Fork Of The Road

* In December 1968, Brunswick released The Gospel Soul of Big Maybelle (Brunswick LP # 754142).

* Some weeks before, GRT (General Recorded Tapes, a Californian company active since 1966 and producing 4- and 8-track stereo cartridges) announced that it had now available Aretha Franklin's old Checker record The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin on 8-track. (GRT exploited Checker recordings since Jan.1, 1968, after an agreement had been reached: »General Recorded Tape has obtained exclusive duplicating rights to the catalogs of the Chess-Checker- Cadet und King libraries. ... The pacts strengthen GRT's broadening rhythm and blues catalog, which now encompasses material from Duke/Peacock ..., the Atlantic family of distributed labels, Scepter/Wand, Backbeat, Shout, and Sound Stage 7«, see Billboard Dec 30, 1967, p. 33).

* In 1969, Minit released The Soul of Gospel (Minit LP # S 24021 / 40021) by the Robert Patterson Singers (the LP had been actually recorded live in Frankfurt, Germany); later, problably in the early '70s, this was followed up with the LP Gospel Soul on Sunset, a German pressing this time (Sunset LP # 50305).

* In September 1969, Checker re-released Aretha Franklin's album Songs of Faith: The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin (orig. Checker # 10009 from 1965), and they did it again in May 1972. The latter re-release prompted this biting commentary in JET (May 18, 1972, p. 60): »When white-owned record com- panies compete, they really go for blood, like officials at Checker records releasing again their almost eight-year-old album, The Gospel Soul Of Aretha Franklin, with a new cover, just as officials at Atlantic records are getting ready to release Aretha's first gospel album in eight years.«

* In 1969, also Motown jumped on the Gospel Soul-train and released Shades of Gospel Soul (Motown LP # MS 701), today a rarely found LP containing 10 tracks by Detroit gospel singers.

* Not to miss this trend, Specialty put out two albums featuring old recordings by Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers under the title The Gospel Soul of Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers, the first volume in 1969 (Specialty LP # SPS- 2116), the second in November 1970 (Specialty SPS-2128).

And then we have, from around the same time, The Gospel Soul of Bessie Griffin (Savoy LP # MG-14233). Hers was still a great name in gospel music, and you could hear her last Sunday on this blog. Phyl(lis) Garland in her book The Sound of Soul (Chicago 1969) named Bessie Griffin, alongside Mahalia Jackson, Marion Williams, Clara Ward, Alex Bradford and James Cleveland, among the »leading interpreters« in the »gospel music of today« (p. 64).

Savoy LP # MG-14233

It's not exactly known when Bessie Griffin's Savoy-LP was released. Traditionally it is assigned to 1968, but there is one detail which points to the following year: The song »At The Fork Of The Road« (you can hear it below), written by Frank Williams and accredited to Planemar Music (via Herman Lubinsky tied to Savoy!), was filed for copyright on September 3, 1969. As this song is an original recording on this LP and was, as far as I can see, never recorded before by any singer, chances are that the copyright claim and the release of the LP happened at about the same time, thus in 1969. And some other songs of the LP, credited to Bessie Griffin through Lubinsky's Planemar Music Co., were likewise filed the same day. Anyhow, in 1969 the Gospel Soul-craze was at its peak, and Bessie Griffin's album fits neatly into that year.

On the back cover of the LP, we find »The Soul Sounds are on Savoy!« written in capitals. Well, seen from today's perspective this boastful claim hardly stood the test of time if you consider that this album has remained quite obscure to the present day (and is even listed under the wrong title, as Come Ye Disconsolate, on the otherwise useful pages at Jazzdisco.org). Tony Cummings, who called this album »unremarkable except as a great example of her voice« (here), added to the con- fusion by saying that Bessie Griffin recorded »an album with the Gospel Pearls entitled 'Gospel Soul' on Sunset, a subsidiary of Liberty.« There was a Liberty LP by Bessie Griffin (LRP 3310/7310), but it was called The Gospel Peals Starring Bessie Griffin and released back in July 1963. An album called Gospel Soul was put out on Sunset, but it featured the Patterson Singers and was released much later (see above). So far, I could therefore not corroborate what Cummings wrote about Bessie Griffin's presumed Sunset-album.

