Mass Choirs Archives - The Gospel Highway

Saved And Sent To Sing

Saved And Sent To Sing The Gospel Music Workshop Of America Mass Choir 4:35

St. Louis, MO, summer 1988. The annual gathering of James Cleveland’s Gospel Workshop of America is in full swing and, after rehearing all week, the GMWA mass choir is ready to record it’s new album to be released in the spring of 1989. James Cleveland founded The Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) in 1967 to offer gospel musicians an alternative outlet to present their work that might not be accepted by the “other” annual summer gospel gathering, Thomas A. Dorsey’s National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses (NCGCC) that he founded in 1933.

Dorsey (“The Father of Gospel Music”)/NCGCC = Old School gospel
Cleveland (“The King of Gospel Music”)/GMWA = New School gospel
Cleveland studied and learned his craft at Chicago’s Pilgrim Baptist Church under the tutelage of Thomas A. Dorsey.

I like this song a lot and I like the idea of some amazing grace saving Larry Dennis so he could write this song and sings lead on this album. I get the feeling that, for reasons unknown to me, that Mr. Dennis truly believes in his heart he has “been saved and sent to sing”.

I’ll Say Yes Lord All The Way

I’ll Say Yes Lord All The Way The Corinthian Radio Choir 5:26

A wonderful uptempo song that is interesting because more than HALF the song…60%, is the VAMP. That is uncommon, but it certainly works for this song.

The Corinthian Temple Church of God in Christ, now referred to as the “Temple of Praise”, was founded in Chicago in 1919 and is still alive and vibrant today. The church began to grow rapidly in the 1960’s under the leadership of Rev. Benny Allison. Come the 70’s they build themselves, by hand, a new brick building that was funded by selling bricks to the community. The Minster of Music at this time was Sister Lavonia Whittley who spearheaded to growth and direction of the choir, including having the choir perform for the church’s weekly church service that was broadcast every Sunday night.

The liner notes on the back of the album that this song is from, “I’ve Already Been To The Water”, are wonderfully written by Lavonia Whittley. Below is an excerpt. It certainly makes one wish they actually was there for the recording. Lucky for all of us we have the recording on the performance to get a feel of what went on.

“When the Levitical singers and musicians sang at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, the glory of the Lord so filled the temple that the priests couldn’t minister (2 Chronicles 5:12-14). It was because the anointing of God was present, uniting the singers and musicians. They were flowing together in pure praise, and God dwelt in the praise.

And so it was on the night of the “Live” recording of The Corinthian Temple Church of God in Christ Radio Choir. The Temple was filled with the glory of God and the singers and musicians were saturated with God’s anointing. Hearts were touched, spirits were set free, yokes were broken, lives were changed and souls were filled with the Holy Ghost. It was a night of praise and thanks for having had the opportunity to minister to millions each Sunday morning during the church’s weekly radio ministry. And it was on that night that the Corinthian Temple Choir vehemently and enthusiastically proclaimed, “I’ll Say Yes Lord All The Way.”

Lavonia Whittely
Minister of Music

Near The Cross

I know!!!! Don’t run away!!! For some people, songs about “The Cross” might seem too church-y, or too religious or too whatever to be of any interest. But TRUST ME on this, these are two not to be missed cuts.

The first song is from one of the 4 or 5 powerhouse “mass choirs” of the 70’s. Frank Williams and his Mississippi Mass Choir made lots of hit albums in their day. I’ve taken the liberty of editing down this version of “Near The Cross”. As published I found the beginning part ran a bit long before the song really began to take off, so shortened Frank Williams solo verses. I also took out a bit of the middle to get to the ending which floors me every time I hear it. I may not fully believe that “He’ll give me rest; heavenly rest…beautiful rest…glorious rest”, but is sure sounds good to me as they sing so powerfully about it.

The next version is for a dear friend of mine who subscribes to this blog. They recently asked me what drew me to gospel music in the first place and part of my answer was, “The sound of the Hammond B3 organ”. The B3 has been a feature of gospel music since gospel became electrified. It is also a unique genre of jazz organ. ANYWAY, this cut features Moses Tyson, A great, if not sometimes over the top, B3 organist. And he certainly showcases many of the wonderful sounds and empressive voice the B3 can make in the hands of a master. If you just listened to the song above, you can better appreciate this instrumental version,,,and of course I LOVE it. Enjoy!!

Near The Cross Moses Tyson 3:07

Embed

Embed

Embed