The Collection

You may have become aware of the increase in interest in American Black Gospel from the various television programmes that are making much of the influence the music had on R&B, Soul and even Rock ‘n’ Roll. In fact, both Ray Charles and Sam Cooke both featured in the first two BBC Television Soul Music series and much was made of the influence of Gospel music on both of them. In fact the early Ray Charles songs came directly from the genre and it was at great risk to his career that Sam Cooke confessed live on television that far from being a new artist, by the time he was having hits on the white charts and was adored by a white audience, he was in fact a very well established Gospel star. This album showcases Gospel music in the 40s and early 50’s and features one of the great quartets of them all…. The Bells of Joy. The group enjoyed great standing on the Gospel circuits of America but without the commercial success of some of their contemporaries, indeed it was not until 1980s and a reissue of this material in Japan that they became acknowledged as one of the most exciting Gospel groups of all time. Once again, this is a CD first from Acrobat because the final eight tracks on the package have only previously been issued on their debut on vinyl in Japan. The booklet is fully illustrated and annotated by vintage Gospel expert, Opal Louis Nations.