Since Bessie Griffin's album is somewhat shrouded in mystery and does not seem to be much known, I felt that the notes on the back cover might be of a certain general interest; you can read them on the photo to the left. The LP contains ten songs, and one of those, »Let Him In Your Heart Today«, is a duet of Bessie with her husband Spencer Jackson. Some songs are original recor- dings, others like »Blessed And Brought Up« or »It's Running Time«, are presented here in new versions but go back to the time when Bessie was touring with the Caravans in 1953/4: »Blessed And Brought Up« is actually the same song as »I've Been Blessed And Brought Up By The Lord«, recorded in Dec. '53 or Jan. '54 with the Caravans and released on States # 137 (and Gospel LP # 3008 He Won't Deny Me). And the LP also features »Come Ye Disconsolate«, for many a kind of signature song of Bessie, as she performed it since the days she had come first to Chicago in 1951.

It's interesting to see, at any rate, how old songs got re-packaged on this Savoy-LP. A good case in point is »It's Running Time«. On the face of it, no other song by this title is known up to 1969. Yet also this song belongs to Bessie's repertoire of 1953/4: She recorded it, together with the Caravans, in Jan. '54 under the title »Let Us Run (While It's Running Time)« (States # 140). And the year 1969 saw a stiff competition regarding that song: Albertina Walker (who had shared the studio with Bessie back in 1954) re-recorded that song on her album The Famous Caravans: Where He Leads Me (Gospel LP # 3080, 1969), and here the song appears as »Run While The Sun Is Shining«. It is plainly a nightmare for every serious-minded discographer!

Well, it shouldn't overly trouble us, we sorted it out by now. Let's listen instead to two songs from Bessie Griffin's album. I propose one from among the original recordings, »At The Fork Of The Road«, and her re-recording of the classic »It's Running Time« (aka »Let Us Run«). The first is a soaring hymn, and Bessie bestows upon us a emotive, spiritful delivery. The second tune, much better known (if not in Bessie's version of 1969), is a fast-paced gospel boogie.
I wish you a pleasant and peaceful Sunday!

Bessie Griffin: »At The Fork Of The Road« / »It's Running Time« from the Savoy LP # MG-14233 (c.1969):

P.S. / Info from the back cover of Savoy LP # 14233:

»Notes and supervision: Fred Mendelsohn
Recording: Rev. Lawrence Roberts
Mastering: Medallion Studios
Fabricated by Modern Album of New Jersey Inc., Flemington, N.J.«

Way Up

Bessie Griffin (born Arnette Broil) hailed, like Mahalia Jackson, from New Orleans. In 1947/8, she made her first recordings in New York with the »Southern Revi- valists of New Orleans« (aka »The Southern Harps«).

»As a member of the Southern Harps, Griffin ruled New Orleans. On two different occasions, once while the Southern Harps were singing "Just Over The Hill" and once during "I Want To Rest", overwrought listeners actually died during the performances. But the Southern Harps never broke through, despite Griffin's house-wrecking abilities« (Robert Darden: People Get Ready! A New History of Black Gospel Music, New York 2004, p. 256).

Following an invitation by Mahalia Jackson, with whom she was later often compared as to her vocal style and impressive contralto voice, she came to Chicago in 1951. She then toured during the early Fifties with Albertina Walker and her Caravans. In the later '50s, she performed in and around Chicago as well as in New Orleans, but by singing alone she only made a modest living and therefore took up some other jobs besides, e.g. as a radio D.J. She later said that she had to use ramshackle cars while touring, those cars having »maypop tires«, that is they »may pop any moment«.

1958 we find her in Los Angeles with Art Rupe and under contract to his influential Specialty Records. Robert »Bumps« Blackwell, producer at Specialty, had the idea, in 1959, to stage a gospel musical which eventually was called »Portraits in Bronze«. This musical opened in Los Angeles in September 1959 and brought Bessie consider- able fame; Steve McQueen and Bette Davis attended her performances. During the following years she would be appearing on several TV evening shows, performing parts of the said gospel musical.

