Another offering from the Tommies ….Chicago’s Rev. Milton Brunson and The Thompson Community Choir. Happy Memorial Day weekend!!
- Just A Prayer Away 3:35
THE Place to Discover Great Gospel Songs
Another offering from the Tommies ….Chicago’s Rev. Milton Brunson and The Thompson Community Choir. Happy Memorial Day weekend!!
I was reminded of this great song this morning because I just watched a video of The Afro Sound Choir from Buenos Aires Argentina performing the song. BOTH versions are fantastic. One of my most favoritest songs.
It’s a strange irony that a white pop record would make an American black gospel choir a household name around the world. Nevertheless, it was The New Jersey Mass Choir’s collaboration with Foreigner on their internationally massive hit “I Want To Know What Love Is” that first brought the choir to most people’s attention.
The New Jersey Mass Choir is interdenominational, and has long since extended beyond its New Jersey roots, with members drawn from all over the US. It’s also a small choir with only 20 singers going on a 1990 the European Tour.
Is that small number of singers a good thing?? “Listen, trust me! Its good – because the New Jersey Mass Choir was once comprised of 150, almost 200 members. We needed three or four buses to get from one state to another. For traveling purposes you compact it to around 25. These are your picked voices, the main voices, the good voices who do the job of 150. Everybody is in their place, and doing what they’re supposed to do,” says founder and director Donny Hathaway.
Here’s a great old song from Donnie McClurkin recorded at one of Minister Carlton Pearson’s “Live at Azuza” conferences.
“Mr. Pearson’s annual Azusa conferences, a powerful combination of music and ministry, drew as many as 20,000 people to Oral Roberts University. (He’d started his career in the 1970s as a member of Oral Roberts’ World Action Singers.) The “Live at Azusa” recordings that grew out of the conferences became big sellers. Gospel artists from across the country pleaded to be part of them.”
Carlton Pearson’s story is VERY interesting. Take a bit of time to read “The Fall and Rise of Carlton Pearson”.
This is not your usual gospel song, but it’s quite moving. Bishop Larry Trotter has this booming, growling voice that just grabs your attention; he doesn’t “sing”…he uses his voice as a preacher would while letting the choir do the singing. I think we all have had times in our lives when we just couldn’t let anyone see/hear our “silent tears”. Starting at about 3:00, this song starts to build and build until it reaches a marvelous, cathartic finale.
Here’s a slightly different version of Donnie McClurkin’s “Stand” from an album Ron Winans put out in 1996, “Ron Winans Presents Family & Friends IV”. Many people would agree that this version is infinitely better than McClurkin’s original. Below is a quote from a buyer’s review of the album that sums it all up nicely.
“The greatest gospel recording of all time is on this album. “Stand”, performed by Donnie McClurkin and Marvin Winans is a classic. Originally done on his self titled album (Donnie McClurkin), “Stand” delivers the emotion and conviction that every believer who has gone through trials and tribulation will come to receive. The orchestration is superbly done and McClurkin’s vocals are soul-searching and moving. The background choir sing their hearts out and the overall production of this song is a masterpiece.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. (I’ve also included a vocal backing track for “Stand” so you can sing it yourself.
“Stand”
What do you do when you’ve done all you can
And it seems like it’s never enough?
And what do you say When your friends turn away
And you all alone, alone?
Tell me, what do you give when you’ve given your all
And it seems like you can’t make it through?
Well, you just stand when there’s nothing left to do
You just stand, watch the Lord see you through Yes, after you’ve done all you can, You just stand
Tell me, how do you handle the guilt of your past?
Tell me, how do you deal with the shame?
And how can you smile while your heart has been broken
And filled with pain, filled with pain?
Tell me what do you give when you’ve given your all?
Seems like you can’t make it through.
Child, you just stand when there’s nothing left to do
You just stand, watch the Lord see you through
Yes, after you’ve done all you can,
You just stand
Stand and be sure
Be not entangled in that bondage again
You just stand and endure
God has a purpose,
Yes, god has a plan
Tell me what do you do when you’ve done all you can
And it seems like you can’t make it through?
Child, you just stand, you just stand, stand
Don’t you dare give up through the storm,
Stand through the rain
Through the hurt,
Yeah, through the pain
Don’t you bow, and don’t you bend
Don’t give up, no, don’t give in
Hold on, Just be strong, God will step in
And it won’t be long
After you’ve done all you can, after you’ve done all you can
After you’ve gone through the hurt,
After you’ve gone through the pain
After you’ve gone through the storm,
After you’ve gone through the rain
Prayed and cried,
Prayed and cried
Prayed and cried
Prayed and cried, oh my
After you’ve done all you can
You just stand
Yea!! It’s a twofer Saturday!!
The first version here is by Le’Andria Johnson, winner of “Sunday Best” in 2010, the gospel equivalent of “American Idol”. And she won for good reason…she has a great voice and loves giving a soulful treatment to older, more traditional songs. Two years after winning “Sunday Best”, she won a Grammy for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance. I love this arrangement…the pedal steel guitar is fantastic, and the B3 cuts in at 2:24 for the final vamp. (but I haven’t quite figured out the dripping/bubbling sound in the background on the info). Read more about Le’Andria here: http://www.soultracks.com/le-andria-johnson-the-experience.
This second version is a more traditional treatment by one of my favorite BIG mass choirs, The Florida Mass Choir.
A selection from the Christian Life Center (CLC) Mass Choir from Hagerstown Md. This is is some nice traditional gospel recorded in 2005.
Here’s an uptempo version of an old song of the church to jump start your soul this morning.
Here is a REAL treat this morning. This is a cut from an exceptional choir that can perform all kinds of gospel…spirituals, traditional, contemporary…you name it they can do it. Here’s an old time call and response song reminiscent of the old southern church services.