For All You’ve Done

Something a little different today. A beautiful, simple vocal piece accompanied by only an acoustic guitar and claves. “Gospel” per se?  Probably not.  Lovely and soulful, yes.  Very nice.

 

  1. For All You've Done Stephen Daniels and The Shiloh Gospel Choir 4:08

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I Made It

This song grew on me…I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, but the more listened, the more I liked it. Performed by The Canton Spirituals from Canton Mississippi, the song features a cameo from Ms. Albertina Walker, “The Queen of Gospel Music”. (Albertina died in 2010 at age 79). The Canton Spirituals sing in a slightly updated version of the old quartet style that just repeats and repeats and repeats the same phrase over and over, in this case, “I made it”.

 

  1. I Made It Canton Spirituals 5:24

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We Need a Word from the Lord

A beautiful, torchy, song from Vickie Winans (once married to Marvin Winans of “The Winans” fame who sang the song I posted yesterday).

 

  1. We Need a Word from the Lord Vickie Winans 4:29

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The music industry is a hard one to survive in. It’s always about the money, not the music. To wit, here is a bit from Vickie’s entry on Wikipedia.

“In 1990, Vickie signed, not to a gospel recording company but to Geffen Records. Geffen was bought by Universal Records and Winan’s contract was shifted to sister label MCA Records. Dealing with a company that hadn’t signed her, she found herself being subtly pushed to tone down the Christian message in her music. ‘They don’t tell you, but you get the vibe,’ she said in 1999. ‘I don’t ever, ever, ever want to be in that predicament again. It’s one thing when you just sing a song where you don’t use the actual name of Jesus, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing when you TRY not to use the name. For me, the name of Jesus will never be distasteful in my mouth. He’s always the answer'”.

“Her 1991 MCA release was “The Lady” which included production by R. Kelly, husband Marvin Winans, and her son Mario. The nine-song album was missing the name Jesus and controversially contained a rendition of West Side Story’s “Somewhere”. MCA then sent Winans to that year’s Stellar Awards television broadcast with dancers – a move that shocked the conservative Christian community, leading to the Winans having to issue a public apology.”

I’m Blessed

I think of this every day. “I’m blessed, truly blessed…wonderfully blessed.  I won’t complain, I’m blessed”.

 

  1. I'm Blessed Skruk and The New Orleans Gospel Choir 4:48

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I Feel Like Going Home

Bishop G. E. Patterson was head of The Church of God in Christ from 2000-2007. After his death, two multi CD sets, “The Gospel Music Celebration Tribute To Bishop G. E. Patterson” were recorded and released. Both CDs were live performances featuring different gospel greats on each song. Contributors include Dottie Peoples, Rance Allen, Beverly Crawford and Walter Hawkins among others. This cut is from Marvin Winans, founding member of Detroit’s famous group, “The Winans”.

 

  1. I Feel Like Going On Marvin Winans 6:11

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I Never Lost My Praise

An interesting song from Carol Cymbala’s world famous Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Give the song some time to develop; by the end, with the full choir singing full bore, it’s pretty powerful.

 

  1. I Never Lost My Praise 6:59

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Carol and her husband are the pastors at Brooklyn Tabernacle, a dead/dying church of about 20 members that they took over in the early ’70s.

“In the mid-1970s, Carol began the choir with a group of nine people that began to grow and soon became a vital part of the worship services of The Brooklyn Tabernacle. Always sensitive in trying to select songs that would glorify the Lord, Carol searched continually for appropriate material for the choir. It was just a matter of time before she began to write songs herself, though she had no formal training in music.”

“Today The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir comprises 270 voices representing people from all walks of life. Carol has written hundreds of songs, 80+ of them recorded throughout her 28-album recording history. Her songs have been translated into many languages, carrying the choir’s sound and the gospel message to people all over the world. The choir’s work under Carol’s direction has won five Dove Awards and six Grammy Awards. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir has been featured at concerts at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, and Carnegie Hall.”

No Storm

Good old time slow southern gospel from Dorothy Norwood, one of the original Caravans from “back in the day”.  Great gospel only really needs a beat…no need for a band. The Caravans was an amazing group of incredibly talented singers, all of whom went on to have huge solo careers as well. The Caravans included Delores Washington, Albertina Walker, Bessie Griffin, Cassietta George, Dorothy Norwood, Inez Andrews, and Shirley Caesar.

 

  1. No Storm Dorothy Norwood 6:59

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I’m A Witness – Who’ll Be A Witness

Here’s a song from “The First Lady of Gospel”, Shirley Caesar.  It starts out with a little old time gospel than segues into a nice contemporary song with a great band and backup choir.

 

  1. I'm A Witness - Who'll Be A Witness Shirley Caesar 6:27

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I’ve given Shirley Caesar’s background before, but if you want to revisit the particulars of her 60 year career as a gospel singer, check out her Wikipedia page.

I’ve Been Born Again

There are many versions of this song…I’ll post a couple of others later.  This one is from Timothy Wright and The Friendship Baptist Church Choir from Brooklyn, NY (the same choir that brought us “Trouble Don’t Last” and  “Thank You Lord [For My Miracle], to name a few).

 

  1. I've Been Born Again Rev. Timothy Wright 3:59

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He’ll Never Let You Down

A gospel classic featuring the late, great, Daryl Coley with the Gospel Music Workshop of America choir. This song was recorded at the 1982 GMWA Convention in Houston, TX.  James Early introduced this song to JVOI several years ago.

 

  1. He'll Never Let You Down GMWA Mass Choir 5:49

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