Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments

Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments

Author and Baylor University professor Robert Darden tells stories - and plays recordings - from the Baylor University Libraries' Black Gospel Music Restoration Project in an on-going weekly series of two-minute segments. Shout! Black Gospel Music Moments explores the distinctly African-American sound of the "Golden Age of Gospel" (1945-1975). The series celebrates this fertile musical period in American history, presenting cultural snapshots that reveal the depth of a people, their community, and the influence they have had on the rest of American music.

Episodes

January 18, 2026 3 mins
The Brooklyn All Stars were New York’s best-known gospel group, singing hits like the slow and stately “No Cross, No Crown.”
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The Caravans ruled the Gospel Highway in the 1950s and ‘60s with songs like the upbeat “No Coward Soldiers.”
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The music of Daddy Grace’s United House of Prayer for All People is an ecstatic rave-up, fueled by a dozen honking trombones!
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The Williams Family and the legendary Canton Spirituals combine for one of the funkiest Christmas songs of all time, “Down Home in Mississippi".
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The Rev. H.B. Crum and His Mighty Golden Keys, “I Can Feel Him” is an exciting example of gospel’s transition from traditional doo-wop harmonies to a more soulful sound.
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The Rev. Johnny “The Hurricane” Jones preached and sang at Second Mount Olive Baptist Church in Atlanta for nearly 60 years!
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The Willie Webb Singers showcased Willie’s amazing keyboards, vocals and songwriting.
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Mahalia Jackson’s majestic, magnificent version of “City Called Heaven” is one of the great powerhouse vocals in gospel music history.
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The powerhouse vocals of Christine Clark dominate Evangelist Eddie Williams and the Crusader’s arrangement of “Abraham, Martin & John.”
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Sister Jessie Mae Renfro excelled at the kind of slow, bluesy gospel surge song, like this one – “He’s So Wonderful.”
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The Famous Blue Jay Singers novelty release “Clanka Lanka” celebrates one of the most famous phrases in gospel quartet singing history.
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The Hampton Institute Quartet’s rendition of the beloved cam meeting singalong, “Old Time Religion,” dates back to 1939.
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The Congregational Church Choir’s scratchy “I Want to be Ready” is a rare and wonderful example of a jubilee song from 1927.
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The Exciting Incredibles live up to their name with the deep Southern soul gospel groove of “I Want to Be Loved.”
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The Jordan Singers’ “I Want to be Free” has the same rollicking beat as some of the best freedom songs by the Staple Singers.
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Straight Street Holiness Church’s raw recording of “I Want the Lord to Do Something for Me” has a joyful energy all its own.
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Chicago’s Kelly Brothers sound like they’re from Mississippi in the churchy, soulful “(I Was Way Down Yonder) I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray.”
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The Rev. James Cleveland leads the Salem Inspirational Choir in a stirring version of his hit song, “I Don’t Feel Noways Tired.”
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The Back Home Choir specialized in choral arrangements of the old spirituals, including this upbeat rendition of “King Jesus is All.”
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The multi-talented Myrna Summers can sing anything – but she’s rarely sounded better than on this haunting spiritual, “Stand By Me.”
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