The Five Blind Boys

 Artist: The Five Blind Boys

LP: Can I Get a Witness

Song: "Shall We Come?"

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Song: "I'll Trust In God"

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Song: "Come Up the Back Door"

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I can only assume that, after losing their first five copies of this terrific gospel record by The Five Blind Boys of Alabama to theft by sticky-fingered staff and students, the folks at Tufts University Radio (WTUR) were forced to take extraordinary security measures regarding their WTUR-property-labeling protocols upon acquiring this subsequent copy of the record.

 

The Five Blind Boys of Alabama (not to be confused with the five blind gospel-singing boys from the state next door) released more than one LP under the "Can I Get a Witness" title. According to Discogs, the one I've posted above is from 1969. The other is from 1965 and then there's yet another one from 1970 that has the same tree-and-clouds cover as the one from 1965:

 

According to the Discogs listing, my Buddah Records release of the LP with the farming cover is a 1969 reissue of the 1965 release on Vee-Jay Records that features the tree-and-clouds cover. (The track list titles are slightly different, but they seem like they might still be the same songs.) And then the 1970 release, with the tree-and-clouds cover again, on Exodus Records has the same track list as the 1965 listing, but for some reason Discogs doesn't list that one as a re-issue of the earlier releases. (Discogs also says there's yet another re-issue with the tree-and-clouds cover on Trip Records, release date unknown.) So it seems there are at least three LPs released by The Five Blind Boys of Alabama on three different labels over the span of five years, all with this same title. I suppose this points to the difficulty of securing a witness when nobody in the group is able to see. 

 

Speaking of dates unknown, the group photo below may or may not include actual members of The Five Blind Boys of Alabama at around the time this LP was recorded. But based on hairstyles, I'd say there's a good chance the photo was taken sometime between the years 1965 and 1970.

 

[ The Five Blind Boys of Alabama ]

The Dixie Hummingbirds

Artist: The Dixie Hummingbirds

LP: The Best of The Dixie Hummingbirds

Song: "Our Prayer For Peace"

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Song: "Christian Automobile"

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I have nothing but unstained praise for this 1967 "Best Of" compilation from The Dixie Hummingbirds, who have been together, with various lineup changes, since forming in South Carolina in 1928. (I think I've found the group photo—included below—that was used to create the six Hummingbird portraits on the cover of the LP!) 

We sure could use a prayer for peace right about now, eh? "It's a sin to hate your brother because of the color of his skin." (This includes orange.) It's a drag that we even have to make this point still in the year 2020...and I guess I'd throw in "because of the color of his state" too, in a brand new verse for our current times.

 

[ The Dixie Hummingbirds ]

Edna Gallmon Cooke

Artist: Edna Gallmon Cooke

LP: Stop Gambler
Song: "Leaking In This Building"
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Song: "Stop Gambler"

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Song: "The Lord Still Answers Prayer"

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Here's an old gospel record in bad condition that I picked up at a shop in Mobile, Alabama back in 2014. Born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1918, Edna Gallmon Cooke attended school in Washington, DC and became known as the "Sweetheart of the Potomac" as she toured the USA. But according to the "Stop Gambler" LP liner notes, Edna G. Cooke's musical career as both a recording artist and a public performer didn't really take off until after her first waxing.

 [ Edna Gallmon Cooke: 1918 — September 4, 1967 ]

Clarence Fountain

Artist: Clarence Fountain

LP: Soul, Spirit and Song
Song: "Oh! Happy Day"

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Song: "Sending Up My Timber"

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I figured some good old fashioned gospel music would make a nice tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. on this special day. What I didn't realize until doing a little research just now is that Clarence Fountain was one of the original founding members of The Blind Boys of Alabama, the famous gospel group that actually performed at benefits for Rev. King during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. 

