CD Review: The Swan Silvertones 1946-1951

The Swan Silvertones 1946-1951
Acrobat CD ADDCD 3004
2005
www.acrobatmusic.net

Fans of classic black gospel quartet singing will treasure this new, two-CD reissue by England’s Acrobat label.

This chronologically-organized collection of every one of the Swan Silvertones’ first 45 recordings, released by Sydney Nathan’s Cincinnati-based King label between 1946 and 1951, paints an aural portrait of the Swans as an emerging force in post-war gospel music.

The quartet’s personnel at the time of the first King session in July 1946 consisted of Claude Jeter, Albert Reed, Solomon Womack, John Myles, and William Johnson. In those days, they were known as Swan’s Silvertone Singers, after the Swan Bakery, their sponsor. Roosevelt Payne, Henry Bossard, and Rev. Percell Perkins would join the quartet on later sessions.

Listening to the King recordings in succession on this CD confirms my belief that the Swans were among the chief architects of Gospel’s Golden Age, and also played no small part in the development of secular vocal group singing, or “doo-wop.” The quartet’s sweet, expertly executed harmonies and crisp syncopated rhythms, led by Rev. Claude Jeter’s trademark high tenor (the first strains of which can be heard on 1946’s “I Want My Crown”), are the archetypal gospel quartet sound.

Though the King sessions reflect Nathan’s preference for jubilee quartet singing instead of the hard singing style that Art Rupe encouraged from the quartet when they signed with his Specialty imprint in 1952, a sanctified feeling does creep into the Swans’ sound during those early days, largely due to the vocalizing of Rev. Perkins who joined the quartet sometime around 1950.

The reissue collection’s liner notes by gospel historian Opal Nations rely in part on Spencer Jarrett’s 2003 interview with Rev. Jeter that was originally commissioned for Bob Marovich’s “Gospel Memories” radio show on Chicago’s WLUW.

There are no previously unissued tracks, likely because Nathan released them all. As well he should have: each represent an unparalleled beauty of simplicity and harmony, and are among the finest examples of quartet singing ever captured on vinyl.