The Staples Reloaded

In 1969, a lot of people, and especially the tradesmen in the record industry, had understood what market force gospel music had become. Emblematic for this growth in importance and sales numbers was the extraordinary success of »Oh Happy Day« by The Edwin Hawkins Singers. The song was known since the 18th century, but the new version by that local Californian choir opened up a new world. I'm not concerned with that song now. Rather, I would like to draw your attention to an interesting article by Daniel Goldberg which was published in the World Of Soul-special of the Billboard August 16, 1969, issue: »1969 - Gospel Makes Great Industry Strides« (pp. S16, 18 & 25). Here are some salient passages of that long article. It contains an interesting overview of the then relevant Gospel labels:

      It is perhaps paradoxical then, that 1969 should be referred to as a year when gospel is making great strides. It is also a little deceptive for in its purest sense gospel is not a field whose success can be judged by commercial standards alone (implicit in many religious teachings is the insignificance of worldly wealth). Nevertheless it is indisputable that in recent months, gospel has begun to emerge from the outskirts of the music world. Until recently it has been a relatively obscure musical cult, spawning many but in itself appealing to a faithful and widespread but small audience while gospel »stars« like James Cleveland or the Statesmen quartet remained largely unknown to the mass market.
    It is impossible to discuss gospel music without specifying what kind. The only thing that the word »gospel« implies is a connection to any of the many Christian churches in this country. The field divides itself into two very separate entities differing from each other culturally and musically. One of them is black or »soul« gospel, which comes out of black churches and has influenced virtually every major r&b artist. The music has the same African roots.
     Soul gospel fans are found wherever there are r&b fans: the major cities, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Nashville, Baltimore and throughout the south. In many of those areas there are strictly gospel radio stations, while in others, r&b stations devote part of their airtime to gospel programming.
    On the other side of the gospel spectrum is white of country gospel, correspond- ing in sound and appeal to the groowing country market. There is scarcely a country artist who has not put out an album of hymns at one time or another. Two of the biggest, Johnny Cash (»The Holy Land«) and Tammy Wynette (»Inspiration«) have had good activity on the pop chart with such material this year. Country gospel, aided by the fledgling Gospel Music Association is becoming a substantial field. (...)

    And no account of gospel in the last few months would be complete without mention of »Oh Happy Day« which has stirred controversy throughout the black gospel world while capturing the fancy of the general public and becoming gospel's first RIAA certified million dollar record. Another sign of a growing interest in gospel was the move of two major record companies previously uninvolved in the field to come out with gospel series.
     The first was Buddah records who added to their »360 degree sound« when they came out with the »Sunday Series« as well as their contribution of the smash Edwin Hawkins Singers work. The other was Jubilee records who came out with an 11 album release earlier in the year complete with a publicity sweep through the south called the »Jubilee Gospel Train«. The Jubilee release consisted mainly of previous- ly unrecorded gospel artists, but included Novella Williams, Gospel Majors of Louis- ville and King Solomon's Choir. The Buddah release included albums by the Five Blind Boys, The Harmonizers, and The Staple Singers.
     Both of these newcomers dealt in the soul gospel line. Scarcely a newcomer to the field is the exclusively soul gospel Savoy Records of New Jersey. Savoy has some of the biggest names in the soul gospel business including James Cleveland, Dorothy Norwood and the Angelic Choir. Other artists recording for the label are the Davis Sisters who did »Wait A Little Longer« and Charles Banks. James Cleveland is probably the biggest draw and the most loved gospel soloist around. While someone like Mahalia Jackson (one of the few who has made the jump to a popular audience without a sacrifice in her content) restricts her performances to large public audi- toriums, Cleveland who has comparable popularity in gospel areas, will frequently play a small town church. By far his best selling record to date is »Peace Be Still« which has become a gospel classic, and still sells at the rate of 50,000 copies a year. Dorothy Norwood whose big hit was »The Denied Mother«, is the label's leading female soloist. Her most recent single is »The Prescription« which is a story-telling song. The Angelic Choir has backed up both artists, as well as record- ing by themselves. They backed up Cleveland on »Peace Be Still« and »Bread of Heaven« and currently have »He's Sweet I Know.« Another choir recording with Savoy is the Southern California Community Choir whose »Come See About Me« featuring Cleveland is their current release.
     Another major gospel label is Peacock, the gospel branch of Duke which is an r&b company. Some of their top artists are Rev. Julius Cheeks Jackson and the Sensational Nightingales, the Jackson Southernaires, and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. They also have Rev. Cleophus Robinson whose LP »He Did It All« a collection of sermonettes and music is one of their best selling albums. Other of their top albums are: The Loving Sisters »Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King,« »Presenting the St. Matthews Baptist Church Choir,« and the Brooklyn Skyways, »The Unbelieving Man.« The biggest single for Peacock this year was »Too Late« by the Jackson Southernai- res.
     Hob is the gospel label of Scepter records, and in recent years it has become a major gospel force. Some of their major choirs are the New Hope Baptist Church Young Adult Choir which is directed by Ann Moss of the Drinkard sisters (Cissy Drinkard of the Sweet Inspirations also came from that group), the Thompson Community Singers, who are known for »I'll Trade a Lifetime« which was recorded with Rev. Milton Bronson, and the Brockington Ensemble who came out with a version of »Oh Happy Day« around the same time as the Pavillion smash. Other top Hob artists are Albertina Walker and the Caravans, the Swan Silvertones, who did »Only Believe« and Evangelist Shirley Caesar whose »Don't Drive Your Mama Away« was a major gospel hit.
     Nashboro is an exclusively gospel company whose top artists include The Brooklyn Allstars who are known for »He Said He Would Move,« Dorothy Love, The Swanee Quartet, the Original Gospel Harmonettes, and the Consolers who recorded »Lord Bring Me Down«.
     The United Artists subsidiary Veep, primarily an R&B label, has recorded gospel acts as well. Their leading soul gospel group is the Robert Patterson Singers who have an international reputation. Their current LP is »Live In Germany.«
     Chess records has a gospel line also. They have the Chicago quartet The Soul- sters (Sam Cooke's first group) who now have a song called »Soul Is In But Gospel Is Out of Sight,« The Majestic Choir, who have recorded »Let's All Walk a Little Bit Prouder,« the Violinaires, and Gene Vialli, a white singer who has a song called »What Color Is God?«

