Essential Gospel: Classic Recordings – Week 121

“He’ll Welcome Me (To My Home)”

Soul Stirrers

Specialty 851

1953

[also available on Specialty LPs LP2106 and SPS2137, and on www.rhapsody.com]

It may have been akin to heresy for some churchgoers when in 1952 and 1953 the Soul Stirrers – beloved a cappella quartet that they were – began adding organ, piano, and drums to their recordings. Besides the fact that all the superstar gospel quartets were doing it, adding instrumentation and a stronger beat freshened up the quartet sound, made it more modern sounding, more in keeping with the youth-dominated Fifties. Also, pushing the musical envelope had been characteristic of black gospel music ever since Thomas Dorsey was kicked out of churches for bringing “the devil’s music” into the sanctuary. Drums and the newfangled Hammond Organ were just characters in the latest chapter of gospel music’s evolution.

“He’ll Welcome Me (To My Home)” is a superb example of how instrumentation could brighten the gospel quartet sound but not overcome it. Front and center, as soon as needle hits groove, comes the youthful voice of Sam Cooke, oozing with talent, while later Paul Foster challenges him with his rough, sanctified baritone in yet another of the dramatic, patented Soul Stirrers vocal duels. The organ (played by Fay Wagner) and drums keep an almost metronomic rhythm. It’s an appealing, infectious, and instantly memorable performance.

At the same time, if you removed the instrumental track from the recording, you would hear the Stirrers singing a cappella just as tightly as if the instruments were not there. While the organ, piano, and drums propel the recording along nicely, they do not take any beauty away from the fundamental quality of the quartet’s well-honed harmonies, polyphonic lines, and steady vocal rhythm. This is the magic of the Soul Stirrers’ style and this particular single. It is also a shining example of gospel music’s golden age.