Dedicated To The Hymns

It's been a long time since I've reviewed a gospel album here, and I think it's high time I did something about that.

And the album I'm choosing is one that is among the most meaningful and prized in my record collection. In this case, it's because when it comes to gospel singing, you can dress it up and adorn it with the most current and elaborate vocal and instrumental arrangements conceivable...but what it will always come down to is the most reverent and heartfelt singing possible, and the finest available songs to convey the most important and urgent message in the world.

This album..."Dedicated To The Hymns" by the Couriers Quartet from 1962(Hymntone LPC 3082)does not have the most elaborate production, even by 1962 standards. It has no stacks or pitch correction(such things didn't exist 45 years ago!)or even multi-tracking...it wasn't even recorded in stereo!

What it does have is four dedicated, devoted singers and one extremely gifted piano accompanist performing some of the finest hymns and gospel melodies in straight, unadorned four-part harmony. There will always be a place for albums like this in gospel music, regardless of what the prevailing trends may be in the gospel music industry at large.

At the time the Couriers made this album, they were still using their lead singer, Neil Enloe, as their pianist as well. By this time, they were starting to really establish themselves as one of the finest young quartets going...and they were establishing the Northeast United States and Canada as areas(and markets) eager for gospel quartet music. They were well underway in bringing other established Southern quartets up North to make new fans, and in return, they were becoming a more visible part of the Southern circuit, including making annual appearances at the National Quartet Convention.

The Couriers were still a few months away from hiring a regular piano player(in this case, Jerry Evans). But when they decided to make an album of hymns, they procured the services of a friend of theirs, Bryan Jones, who had recently left the Toney Brothers Quartet, a group the Couriers were very friendly with. Jones never joined the Couriers, but he did play on this album and their final quartet album, "Down Memory Lane" in 1966, as well as play piano with them onstage at Carnegie Hall in June of 1963 when they were part of that historic concert there. Jones' outstanding stylings and technique was perhaps as responsible as anything for making this album a special hymn listening experience for all who bought this album.

And that it was...Duane Nicholson, Enloe, Don Baldwin, and Dave Kyllonen had never sung better on record to this point in their careers. They took 12 of the best known sacred melodies to that point and sang them as clear and solid as a quartet could sing them.

This album was reminiscent of the classic Rebels Quartet album "Sacred Gems" from 1957, which was also a reverent, competent, straight rendering of great traditional songs. That album's continued popularity with gospel fans is evidenced by the fact that it was reissued no less than 4 times, including 1 CD issue.

To my knowledge, "Dedicated To The Hymns" has never been reissued(although it is available from the original Couriers[Dave, Duane, and Neil]in CD form at their personal appearances), but the eternal appeal of the songs and of the arrangements of them by the quartet will make it a treasure for anyone who is able to get it and listen.

There is something about the best sacred songs in the world sung straightforwardly by a male quartet. If you agree, you'll want to sample(and possibly own)"Dedicated To The Hymns" by the Couriers Quartet. IMHO, it is one of the finest albums of its' type ever recorded. Check it out, and see if you agree.

The 12 songs on it are as follows...

Living By Faith
The Old Rugged Cross
In The Garden
Power In The Blood
Whispering Hope
Let The Lower Lights Be Burning
The Old Account
Open My Eyes
I've Pitched My Tent In Beulah Land
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Amazing Grace
Lord, I'm Coming Home

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