A wonderful 1959 LP from the staff of HCJB, "The first Christian missionary station in the world" (Wikipedia). HCJB--Heralding Christ Jesus' Blessings--had its start in 1931, and its shortwave broadcasts were heard around the world until 2009, when it shut down that part of its operation. The station is still heard locally in Ecuador.
HCJB ("Voice of the Andes") had some outstanding musicians working for it, if this LP is any indication. I loved every minute of it, though some listeners may find the proceedings too much on the sedate side. I have no problem in that regard--the performances are great. A good amount of volume "normalizing" was necessary for these tracks, though I did my best to maintain a decent dynamic balance. The selections are well recorded, and the between-track artifacts (an inevitable part of such productions) were easily removed. As luck would have it, this is an RCA Victor custom pressing, which left no doubt, year-wise (1959). The K prefix in the RCA number tells us as much.
A number of first-rate standards grace the playlist: To God Be the Glory, He Lives, and Jesus Shall Reign among them. There are "newer" numbers, too, but so far my guesses have been off. For instance, No Sunset in God's Tomorrow and He Giveth More Grace had the ring of freshly-recorded titles, but both are from the 1940s. Unfortunately, the LP doesn't provide composer/author credits.
Virtuoso accordionist Dixie Dean amazes on Jesus Shall Reign, violinist Gene Jordan provides a memorable What a Friend, and the Heralders Male Quartet is nearly on a par with the Old Fashioned Revival Hour Quartet. Fine performances throughout. Another gift from Diane--Thanks, Diane!
Quito is Ecuador's capital. And I should note that nothing sounds South American here, despite the promise of the cover photo. Great stuff, nevertheless.
DOWNLOAD: Quito Calling (Zondervan Victory Recording ZLP-544; 1959)
To God Be the Glory--Ensemble
He Lives--Gene Jordan, Marimba
Satisfied--Men's Chorus
There Is a Green Hill Far Away--Dolores Van Der Puy, Soprano
Jesus Shall Reign--Dixie Dean, Accordion
Down in the Valley--Vern Van Hovel and Joe Springer
O Jesus, Jesus--Ensemble With Lois Hatt, Contralto
I Cannot Hide From God--Joe Springer, Bass
My Tongue Shall Praise Jehovah--Mixed Trio
He Giveth More Grace--Jeanne Odell, Contralto
I Will Sing the Mercies of God--The Heralders Male Quartet
What a Friend--Gene Jordan, Violin
Deeper and Deeper--Ensemble With Ruth Jordan
Thirty Pieces of Silver--Ruth and Jack Shalanko
No Sunset in God's Tomorrow--Vern Van Hovel, Tenor
Lee
7 comments:
Good stuff, Lee!
Hello Lee, thanks for all the great albums. Is there any chance to get them in a lossless format, like Flac for example? All the best, Peter
Ernie,
Thanks!
Peter,
For the moment, I'm sticking with mp3s.
Lee,
I know this is kinda out-of-order, since I haven't reviewed last week's album yet LOL, but thought I'd chime in here, anyway. I first heard HCJB, back in either late 1987 or early '88, after getting my first shortwave radio (or as I used to shorten it in those days, Shortwave), for Christmas of '87. Earlier that year, I was visiting relatives in the next county over and found a Mailbag program from WYFR, via a single-conversion radio. You know what I mean, where you can tune in between the stations and pick up shortwave from time to time? Anyway, I'm rambling, but w3hat's new there LOL! I enjoyed listening to them and other stations all the time, back in those days, even heard one from here in KY (I lived in NC then) LOL! On the album, most of these songs are unfamiliar to me and I must say, thought Thirty Pieces Of Silver was kinda an odd one for this playlist, 'til I heard it and it ain't the one I know, but stranger things have happened LOL! I remember an album that I have, somewhere, from a missionary station (reckon that's what it is), PJD2 (I believe that's the call sign), with a couple (husband and wife?), singing to a guitar, some studio cuts and live, too and one of those (both studio and live), was Satisfied Mind, the old Porter Wagoner crossover. What was the name of Buford Abner's group, The Swaney River Boys? Yeah, they cut it, too. WOW, I'm ramblin' good tonight LOL! Oh and back to the album, I believe Ernie has a Christmas one of these, on his blog. Thanks and I'll get back with ya on the other one, love and prayin' for ya!
Romans 11:33-36 KJB
Josh
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Wow, Lee, you uncovered a lot of info about this one! Glad I sent it your way. Always happy to provide obscurities for you to research, repair, and upload. So thanks to you, too.
Muito obrigado !!!
One of the two best albums I've found recently (and had the time to play all the way through)(Yes, miracles happen...) is very reminiscent of this one...)
Peruvian, in my case.
Lesson learned:
NO, it's not anything about old dawgs...
It's a never say never world. Pick up an "odd ball" when you next see one. There is always a chance you might love it. And no, I am not typing about your interesting forays in to online dating, kids...
More later. On my recent "Find"...
- Brian in Sunny So Cal
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