A classic Christmas, team style
Surprsingly, there have been relatively few gospel quartet Christmas albums released over the years. Considering the kinds of songs they sing, one would think there are hundreds of them out there...given that gospel quartets have been on "record"(so to speak)since the late 1920s.
Sadly, there are not. But the ones that have been made are almost uniformly excellent. Not surprisingly, one of the very best of those is a collaboration between the two most popular gospel quartets of the mid-20th century, the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen, who were business partners as well as arch rivals in quartet popularity.
"The Team"'s 1962 collaboration had an incredibly long title(why, I'm not sure...ask producer Darol Rice!)..."James Blackwood and the Blackwood Brothers and Hovie Lister and the Statesmen Wish You A Musical Merry Christmas"(RCA 2606), which was reissued on RCA Camden in 1969(Camden 2351)under the more reasonable title "O Come All Ye Faithful"...but despite the cumbsersome title, it is gospel quartet singing at its' best...not that you would expect anything less from two of the greatest gospel groups to ever sing.
The two quartets were at the peak of their 1960s popularity, and each had recorded occasional Christmas songs before that, but this was the first such album of Christmas music that either group had done. The Blackwoods at the time consisted of tenor Bill Shaw, lead James Blackwood, baritone Cecil Blackwood, and JD Sumner singing bass, with Wally Varner at the piano. The Statesmen had Rosie Rozell singing tenor, Jake Hess singing the lead, Doy Ott singing baritone, and James "Big Chief" Wetherington singing bass, with the venerable Hovie Lister at the piano.
The album kicked off with both quartets teaming up on "O Come All Ye Faithful", with Varner on piano and Shaw doing a solo on one verse. Then the Blackwoods presented a pleasant version of "Silver Bells", followed by the Statesmen doing "Go Tell It On The Mountain". All the cover songs on the album were appropriate songs for each quartet to sing.
And of course, with the bass singers of each quartet being among the most prolific gospel songwriters of the period, you knew that there were going to be original songs for the album as well. The next song, "Praises To Our King", done by the Blackwoods, was a Sumner original, as was "Christmas Means Christ To Me", also done by the Blackwoods to close out Side one. In between was a wonderful version of "White Christmas" by the Statesmen, with a memorable solo from Big Chief.
Side two opened with a rousing version of "Joy To The World", sung by both quartets, followed by the sole Big Chief composed song, "Christmas Time Is Here", sung by the Statesmen. None of the original songs would make anyone forget the classic songs of the season, but they were pleasant musical additions to the album nonetheless.
The album concluded with four Christmas classics...the Blackwoods contributed a fine version of "O Little Town Of Bethlehem", while the Statesmen did a very nice version of "Away In A Manger", which featured a tender solo from Rozell.
The two concluding songs are my favorites on the album...the Blackwoods with a beautiful rendering of "O Holy Night", which featured Bill Shaw, and the Statesmen doing a new version of "Silent Night"(which they had previously recorded), which had a moving vocal solo from Lister.
This was an excellent album, and a bonafide Christmas classic, regardless of whatever musical genre you enjoy most. I would say that if you had to have just one gospel quartet Christmas album, this is the one to get. It's out-of-print now, but if you check sites such as eBay, I'm sure you can find a copy available...so get it if you can!
Posted on Dec 22, 2006 - 01:26 PM | [0]
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