“The Great Shrine Concert” turns 60

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 producing a story for The Frame, 89.3 KPCC.  Interviewees include Annette May Thomas, Herbert “Pee Wee” Pickard, Baylor University professor Robert Darden, and JGM’s Bob Marovich.

Click here for the audio and text: Shrine Auditorium Concert.