From Jet-Magazine, Sept. 27, 1962

From Billboard, Dec. 8, 1962

»Portraits in Bronze« had great importance not only for Bessie Griffin's career, but also for the general impact and crossover appeal of gospel music. Tony Cummings, in a biographical sketch of Bessie Griffin that is worth reading (»Bessie Griffin: A pioneering, and largely forgotten, giant of black gospel music«), remarked that »Portraits signalled the first move of gospel into clubs and coffee houses«. Thus, in 1960 not only Bessie Griffin appeared on the stages of night clubs and even recorded in secular venues, but a number of other gospel singers and outfits did the same, most notably the Clara Ward Singers or The Meditation Singers. A short notice in JET (March 31, 1960, page 63) announced that »the Show Boat Lounge in Las Vegas has someting new in entertainment. While players seek to beat the dice and slot machines, Sister Bessie Griffin and her gospel quartet keep the joint rocking with song«. To perform in Las Vegas or in night clubs was anything but easy in the be- ginning since the religious tunes seemed rather out of place in this context, to put it mildly. Bessie called the music she was performing in secular venues »Pop-Gospel« and later explained how they got religious repertoire through to the public (those present and those buying her records, that is): »We didn't know how people would react to us shouting 'Jesus' so we'd sing 'My Saviour' or 'Master'«. But she also felt there must be a limit to her efforts at ingratiating her music with the tastes of a secular-minded public. That is why she once and again started deliberately singing slow and solemn hymns like »Old Rugged Cross« when the crowd was calling for uptempo shouters like »When The Saints Go Marching In«.

Liberty LP # 13002 (back cover)

The production of »Portraits in Bronze« was a big deal, as befits a major musical. The album which went along with it, Liberty LP # LMM-13002, boasted a »unique combination of gospel & jazz«. The packaging of the LP was as extravagant as the musical, the record being sold in a foldable sleeve with many photos and stately liner notes. However, the sleeve notes for the most part sound rather pathetical and come up with little but worn-out clichés. Just read this: »The story of a people - the soul music of a race born in debt, which lived in debt and died in debt. They sang when they were happy ... they sang when they were sad. This is Portraits in Bronze«. What is interesting, though, is that already back in 1960 the term »soul music« obviously had a certain currency and was considered idoneous for advertising a record of black gospel music. (Bessie Griffin would later again be packaged as a »soul artist« in her 1969 album »The Gospel Soul Of Bessie Griffin« (Savoy LP # 14322) but at that time the term »soul« had become ubiquitous and almost hollowed out by its ominpresence.)

Bessie was accompanied in most songs by a undistinguished choir, the »Gospel Pearls«. Among the session players we find young Billy Preston (on piano & organ) who was later to make a big name for himself. In the following, you can listen to a traditional spiritual featuring Bessie Griffin solo without vocal backing. The song, famous enough, is entitled »Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child«. Both melody and lyrics go back to the time of slavery. It was a deplorable practice during that epoch to separate children from their mothers when sold to a new owner:

»He took great pains to convince a farmer and his wife, in Chester county, of the iniquity of keeping negro slaves, but to no purpose. They not only kept their slaves, but defended the practice. One day he went into their house, arid after a short discourse with them upon the wickedness, and particularly the inhumanity of separating children from their parents, which was involved in the slave trade, he seized the only child of the family, (a little girl about three years old) and pretended to run away with her. The child cried bitterly, " I will be good - I will be good," and the parents showed signs of being alar- med. Upon observing this scene, Mr. Lay said, very emphatically, " You see and feel now a little of the distress you occasion every day, by the inhuman practice of slave-keeping.« (Quoted from Evert A. & George L. Duyckinck: Cyclopaedia of American Literature, Volume 1, New York 1856, page 270).

But of course you can take the song's message in a more general vein and then it might be understood as a lament about the existential, albeit temporary (»some- times«!) solitariness of Man. A simple song, and Bessie does perform it seemingly simple. Yet how profound as she slowly, almost imperceptibly, glides downwards into an ever deeper register as the song goes on. Very moving and a great performance. And it nicely and convincingly validates Anthony Heilbut's verdict: »Bessie's TV appearances seldom show her at her best. She is not preeminently a rhythm singer, but she's always saddled with some pop-gospel jump tune. Occasionally she'll sing a real gospel hymn, and the difference is a revelation« (The Gospel Sound, p. 141). Now let the revelation come down on you:

Bessie Griffin (feat. Billy Preston): 

»Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child« from the Liberty LP »Portraits in Bronze« (1960):

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

A long ways from home

Sometimes I feel like I’m almost gone

Way up in the heavenly land

True Believer, way up in the heavenly land.

* * *

• Tony Cummings remembers the soulful contralto of the late, great Bessie Griffin (Crossrhythms.co.uk)
• Bessie Griffin Is Dead; Gospel Singer Was 67 (New York Times, April 11, 1989)

Anthony Heilbut's chapter on Bessie Griffin ( »Bessie Can Moan and Move a Moun- tain)« in his The Gospel Sound is essential reading.

* * *

POSTSCRIPT Aug. 20, 2011:
For the song »Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child«, see also here: TokTokTok / Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child.