RIP: Ella Mitchell, Gospel Singer, Actor
Anthony Heilbut and Eric Maurice Clark informed the Journal of Gospel Music that gospel singer and actor Ella Mitchell passed away.
Anthony Heilbut and Eric Maurice Clark informed the Journal of Gospel Music that gospel singer and actor Ella Mitchell passed away.
By Bob Marovich As is our custom for this time of year, the Journal of Gospel Music presents its "best of" lists in the category of CDs, songs, and historical releases. The recordings were not chosen as "best of" based on sales, chart status, promotion, voting, fan popularity, number of [...]
By Robert M. Marovich Eric Maurice Clark informed JGM that Archbishop Carl “Pops” Bean passed away on Monday, September 7, 2021, after a lengthy illness. Archbishop Bean was an openly gay man, the Presiding Prelate of Unity Fellowship Church, Inc., a denomination he founded in Los Angeles to provide a [...]
Prof. Harold Boggs (and Lula Reed) Lord Give Me Strength: Early Recordings 1952-1964 Gospel Friend Records (release date: September 21, 2018) www.gospelfriend.com By Bob Marovich Perhaps one reason Professor Harold Boggs is not as well remembered, or as appreciated, as his golden era contemporaries is his penchant for copying their sound. [...]
“Come Too Far” New Golden Crowns of Louisville, KY Sharp Records (release date: June 1, 2017) Available from Amazon.com By Bob Marovich Organized in 1940 as the Golden Crowns, an a cappella quartet, the New Golden Crowns of Louisville, Kentucky, are comprised of a mixture of new members and a [...]
“Clap Your Hands” Pastor David Wright & The New York Fellowship Mass Choir (Next Generation) Godfather Records (2016) www.godfathergospel.com Pastor David Wright, son of the late Rev. Timothy Wright, leads the New York Fellowship Mass Choir on its latest single, a reworking of the Alex Bradford classic, “I Don’t Care [...]
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 [...]
JGM learned from Anthony Heilbut today that Willie James McPhatter, gospel singer-songwriter and accompanist, has died. Originally from Buffalo, New York, McPhatter--the cousin of Clyde McPhatter of the world-famous vocal groups the Dominoes and Drifters--had worked with a number of gospel groups by 1954 when Alex Bradford ("Too Close to [...]