  Ralph Bass of Chess is not at all surprised by the growing commercial success of gospel. For yeears he has been talking about the possibility of what he calls »Gos-Pop,« gospel-oriented music with a mass popular appeal. There are a few artists who have become popular through gospel. The most prominent of there is Mahalia Jackson; others are Clara Ward and the Staple Singers. Bass believes that people now have the need for the kind of spiritual message that gospel provides, and that if presented correctly, gospel offers great appeal for the mass market. This opinion is shared by many others in the soul-gospel business who feel it is one of the most challenging musical fields.
     Others, however, view commercialization with disdain, feeling that using the sacred religious message for profit is a perversion of what is holy. They question the motives of gospel entertainers who would perform in a nightclub. The conflict between those who are in it for completely religious reasons and those who hope to make it a thriving commercial entity came to a head with the controversy sur- rounding »Oh Happy Day.« (...)

1969, then, was a good year for gospel. As Goldberg noted, several record companies jumped for it, not the least among them Buddah Records from New York. They started to release a re-issue series (the Buddah 2000 series), putting out old records by the Five Blind Boys (of Alabama), The Caravans, The Harmonizing Four and ... The Staple Singers. All these LPs used Vee-Jay masters, and so did Buddah LP # BDS 2009: The Best Of The Staple Singers (on the label, we actually read The Very Best Of ... see below). The Staple Singers had by 1969 become famous on the Stax roster, and Mavis Staples had gone solo in spring 1969 (see here). But Buddah pos- sessed the rights to their old Vee-Jay recordings and they put them to good use in April 1969 when BDS 2009 was released. (I don't know whether the fact that the kitschy cover, showing a black Madonna instead of the artists, was likewise a result of copyright issues; after all, the Staples weren't signed to Buddah).

Cover of VJLP 5019 (1962)

Now, Vee-Jay LP # 5019 (The Best of The Staple Singers) had been in itself kind of an after- thought: Not because Best-Of-albums are by their very nature re-issues of older material, but because the Staple Singers were not even any longer signed to Vee-Jay when they put out this LP. They had switched from Vee-Jay to Riverside in Febuary 1962, but the Vee-Jay LP was released only in October. Staples reloaded, therefore, when there was no new material to be had ... but at least they put a wonderful group photo on the cover!
     The material released on the Vee-Jay LP was recorded between 1955 and 1961. There is one song from the very first session of the Staples for Vee-Jay (Chicago, Nov. 1, 1955: »God's Wonderful Love«), and various songs from the very last session on January 20, 1961. This is the tracklist (it's the same for the Vee-Jay LP and the Buddah re-issue), with recording dates. Original releases on 45rpm or LP are shown in brackets:

