler and Eric Dolphy. If you've never enjoyed gospel singing because it just lacked musical complexity, give this CD a try."