Bob Wills and the Inspirationals--Colorful Requests

 

A great cover shot, and I'd like the photo even more if it wasn't so oversaturated.  Anyway, this is Bob Wills and the Inspirationals, and we're not talking that Bob Wills (the country swing guy) but rather the baritone (and manager) of this ridiculously good quartet, which also includes Billy Hamm (2nd tenor), Curtis Elkins (1st tenor), and Johnny Hays (bass).  Tom Smith is the pianist, so he accounts for the fifth guy in this quartet portrait, though I'm not sure which one is him.  At any rate, this LP is a winner from the first track to the closing.  When I spotted Rain, Rain, Rain as the starting number in the playlist, I considered that a good sign--groups that start off with such a showstopper selection are usually groups that mean business--groups that deliver.  I will concede, though, that I've encountered LPs which start with gusto and lose it by the third band, but luckily that doesn't happen here.  All the songs work beautifully, from the uptempo titles to the slower, more thoughtful ones, in huge part because of the group's (I'm repeating myself) ridiculously good harmonizing.  Did I mention these guys are ridiculously good?

Several of the tracks have a 1960/1961 pop sound, which may give us some clue as to when this was made.  A further clue is 1964's They Tore the Old Country Church Down, which I think would have had a more graceful sound as They Tore Down the Old Country Church--but then, "down" is easier to rhyme than "church."  The song gets no writer credit on the album, but I found it in one of the New Songs of Inspiration volumes:

Those are shape (aka, shaped) notes, which I find hard to read, having been raised on round noteheads.

Anyway, my guess (going by a matrix number close to this LP's) is 1966.  It's a Columbia Record Productions pressing, XSBV 11137, and I think the four letters indicate a Nashville pressing.  Anyway, mid-1960s, even if the track Worry Who I? sounds like 1958 doo wop.

Recorded at Delta Recording Center, Ft. Worth TX, which was also the address of the group (Ft. Worth, that is--not the Delta Recording Center).  This label, Skylite, was headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.  I hope this is all perfectly clear.

Anyway, great LP, and I just looked up Gloria and William Gaither's Because He Lives, on the suspicion that 2nd tenor Billy Hamm's Because He Loves Me was inspired by same.  However, if anything, it's the other way around, as the Gaither song didn't appear until 1971.  My apologies to Billy Hamm for thinking he might have written his number with the far more famous Gaither song in mind...

Oh, and nice to have a George Beverly Shea number in the mix (Shea wrote his share of sacred songs): The Wonder of It All.  

The excellent musicians (accompanists) on this LP include Grammy-winning Lari Goss.  And we have an Elvis connection by way of Worry Who I? (possible variation on "What, Me Worry?"), whose composer, Joe Moscheo, was a member of the Imperials when that group was performing with The King.  Several composed-for-the-occasion songs in our list today, and such numbers are often throwaways, but not in this case--they fit beautifully into the playlist scheme.

To the gospel...

DOWNLOAD: Colorful Requests--Bob Wills and Inspirationals

Didn't It Rain
Turn to Jesus
If I Pray
If God Ruled Your Heart
The Wonder of It All (Shea)
He's Not Disappointed in Me Anymore
They Tore the Old Country Church Down (J.C. Fralix)
Love Like the Sun
Worry Who I?
Because He Loved Me (B. Hamm)
You Can Count on Me
You Just Don't Know What Lonesome Is

Colorful Requests--Bob Wills and the Inspirationals (Skylite SSLP 6042; about 1966?)

Lee