• A1 »Uncloudy Day«, rec. Chic. Sept 11, 1956 (Vee-Jay # 224), Mavis lead vocals
• A2 »I Know I've Got Religion«, rec. Chic. Sept. 11, 1956 (Vee-Jay # 224), Roebuck lead vcls
• A3 »Will The Circle Be Unbroken« rec. Chic. Feb. 25, 1960 (Vee-Jay # 885), Roebuck lead vcls
• A4 »God's Wonderful Love« rec. Chic. Nov. 1, 1955 (Vee-Jay # 169), Mavis lead vocals
• A5 »Low Is The Way« rec. Chic. Jan. 9, 1958 (Vee-Jay # 866), Mavis lead vocals
• A6 »Don't Knock« rec. Chic. Feb. 25, 1960 (Vee-Jay # 902), Mavis lead vocals
• B1 »Let's Go Home« rec. Chic. Jan. 9, 1958 (Vee-Jay LP # 5000), Mavis & Roebuck lead vcls
• B2 »I've Been Scorned« rec. Chic. Jan. 20, 1961 (Vee-Jay # 902), Roebuck lead vcls
• B3 »Swing Low« rec. Chic. Jan. 20, 1961 (Vee-Jay # 912), Mavis lead vocals
• B4 »Stand By Me« rec. Chic. Jan. 20, 1961 (Vee-Jay LP # 5014), Mavis lead vocals
• B5 »Pray On« rec. Chic. Aug. 19, 1959 (Vee-Jay # 893), Mavis lead vocals
• B6 »Downward Road« rec. Chic. Aug. 19, 1959 (Vee-Jay # 881), Mavis lead vocals

Mavis Staples, ca. 1964

This indeed covers much of the best the Staples recorded for Vee-Jay (starting with their initial smash »Uncloudy Day« ... »with Mavis singing a deep, erotic lead« as Anthony Heilbut wrote). It's as fine an anthology as there ever was, and the Vee-Jay recordings of the Staple Singers remain classics. And it was a time when they were still strongly connected to church circles. This only changed from 1962 onwards, when they started to play secular venues and turned towards folk and blues tunes. In August 1962, already contracted to the folk-jazz label Riverside, they made their first cabaret appearance. As this happened, their white audience listened up and the Staples were soon the darlings of the emerging folk circus. In spirit, if not so much in style, they were soon miles away from their Vee-Jay recordings.

Buddah LP # 2009 (1969, but label
design is post-1971)

Below, you can hear two songs from the Buddah LP # 2009 (and so from Vee-Jay LP # 5019 as well); both tunes have Mavis Staples singing lead. The first song, »Pray On« was originally released in November 1960. It is an uptempo shouter, »a frantic rhythm shout with Mavis belting like her idols Dorothy Love [Coates] and Ruth Davis« (Anthony Heilbut, The Gospel Sound, p. 279). The second song, the famous hymn »Stand By Me«, was composed back at the beginning of the 20th century by Charles Albert Tindley. There are numerous versions of it but few as heart-rending as Mavis's (see also below, postscript of March 26, 2012). And it's a beautiful song that very much transcends religious boundaries as well, speaking about the frailty of human exi- stence. For the record, Mavis takes some liberty with the lyrics; I transcribed them below.
Happy Sunday all!

The Staple Singers: »Pray On« / »Stand By Me« from the Buddah LP # 2009 (1969, rec. 1959/61):

When the storm of life is raging, stand by me
     When the storm of life is raging, stand by me
When this world is a-tossing me
Like a ship, oh yeah, out on the sea
     Thou who knowest the wind and water
     Come on, come on and stand by me.
When I done, done all I can
And my friends, oh yeah, they don't understand
     Thou who knowest, you know all about it
     Come on, come on and stand by me.

* * *

POSTSCRIPT 10/11/2011

I forgot to mention that Vee-Jay LP # 5019 was »reloaded« after 1962 the first time on Exodus, the short-lived label created when it was plain that Vee-Jay would fold soon (read more here). The LP # EX/EXS-64 was released in 1966. So this makes Buddah # 2009 actually the second re-issue, albeit the first from outside Vee-Jay/Exodus.

