The Willie Harris Gospel Singers
Ophir 2007
Listening to Got a Healing by the Willie Harris Gospel Singers is an aural trip back to the 1970s and 1980s. It is reminiscent of the bass guitar-heavy male quartet recordings released by local groups on southern labels such as Hoyt Sullivan’s Su-Ann and HSE, Don Logan’s Memorial, and Stan Lewis’ Jewel and Lewis.
Soulful and bluesy, laced with mother wit, the songs on Got a Healing cover an array of topics, such as religion as an antidote to substance abuse and addiction, and the eternal woes of backsliding. The quartet’s songs about dealing with the tribulations of life are a welcome respite from the plethora of praise songs filling the gospel chart these days.
“Jesus Said It” is a reworking of the Shirelles’ “Mama Said,” as in “Jesus said there’d be days like this.” “No Day,” featuring an effective preaching delivery by Rev. Willie Harris, is the radio-friendly track, while the uptempo “I Still Remember,” with superb guitar and drum work by John Harper and Vincent L. Chappelle Sr. respectively, is the audience pleaser.
The brief and frequent interludes of “I Still Remember” that pepper the project are distracting and completely unnecessary, but otherwise this is a spiritually entertaining project.
Two and a Half of Four Stars
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Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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Hello my name is Crystal and I was in your wife’s class for 4 years at PSM. Just wanted to say hello and that she was a wonderful woman and I will never forget everything that she taught me. I am a better person for knowing her.
Crystal, thank you for writing, and for such kind words! Pat loved her PSM students as if they were her own children, and if it weren’t for the cancer that took her home, she would be happily teaching there still.