When Art Rupe of Specialty Records recorded the July 22, 1955, gospel program at Los Angeles’s Shrine Auditorium, he was making history. It would be the first multi-artist gospel program to be recorded, and one of the most significant aural examples of live gospel music during its golden age. Artists appearing that day included the Soul Stirrers with a pre-soul star Sam Cooke, the Pilgrim Travelers, Dorothy Love Coates and the Original Gospel Harmonettes, the Caravans with Albertina Walker and James Cleveland, and Brother Joe and Annette May. Rob Strauss and Cameron Kell honored the 60th anniversary of the program by ...

Various Artists An Evening with the Legends of Quartet Live Malaco/4 Winds www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich Malaco Records and its 4 Winds subsidiary are the main standard bearers for gospel quartet singing, a style that once dominated the gospel charts but has since fallen behind mass choirs and small choirs in radio play and album sales. But unlike their secular peers in vocal harmony who retired and only gather for PBS retrospectives, many gospel quartet singers from the golden age are still working the road, albeit with groups comprised of new personnel. Some of the lead singers from quartet’s golden age gathered ...

Soul Stirrers Joy in My Soul: The Complete SAR Recordings ABKCO Records (release date: January 27, 2015 www.abkco.com By Bob Marovich The first ABKCO compilation of Soul Stirrers recordings on the legendary SAR Records was released more than a decade ago. With sixteen tracks, the Stirrers had the lion’s share of sides on the gospel portion of that two-CD set, but that was all; the rest of the set needed to feature other SAR artists. Gospel quartet enthusiasts as well as Soul Stirrers fans will therefore appreciate Joy In My Soul because it is all Soul Stirrers. And of the 33 selections ...

The Journal of Gospel Music is saddened to learn of the passing of LeRoy Crume. LeRoy was a member of Chicago’s Crume Brothers and the Soul Stirrers.  The Crume Brothers are credited for introducing the electric guitar into quartet music and many were members of the Soul Stirrers at one time or another. We will post information on homegoing services as it becomes available.