POSTSCRIPT March 26, 2012
From the liner notes of Clive Anderson (Charly CD # SNAP 282: The Staple Singers: Come Up In Glory. The Best of the Vee-Jay Years, 1955-1961, 2006):

The quality of the The Staple Singers' output for Vee-Jay remained uniformly high. Album tracks were never filler and sometimes represented the group's finest work. Their reading of Stand By Me ..., from the 20th January 1961, is a case in point. A sacred song penned by ... C.H. Tindley, it had been record- ed many times since The Pace Jubilee Singers put out their version on Victor in 1928.  ... [N]o interpretation has ever stood comparison with The Staple Singers' waxing. Their sense of light and shade, the simple precision of Roebuck's guitar and above all Mavis Staples' reticulated, fibrous lead were stunning.

Released Her, Finally

After her untimely death in August '84, Esther Phillips was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Compton, California. It took a benefit concert in April '85 to procure her mortal remains another resting place that would have, at least, her name on it. Herman Lubinsky of Savoy Records had seen her in 1949 in a L.A. amateur night and signed her right away. Johnny Otis, Greek by race but black of soul, produced her; aged 13, she was billed as »Little Esther«. It then happened that she had a r&b # 01 hit with her single »Double Crossing Blues« in spring 1950. She was the youngest female artist to achieve this, and this record has held ever since.

I am very happy that the name of Esther Phillips finally appears in this blog. Where to start? It took me a long while thinking about how to introduce her to my blog. There's so much to say about her. She was a strong personality, keeping her wits ready and never shy to have her say; she put the fist on the table if need be. But she was weak as well, succumbing again and again to devilish king heroin. The sad truth is that her strength was her weakness, and her weakness kept her strong.

She is the great underrated voice of 20th century music. If you heard her voice once you're not likely to ever forget it. There are obvious parallels in her life and art to Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Nina Simone, but Esther Phillips never reached, in the public imagination, their fame. That ain't right.

As I said, I got to make a start somewhere. Her 50s singles, her Lenox smash, her Atlantic sides, her short stint with Roulette, her fantastic and immortal Kudu recordings? Whatever. Let's start today with the last # 01 hit Esther Phillips had in any chart, »Release Me«. Arguably, it's her most famous song until today, although many wouldn't know the singer. It has become one of those »oldies but goodies« which flow from loudspea- kers in elevators and supermarkets (and Atlantic as early as 1967 marketed this song as a »vin- tage classic«, and in Dec. '68 the song appeared on the Original Sound sampler »Oldies But Goodies«). The tune also is more than a little atypical for what Esther would record during most of her career. Yes, her voice is here, in this song, you couldn't confound it. And yes, it's hell of a song. But it's the one song I wouldn't have chosen to build her fame. Alas, it can't be helped: great part of the fame Esther Phillips enjoys today is still bound up with this song.

»Release Me« was, well, released in October 1962 on the Lenox label. Having been a C&W hit for Ray Price in 1954, Esther's version shot up the charts and prompted Billboard to publish her »Artists' Biography« in the November 24, 1962, issue (p. 10). Lenox Records in itself was a curious business, since it had been established, as it were, for Esther Phillips. Behind it were Lelan Rogers and Bob Gans. Both were impressed with the recent successes of Solomon Burke and Ray Charles who took C&W tunes into the r&b field, and with Esther they intended to do the same. And they did.

Recorded in Nashville and backed by the Anita Kerr Singers (they are credited prominently on the back cover of Lenox LP # 227), Esther produced with »Release Me« the most soulful C&W-song ever. But C&W it remains, and it's funny to see in retrospect how a perspicacious Billboard critic arrived at saying that »it's a ballad somewhat in the country vein« (Oct. 13, '62, p. 40). Certainly somewhat! And along with the success of the single release of »Release Me« came the (obvious) idea to put out an album centered around that song. This LP, Lenox # LX 227, was then released in January 1963. On the back cover of the LP is a long excerpt from the November 17, 1962, issue of Music Reporter which provides many details about Esther's Nashville recordings for the LP. You can read it below (scroll down to the end).

Ad from Billboard (January 26, 1963)

First of all, Little Esther had to have another name for she was little no longer. Yet in order not to give up the resonance of »Little Esther« one retained the »Little« but put it into quotation marks. Newly fashioned was, however, the second part of her name: Phillips. As often reported, Esther had taken it from a billboard advertising Phillips 66 gasoline at a gas station in Houston. She had adopted that fake family name (her real one was Jones) already when she was gigging in Houston and thus before being signed by Lenox; but it was on the Lenox sides that »Phillips« for the first time appeared officially.

