Artist	Song
Sensational Nightengales	Morning Train
The Caravans, feat. Cassietta George	Jesus and Me
Dorothy Love Coates & the Original Gospel Harmonettes	The Sign of Time
Dixie Hummingbirds	Our Prayer for Peace
Blind Willie Johnson	If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down
Soul Stirrers, feat. Sam Cooke	Touch the Hem of His Garmet
Bessie Griffin	Whosoever Will
Chosen Gospel Singers, feat. Lou Rawls	Stay with Me Jesus
Rev. J.M. Gates & Congregation	Down Here Lord Waiting on You
Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Marie Knight	Up Above My Head
Meditation Songers	Ain't That Good News
Dorothy Love Coates & the Original Gospel Harmonettes	Wouldn't Mind Dying
Golden Gate Quartet	Jezebel
Mighty Clouds of Joy	Family Circle
Pilgrim Jubilee Singers	Don't Let Him Down
Swan Silvertones	He Won't Deny Me
Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama	Coming Up Through the Years
Staple Singers	Don't Knock
Soul Stirrers, feat. Paul Foster	Sinner Run to Jesus
Jackson Southernaires	How Long Will It Last
Soul Stirrers, feat. Sam Cooke & Paul Foster	Be with Me Jesus
Swan Silvertones	My Rock
Dorothy Love Coates & the Original Gospel Harmonettes	No Hiding Place
Original Five Blind Boys of Alabama	Marching Up to Zion
Inez Andrews	Don't Move that Mountain
Edna Cook	Jesus Will Fix It
The Gospelaires	I've Got It
Mattie Moss Clark & the Southwest Michigan State Choir	Write My Name Above

Comment:

[a re-post of a mix lost in the ether. Beware the update function .....]
The music of the black church -- from the lone singer beating on an acoustic guitar, to the call and response of a preacher and his congregation, to the silky-smooth harmonies of the quartet, to the full-throated roar of a choir -- is sublime, exalted, glorious, joyous, uplifting, ecstatic music, ministering to the spiritual element that lurks in each of us.
Black gospel music grew out of the field hollers and slave spirituals, and added the rhythms of the blues and early jazz. Later, gospel and its secular cousin, the blues (a/k/a "the devil's music"), combined to give birth to R&B. Just ask Ray Charles, who once said he sang church music, merely changing "God" to "baby" in his lyrics. Gospel music is the direct progenitor of soul music. Many of the soul stars of the 50s, 60s, and 70s came straight out of the church. You can hear Sam Cooke and Lou Rawls in this mix. A few of the many others who started singing in church are: Aretha Franklin, Hank Ballard, Etta James, Martha Reeves, Ben E. King, Jerry Butler, and Curtis Mayfield. The Staple Singers, Solomon Burke, and Al Green gravitated back and forth between sacred and secular music throughout their careers. And to carry on the family tree, when R&B and country music (which had its own spiritual tradition) began to cohabitate, they gave birth to rock and roll.
But there's something in this music beyond the purely historical or musicological -- something visceral. This is music that will grab you by the yingyang, pull you up out of your chair, get your feet moving, your body swaying, and your face smiling. Is it God? Jesus? the Holy Spirit? That's what they're all singing about. Or is it the human spirit, blissed out on a musical and communal high and reaching out to share the joy with kindred human spirits? Or is it the message of hope -- the pure, unadulterated, no-matter-how-bad-it-gets-there's-better-times-a-comin' optimism? That's certainly a message that transcends religious and denominational boundaries -- and one we can all use every now and again. I'll let everyone draw their own conclusions. All I know is that this is some of the most powerful and joyous music there is, whether you believe in God, gods, Jesus, Buddha, Allah, the Beatles, Zimmerman, or some or none of the above. I listen to it whenever I need an injection of love ... of joy .... of pure bliss. "Up above my head/ I hear music in the air....."!

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