After digesting these 26 glorious tracks, it's easy to see just how much of an influence the gospel quartet had on everyone from doo-wop crooners such as Clyde McPhatter and soul belters such as Ray Charles to James Brown ... more »and Otis Redding. Without any instrumental firepower, the harmonizers establish a rock-solid groove while the lead singer passionately and often acrobatically testifies. Even with that basic template in place, the range of sounds can be remarkable. On the 1950 track by the Pilgrim Travelers, "Dear Lord Look Down Upon Me," leader Kylo Turner delivers a sweet and gentle falsetto vocal that will make you swoon with delight. On the Swan Silvertones' "Working on a Building," it's the intricate, vibrant arrangement that stands out. Then you have the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi's Archie Brownlee, a fiery, earthshaking lead vocalist whose raspy growls on a song like "Will My Jesus Be Waiting" will raise the hair on your neck and hurt your own throat just hearing it. And the Sensational Nightingales' Julius Cheeks, roaring through his "country gospel" adaptations, isn't far behind Brownlee. Other classic quartets such as the Soul Stirrers and the Spirit of Memphis are represented here as well. Though we tend to think of gospel as pretty simple, straightforward music, this compilation reveals all of the subtle nuances, the jazzlike improvisation, and the unbridled intensity that goes into it. Anyone with even a passing interest in secular postwar soul music will be thrilled to hear its deep roots in this record. --Marc Greilsamer« less
After digesting these 26 glorious tracks, it's easy to see just how much of an influence the gospel quartet had on everyone from doo-wop crooners such as Clyde McPhatter and soul belters such as Ray Charles to James Brown and Otis Redding. Without any instrumental firepower, the harmonizers establish a rock-solid groove while the lead singer passionately and often acrobatically testifies. Even with that basic template in place, the range of sounds can be remarkable. On the 1950 track by the Pilgrim Travelers, "Dear Lord Look Down Upon Me," leader Kylo Turner delivers a sweet and gentle falsetto vocal that will make you swoon with delight. On the Swan Silvertones' "Working on a Building," it's the intricate, vibrant arrangement that stands out. Then you have the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi's Archie Brownlee, a fiery, earthshaking lead vocalist whose raspy growls on a song like "Will My Jesus Be Waiting" will raise the hair on your neck and hurt your own throat just hearing it. And the Sensational Nightingales' Julius Cheeks, roaring through his "country gospel" adaptations, isn't far behind Brownlee. Other classic quartets such as the Soul Stirrers and the Spirit of Memphis are represented here as well. Though we tend to think of gospel as pretty simple, straightforward music, this compilation reveals all of the subtle nuances, the jazzlike improvisation, and the unbridled intensity that goes into it. Anyone with even a passing interest in secular postwar soul music will be thrilled to hear its deep roots in this record. --Marc Greilsamer
CD Reviews
Great quartet leads -- in one place.
04/19/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, you can hear the great R.H. Harris and the Soul Stirrers, Claude Jeter and the Swan Silvertones (unearthly in the beauty of their singing), the Pilgrim Travelers, and the house-wrecking Archie Brownlee and his Five Blind Boys of Mississippi AND Julius Cheeks' Sensational Nightingales tear things up in this mostly a cappella set. For quartet fans, an essential anthology -- and introduction to mind-blowing singing."
The Best of the Quartets - with one exception
Hank n Tennessee | Virginia, USA | 03/17/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A terrific collection of 6 of the very best gospel quartets from 1939 to 1958 (actually only 1 cut is pre 1945, and only 3 cuts are post 1953, so the focus is on the period 1945-1953), all of them featuring great lead singers: the Soul Stirrers with R.H. Harris; the Swan Silvertones with Claude Jeter; the Pilgrim Travelers with Kylo Turner; the Spirit of Memphis with Silas Steele; the 5 Blind Boys of Mississippi with Archie Brownlee; and the Sensational Nightingales with Julius Cheeks. All that's missing are Ira Tucker and the Dixie Hummingbirds, perhaps the greatest of them all. Why leave them out, I wonder?
There are 4 selections for each quartet, except the Soul Stirrers, who get 6. The Soul Stirrers numbers are early recordings from 1939 to 1948, pre- Sam Cooke, all featuring the wonderful lead singing of R.H. Harris, the role model for many later gospel singers, including Cooke. The Swan Silvertone selections are also early numbers from 1947 to 1951, pre Paul Owens, when the quartet was dominated by Claude Jeter's sweet falsetto, without as much hard edged shouting as the group used later. Especially good are the R.H. Harris selections and the 3 rare songs featuring the great Archie Brownlee with the 5 Blind Boys of Mississippi, the bluesiest, most anguished voice in gospel, and the early inspiration for Ray Charles. He died in 1959, and his recorded legacy has not been handled well by MCA, so these numbers are great to have. The Julius Cheeks choices are intense but musical - he's not just a screamer here.
This is one of Tony Heilbut's projects on Shanachie, so the packaging and liner notes are the best in the business, and include a 15 page history of the performers and the music.
Some of the recordings could have been cleaned up more, but the sound is live and vital throughout. The great singing comes through just fine.
In a collection like this it would have been fun to include "The Programs", a Dixie Hummingbirds tune where they show off by doing dead on imitations of other quartets, including the Pilgrim Travelers and the 5 Blind Boys. Also, Heilbut has avoided some of the more obvious choices, the "hits" like "Mother Bowed" for the Pilgrim Travelers and the "Lord's Prayer" for Archie Brownlee. Can't complain about the music that he did include though, it's all great stuff.
"
House-wreckin' on the Gospel Highway!!
Thomas Mathew | Dublin, Ireland | 01/09/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Of course there is surface noise on these tracks. But come on--these are relatively rare 78s from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s. They sound great when compared to similar gospel quartet compilations of the era. In fact, the only tracks where I found the surface noise to be at all distracting were the first couple Soul Stirrers tunes ... but it's great just to have these Soul Stirrers tunes on CD no matter the hiss. Try to find "Walk Around" on a CD this side of Japan. The music is taken from the most important gospel outfits of the era and the tracks are well chosen. Except for the Pilgrim Travelers selections (which are available on Fantasy Records), the tunes included here are not easy to find ... which is a shame because this is an important chapter in the history of American music. If you have any interest in hard-edged gospel, check out this collection.The notes are pretty darn good, too."
Good Music - Bad Master
Thomas Mathew | 01/12/2001
(2 out of 5 stars)
"While the vocal performances on this disc are great, I was very disappointed in the noise level. I felt like I was listening to vinyl that had been stored outside the dust jacket for several years. I was quite fooled by the real-audio clips that can be downloaded. They sound better than the CD because the compression managed to filter out most of the noise."
Track Listings (26) - Disc #1