Aptly, the cover shows the title of Esther's recent hit in big letters and bears below it the subtitle »Reflections of Country and Western Greats«. This was certainly meant to remind the buyer of Ray Charles's LP »Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music«. What, however, the specification »Reflection 1« in the left lower part of the cover was meant to indicate I do not know. Was there to be another LP? Anyhow, there was no follow-up and Lenox, for all the initial success they had had, claimed bankruptcy before 1963 was over. Inevitably, a greater and financially more potent label stepped in at this point and preyed on the carcass of Lenox. Atlantic bought up all the Lenox masters and took over Esther Phillips as well. In February 1964, Esther was signed to Atlantic,with Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers happily smiling for the event (photo from Billboard, February 8, 1964):

Atlantic then tried different things with Esther, seemingly without concept. They pushed her away from C&W-flavored r&b and eventually plunged her into the MOR- pool. They did two LPs with her, producing the weakest sides of Esther Phillips's entire career with Beatles covers and insipid answer songs. But I won't go into Esther's Atlantic period here. What needs to be said, though, is that the Atlantic makers were at their wits' end regarding Esther in 1966. She was obviously unhappy with the stuff she was given to sing, and her performances showed. After she had appeared at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival in July, this is what a critic had to say:

»Esther Phillips, who can sing such great blues, followed and it was immediately discernible that this was not her night. Not that she didn't sing the blues well (her unnecessary pop tunes suffered from the faulty intonation, however), but she was backed atrociously by a trio that showed an amazing lack of familiarity with the kind of music she has performed so well over the years« (Billboard, July 16, 1966, p. 38).

What is more, she was back on heroin and wouldn't get off it during the following years. Atlantic at this point remembered the Lenox masters and put them out again on an Atlantic LP. This album was entitled The Country Side Of Esther Phillips and actually a re-issue of Lenox LP # 227; only the sequence of songs was changed. It was, for all marketing purposes, sold as a seemingly newly recorded LP and was as such received in much of the contemporary press. Only a little note on the back cover said »The selections contained in this LP were previously issued on the album "Release Me" on Lenox Records.« It was to be Esther Phillips's last Atlantic studio LP (and it wasn't even that!) for many years.

Here is the song. The first version is ripped from the Lenox LP # 227 (mono). The second version is of my own making: I mixed the two mono recordings from Lenox LP # 227 and Atlantic LP # 8130 and produced kind of a fake stereo version. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Esther Phillips: »Release Me« from the Lenox LP # LX 227 (1963, rec. 1962):

And as one song seems a bit poor for this lengthy post, you can hear »No Headstone On My Grave« in the following. It was penned by Arkansas-born country singer (and Elvis's buddy) Charlie Rich and is about the bluesiest tune to be found on Lenox LP # 227. Thus it was an obvious choice for this blog. But there's more to it: Reportedly, it was this very song which Kenny Rogers (the C&W singer) heard in a Houston club back in 1962, sung by Little Esther. Kenny then told his brother Lelan (also »Leland«) about it. Lelan Edward Rogers then got interested in Esther and eventually set up Lenox Records with Bob Gans. The rest is history. Saddest thing is, however, that this song sounds right only from the lips of Esther Phillips, as she got no headstone at first. Sometimes you just wouldn't like songs to come true.

Esther Phillips: »No Headstone On My Grave« from the Lenox LP »Release Me!« (1963):

* * *

Notes from the back cover of Lenox LP # 227 / Excerpts from the November 17, 1962, issue of Music Reporter. By Nola Jaye:

