Sunday afternoon gospel--on Monday: Sacred Shellac for May, 2025, 1906-1929

 

Gospel quartet gold, from 1905 to 1929 (including three selections from Columbia's "country" series).  And the years provided are not guaranteed to be correct, given that 1) DAHR's servers have been incredibly slow, even timing out more than once, and 2) due to online date disagreements.  For instance, The Columbia Mixed Quartette's Home of the Soul could be 1916, 1919, or 1921.  (I opted for 1916.)

This would have been ready to go yesterday (Sunday), but for some unknown reason, when I chose an image for this project/group, Mp3tag changed ALL of the recording years to 1929.  Why 1929, I have no idea, unless Mp3tag is anticipating another Wall Street crash...  At any rate, I've provided the (hopefully) real dates below, along with the labels and catalog numbers--two fields which I presently don't have on my VinylStudio software.  If I can manage to upgrade to VS "Pro," I should be able to add those fields to the track pages.

And a word about "quartets"--or, rather, a number of words.  At least in accordance with early-1900s usage, a "quartet" could be any group singing in four-part harmony, as with the already-mentioned Columbia Mixed Quartette (from 1916, 1919, or 1921).  "Quartets" can even, far as I know, include a fifth harmony voice, albeit for extra color--the harmonic texture isn't changed.

Most complicated of all, quartets can be sex-specific or mixed.  And a given arrangement (how the voices, or different parts, are ordered) can have the principal part (the melody) assigned to the soprano, to the tenor, to the baritone, or the bass.  And the voicings "shift" accordingly.  These are all examples of homophony, which can be simplified to "melody with accompaniment."  In homophonic four-part texture, whatever voice assumes the chief part will be supported by the other three (or four) voices.  I hope we're clear on that.

And I hear instances of a baritone melody line with a falsetto tenor assuming either the lead (melody) or top (second tenor) voice.  The effect is very nice, though for a classic "Barbershop" lineup, we need to turn to the Criterion, Haydn/Hayden, and Peerless quartets--Bass, baritone, first tenor (lead), second tenor.  The other quartets don't sound as Barbershop-y.  (-ish?)

DAHR (Discography of American Historical Recordings), a priceless reference which I hope isn't on the verge of crashing, is a bit less slow today, and so I was able to learn that my privately recorded Columbia His Eye Is on the Sparrow was waxed "between 1918 and 1924."  Helpful, no?  Whereas, if I use my Almost Complete 78 Record Dating Guide (II), the date would be approx. early 1923 (per the matrix number).  Maybe next round I can save time by listing all 78 recording years as "Anyone's best guess."

My 10" 1906 Hayden Quartet Glory Song (the huge 1900 gospel hit by Chas. H. Gabriel), is listed at DAHR as an 8" issue.  Same label number, and presumably the same performance.  Oh, and this was Gabriel's original manuscript for that once-very-famous number:

Gabriel was also the composer for the famous Brighten the Corner Where You Are and the above-mentioned Sparrow--the latter often mistaken for a Black spiritual, and probably because of its huge popularity in Black churches (and its association with Ethel Waters and Mahalia Jackson).  Harry K. Shields' custom recording gives us an idea of what it sounds like straight from the page.

Pictures From Life's Other Side (titles vary) was a late-19th-century Social Gospel number which became a sacred standard, starting with this 1926 Smith's Sacred Singers recording, a huge hit for its day.  Theirs was the first recording, I believe.  In 1951, it was again popularized by Hank Williams.  Other artists who have provided versions: Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Story, the Blue Sky Boys, Cowboy Copas, Bill Anderson, and George Jones.

The three non-quartet sides are the duets Jacob's Ladder, Life's Railway to Heaven, and The Harbor Bell.  And some of the quartet numbers go the old-time route of a solo tenor for the verse, with the full group arriving for the chorus.

The selections marked "a" and "b" were thus labeled to keep the idiot VinylStudio program from confusing the tracks.  (Actually, it's an amazing program, but with numerous glitches.)

DOWNLOAD: Sacred Shellac 5 5 25.zip

When the Roll is Called up Yonder--Hayden Quartet (Victor 16749; 1908)

Hold the Fort--The Chautauqua Preachers' Quartette (Columbia A1585; 1914)

The Wayside Cross--The Chautauqua Preachers' Quartette (Columbia A1585; 1914)
Life's Railway to Heaven--Charles Harrison--Clifford Cairns (Victor 18925; 1922)

Beautiful Isle of Somewhere--Columbia Stellar Quartette (Columbia A2048; 1916)

When the Mists Have Rolled Away--Trinity Choir with Orch. (Victor 17137; 1912)

Home of the Soul--Columbia Mixed Quartette (Columbia A2048; 1916)

The Harbor Bell--Charles Harrison--Clifford Cairns (Victor 18925; 1922)

Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan--Gid Tanner and His Skillet-Lickers With Riley Puckett (Columbia 15104-D; 1926)

The Light of the World Is Jesus--Whitney Brothers Quartet (Victor 16465; 1909)

Pictures From Life's Other Side--Smith's Sacred Singers (Columbia 15090-D; 1926)

Glory Song (O, That Will Be Glory)--Hayden Quartet with Orch. (Victor 4398; 1906)

Home of the Soul--Whitney Brothers Quartet (Victor 16372; 1909)

Will the Circle Be Unbroken--William McEwan, Organ Acc. (Columbia A1364, approx. 1912)

What a Glad Day--Wright Brothers Quartet (Columbia 15402-D; 1929)

The Home Over There--The Peerless Quartet (Victor 20669; 1926)

Jacob's Ladder--Frank and James McCravy (Okeh 45128; 1927)

Beautiful Isle of Somewhere--Henry Burr With Peerless Quartet (Victor 19883; 1926)

His Eye Is on the Sparrow--Harry K. Shields, Tenor Solo (Columbia Phonograph Co. 91396; 1918-1924)

Sweeter as the Years Go By--Criterion Quartet (Brunswick 5042; 1921)

Brighten the Corner Where You Are--Criterion Quartet (Brunswick 3296; 1926)

Lee