  NASHVILLE.
  It was 3 a.m. and as the recording session moved to towards its fourth hour, 23 musicians and singers milled quietly about the microphone and sound-screen jungle. There was no talking (...). There was an atmosphere of reverence and respect seldom seen. The crew listened to the final note of the playback of the song just recorded. Then, everyone applauded.
  Everyone but the short, solidly built negro girl in the gray flannel slacks. The applause was for her.
  The dramatic reaction was a spontaneous tribute to the 26-year old singer known to the world of show business as 'Little' Esther. She is one of the hottest singing properties in the country and the applause came halfway through a seven hour recording session for her first Lenox Records album.
  That session has already carved a niche in Music City as a new born legend. The musicians and the Anita Kerr Singers are still talking about the spunky singer's refusal to take rest periods and how she cut one song after another with almost flawless perfection. There were few retakes as Esther recorded 10 sides [that is, all songs of the LP except »Release Me«].
  A songwriter with five BMI awards to his credit called the session 'The most enjoyable night of my life ... I was exhausted when I walked in but she made me forget whether it was day or night.'
  A publishing company rep with 20 years in the trade called it, 'The greatest album I have ever heard recorded.'
  Bass man Bobby Moore exclaimed, 'Little Esther picks up where others end.'
  The whole story of the session is loaded with the kind of dramatics that would make Hollywood script writers flip in wide-screen, technicolor somersaults.
  First, the star, 'Little' Esther, walked into the session in the wake of a hit-wave that ended thirteen years without a hit for her. The gifted singer's 'Release Me' in Lenox Records passed the 200,000 sales mark the afternoon of that session. (...)
  In real movie style, Esther was belting out blues six nights a week in Texas oil towns for $75 a week. One night, while Bob Gans (...) was in Houston, Lelan Rogers took him to see and hear Esther's performance. Gans was so impressed he signed her on the spot, and within weeks she waxed the old Ray Price C & W spell-binder, 'Release Me.' Tradesmen figure it is possible for this tune, which into the top 40 of the Big 100 in just three weeks, to become the number one record in the nation.
  Bob Jennings, of Four Star Sales, says he can't get over the 'Little' Esther LP session. 'Musicians hear so much here,' he explained, 'that nothing moves them. And, some of these people had started working on other sessions at 9 a.m. the day before ... it was 3 a.m. and they laid aside their instruments and applauded.'
  Nashville's number one nighttime pop deejay, Audie Ashworth of WKDA, said: 'She worked so steady and sung so hard ... she's got to be a great talent. And those arrangements ... I've never seen or heard anything like it.' (...)
  Esther took the praise in stride with a beaming, winning smile. At one point, after finishing an applause winning performance of Hank Williams' C & W evergreen, 'I Can't Help It,' a musician remarked, 'Esther, that was out of this world.'
  She shook her head, smiled wistfully and said, 'That Mr. Williams is too tough for little Esther to cut.'

  Esther Phillips presents this album to you with all her heart and soul - particularly the latter.

Second Helping

Jewel LP # 0048 (The Meditation Singers: Change Is Gonna Come) (1971)

Last Sunday I promised to post some more songs from the Meditation Singers' 1971 LP Change Is Gonna Come. This post was sche- duled for yesterday, but you know how things are. So, today is fine as well.
     Today's selections are the two songs »Getting High On The Lord« and »That's My Child«. The first tune was decreed to be one of the standout tracks on the album by a Billboard critic, and this isn't far off the mark. It was also released on Paula # 356 and on Jewel # 167 (devotional series). This funky track is basically an instrumental with a chorus line. Equally minimalistic are the lyrics which take up the song's title in so many few words:

I know what you goin' through,
I know what you need
Get addicted to the Holy Ghost power
It will set you free

That is some message! The second tune, »That's My Child«, has a dramatic begin- ning and Mrs. Rundless hollering and shouting to a frenzy beat. It can't get much funkier than that. The song is a mother's plea, or rather a mother's rage and outcry. Very forceful message as well here. Let me just add that both songs were penned by Andre Williams, as was the entire album except Sam Cooke's »A Change Is Gonna Come«. Listen here:

The Meditation Singers: »Getting High On The Lord« / »That's My Child« from the Jewel LP # 0048 (1971):

* * *

The Fourth Sweet Inspiration

I didn't plan to write a fourth »Sweet Inspiration« today, but then it just happened. It doesn't really connect, chronologically, to the previous posts, but that can't be helped as well. We'll come to that. Today, I wanted to draw your attention to a recent music documentary which features, among others, the Sweet Inspirations. Directed by Victor Mignatti, it was released a few months ago and is available now on DVD. Check it out here (click on the banner):

Many interesting things there and, most relevant for our purposes, an interview with Estelle Brown (read it also here).

* * * 

from left: Cissy, Myrna, Estelle, Sylvia

While you're checking out that page you can stay tuned in here and listen to the most successful (chartwise!) song the Sweet Inspirations ever recorded. It is entitled, with just a little lack of fantasy, »Sweet Inspiration«. The song was recor- ded in Memphis on August 24, 1967 (see also below) and first released on their self-titled Atlantic LP (# SD 8155). However, the song wasn't at first put out as a single. On the contrary, Atlantic opted that this tune would be only their third single (Atlantic # 2476), released in spring '68. It then rocketed to #5 r&b and, likewise remarkable, to #18 pop.
     Part of the success of this song might have been its distinctly C&W flavor, cer- tainly the most countryish song the Sweets ever recorded (not in the middle part, though). It is often reported, and can therefore be taken at face value, that Elvis had become aware of the Sweets via this tune. Being himself much inclined to C&W harmonies, Elvis had taken a liking to this song and, according to Myrna Smith, he even performed the tune during one of his shows: »It was later on that we discovered how much Elvis liked our song Sweet Inspiration and that that was the catalyst. ... One night he even surprised us by singing our song Sweet Inspiration on stage. We didn't know that he knew it. Elvis just broke into it and so we started singing background and he was singing lead and we were shocked. It sounded good« (read the whole interview here). And if you were ever in doubt why Elvis liked the Sweets' »Sweet Inspiration«, listen to his »Suspi- cious Minds« (recorded some 17 months later in the very same recording studio!) ... or rather, you don't have to listen to »Suspicious Minds«, you'll hear it right here in the first bars:

The Sweet Inspirations: »Sweet Inspiration« from the Atlantic LP # SD 8155 (1967):

* * *

»Sweet Inspiration« was penned by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham (officially, and as noted on the back cover of the LP, Wallace Daniel Pennington and Dewey Lyndon Oldham). Peter Guralnick in his book Sweet Soul Music (New York 1999) tells the story of how the song was recorded in Memphis (pp. 297, 299):

»In August of 1967 Jerry Wexler had booked the American studio for the Sweet Inspirations, with Tom Dowd producing. ... It was a hot summer's day, the session hadn't been going very well ... "I had worked with the Sweet In- spirations with Aretha,", says Spencer Oldham, "and gotten to know 'em and loved the way they sung, so I couldn't wait for them to get a record on their own. So I went to the session that night at Chips's [i.e. Chips Moman's Ameri- can Sound Studio]. I don't think I was on the session for some reason; I don't know why, maybe I'd been out of town.
     But anyway Dan [Penn] was sitting there, and we were watching all this go down, and they did two songs - awful stuff - and my heart started sinking, and I said to Dan, 'Let's go next door and try to write a song.' [p. 299] We star- ted walking upstairs, and he said, 'I ain't got no ideas,' and I said, 'Let's just take off on that 'sweet inspiration,' and we hit the old guitar, and we come back down there in a little while, and they were still moaning and groaning. And we played it to 'em ..., about the second time Dan ended up on the board, and I was playing guitar."
     "You know," says Dan, taking up the story, "I think it was one of the high- lights of my career. Just as we bring our little tape down and the Sweet In- spirations fell in love with it, and all the musicians are going nuts, them stupids called a damn lunch break. Right in the middle of our song. And Spooner had this damn lick down so good the musicians wouldn't even go eat, they wouldn't leave because they knew by what was happening we could just cut it. And the girls were already singing it. And I'm standing there watching all this shit going down. ... I did my mix on the first take, and when they come back from lunch, I said, 'Boys, we done cut you a record."
     The record made #5 on the soul charts, and Jerry Wexler asked Spooner for a third of the royalties, since he had given the group its name. What were the writers' reactions? "We didn't comment," says Spooner with his dry chuckle.«

For the record: Atlantic LP # SD 8155 was manufactured and scheduled for release in late '67 but was, for all we know, only shipped in February '68. Trade magazines are aware of the album only after this date.

To be continued ...

Check out the previous parts of this series:

• »The First Sweet Inspiration«
• »The Second Sweet Inspiration«
• »The Third Sweet Inspiration«

Times Has Brought About a Change, Y'all

This is, for the time being, the next to last post featuring the Meditation Singers. You can hear them today and, God willing, next Wednesday. But not to worry: I kept one of the highlights of my little series for the great finale. You're in for a rare Funk Gospel treat!

Remember Ralph Bass? The producer and A&R director at Chess who, among much else, supervised the Meditation Singers' Checker LP # 10044 (The Bad Apple) (see the previous posts:
here and here). Well, he said the following in a Billboard interview (Oct. 12, 1968, p. 88): »The message of 'gos-pop' is that there is more to gospel than just finding solace in the church. This follows the same message of Martin [Luther] King, who was fighting for a new way of life.« He was putting that credo into practice at Chess, not the least with the Meditation Singers. But their way did not end at Chess. In autumn 1971, the Meditation Singers moved on to Stan Lewis's Jewel/Paula Records (Shreveport, La.). On Jewel, they had two albums out, the second of which already featured in this blog (here). However, the true gem of their Jewel output is their first album entitled Change Is Gonna Come (Jewel # LPS 0048). It was released in October '71, some forty years ago to this day.

Jewel # LPS 0048 (1971)

While with Jewel, the Meditations went beyond what they had recorded for Chess, and that is saying something. Their sound became still grittier and funkier. Clearly, they went with the times and from »gos-pop« to funk gospel. »Times has brought about a change, y'all«: The line above, apt title of today's post, is from a song on the Meditation Singers' first Jewel LP, »Trouble's Brewin'«. Together with several memorable recordings by the Loving Sisters from Arkansas, the first Jewel LP by the Medi- tation Singers is just about nothing short of the very definition of funk-gospel. As it is, they were helped in achieving that by the famous Detroit-based r&b producer, arranger, composer and, well, singer Andre »Mr. Rhythm« Williams. (There is much to know about Andre Williams, but best read his 2001 interview first.)

Williams penned all but one song of the Medita- tion Singers' first Jewel LP and produced the album as well. As for the Medita- tions themselves, we have to go with the photo from the cover: seated in the center is Earnestine Rundless, behind her to the left is Marie Waters; at the right margin we see Patricia Lyles. One of the other two singers should be Donna Hammonds, though I'm not sure which. The second is unknown to me. There's a high soprano lead voice in some songs that sounds very young; maybe it's her (and, I'd say, the second from right on the photo?). According to the information on the back cover, the songs were recorded at United Sound Studios, Detroit. Strange thing is that on the back cover we also find a highly emotional text written in the first person but signed »The Me- ditation Singers«. Can't make much sense of that!

Whatever. Let's get down with it! This superb LP contains so many songs worth hearing that I post only part of them today; the others will follow. First, there are two utterly funky pieces to start with: »Trouble's Brewin'« and »Good Old Gospel Music«. They'll sweep you off your feet right away. In addition, they're graced with significant lyrics that dwell on social and political issues. But in the end, it all comes down to the groove: I wonder, do you feel it?
I wanna ask you one more time: Do you feel it? Oh yeah. The more you saying it: Do you feel it? Oh y'all. I wonder, do you feel it?

The Meditation Singers: »Trouble's Brewin'« / »Good Old Gospel Music« from the Jewel LP # 0048 (1971):

* * *

It's not all about heavy gospel funk on this album, however. We also have the title track, Sam Cooke's »A Change Is Gonna Come«. And I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's one of the best versions of this song ever recorded. The arrangement is complex and innovative, and there are several lead voices woven in. Jewel sensed the beauty and sales potential of that version and released it on the subsidiary Paula # 356. They were right about the beauty. Happy Sunday all!

The Meditation Singers: »A Change Is Gonna Come« from the Jewel LP # 0048 (1971):

Two Songs for a Saturday Night

Saturday Funk comin' up. Once again from GWP. Two songs, one true gritty sister funk, the other more »poppy and bobby« but still »catchy« (as Ady Croasdell put it).

What you see is the cover of GWP's first volume of Soul, Black & Beautiful, released in 1971 (GWP LP # ST 2037). I posted some stuff from the second volume a short while ago (see here), and in another post you could hear Betty Barney. Twice I already mentioned her monster funk tune »Momma, Momma«. So I thought it past time to post it here. »Momma, Momma« (together with »You Want My Lovin'«) was Betty's only release for GWP, recorded in NYC in April 1969. It then found its way on this LP. I presume most of you know the song. You should, anyhow, and those unfortunate who haven't heard the song before be prepared: from the first chicken-scratchy guitar licks this songs tears down a wall and Betty hollers her heart out.

Betty Barney: »Momma, Momma« from the GWP LP # ST-2037 (1971):

The second song, Debbie Taylor's »Stop«, comes from the second volume. Recorded in 1970, it was her last release for GWP (originally on GWP's Grapevine # 202), uptempo and eminently danceable. Ady Croasdell in his notes to Ace/Kent CD # 326 said that the tune »probably under-utilises Debbie's husky vocals.« I think he is right in that and Debbie could do better. And she would soon after, on Today. You'll hear that soon. And there'll be more about Debbie. For tonight, we gotta STOP!

Debbie Taylor: »Stop« from the GWP LP # ST-2041 (1971):