This 1974 LP is one that Fountain released during his ten-year hiatus from The Blind Boys, when he decided to try his hand at a solo career. His solo work sounds pretty terrific to me (that voice! And he makes particularly nice use of the electric organ as accompaniment), but in the late 1970s Clarence went back to perform with the group he'd founded. When Fountain passed away last June at the age of 88, he left Jimmy Carter as the only remaining founding member of The Blind Boys of Alabama; Jimmy still performs with the group today. Happy Martin Luther, King Jr. Day!

[ Clarence Fountain: November 28, 1929 — June 3, 2018 ]

Brock Peters

Artist: Brock Peters

LP: Sing'a Man

Song: "Venezuela"
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Song: "Down By the Riverside"
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Along with a pair of early '50s Peggy Lee albums in mint condition, this brilliant and beautiful 1959 Brock Peters LP is one of the things I paid cold hard cash ($3) to remove from Doug's Used Records in Yakima last weekend. Born in New York City in 1927, Brock played violin and studied classical voice—as well as physical education and psychology—before going on to stardom on both stage (Porgy and Bess; Anna Lucasta; Body Beautiful) and screen (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD; STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME). He also evidently recorded a few LPs. You can read more about Brock here, and in the liner notes written by Sidney Poitier and DeDe Daniels (who I'm not able to find any info about—unless she's gone on to become a professional yoga and fitness instructor in the L.A. area), included below.

[ Brock Peters: July 2, 1927 — August 23, 2005 ]

The Mariners

Artist: The Mariners

LP: Ship Ahoy

Song: "Keep Walkin'"
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Song: "In My Home Over There"
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Today my city sued President Trump. Seems Donald wants to withhold $$ from us unless we all join up with his Nazi witch-hunt for undocumented immigrants. It's almost kinda' cute how he thinks the USA is a corporation he bought and we're all employees that he can do with whatever he wants.

As a tribute to Seattle, I'm posting a few tracks by our city's baseball team, who also just happen to sing gospel music! Who knew! Wait. Can a "gospel quartet" have five people in it? Whatever. I'm definitely a Mariners fan—especially since they stuck a drawing of a fancy mustache on the back of their album. For lots of information and plenty of confusion about who sang bass in the group, read the comments here. 

I'm posting "In My Home Over There" as a tribute to immigrants and refugees, including the undocumented ones, who have come to the USA to find a better life for themselves and for their families. "Keep Walkin'" is a little bit of a tribute, but mostly it's to all the Christians aligned with Trump's pledge to "Make America Great Again," a musical reminder that they're not supposed to be treating people like shit.

[ The Mariners ]

Teen Challenge Addicts Choir

Artist: Teen Challenge Addicts Choir

LP: Teen Challenge Addicts Choir

Song: "The Addict's Plea" (soloist: Andrae Crouch)
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Song: "He Included Me" (soloist: Laura Lee Myers)
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Song: "I Cannot Tell It All" (featuring: Gordon Woods & Gale Stalhman)
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Song: "Psalms 40"
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It's mystifying that executives at Word Records, "The Finest Name In Sacred Music," would have given the go-ahead for the release of an LP that features a graphic depiction of somebody (with a tattoo, naturally) actually shooting up on the front cover. But voilà! Imagine what they'd stick on the front of their LP by the Teen Challenge Sex Addicts Choir. 

Produced by gospel legend Andrae Crouch and released in 1968, this record includes notes and artwork that confirm once and for all that yes, all drug addicts do indeed carry a switchblade—even Laura Myers, the young housewife who became addicted to prescription pills. Thank God she exchanged her switchblade for a chance to go solo on the lovely-ish "He Included Me."

Odetta

Artist: Odetta

LP: Christmas Spirituals

Song: "Virgin Mary Had One Son"
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Song: "Poor Little Jesus"
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When I traded in three bags of LPs at Everyday Music on Capitol Hill a few weeks ago, this 1960 Odetta Christmas Spirituals record is one of the things I got in trade. Martin Luther King, Jr. called Odetta the queen of American folk music; when Bob Dylan first heard her sing, he immediately traded in his electric guitar for an acoustic one; Rosa Parks was one of Odetta's biggest fans. And I like her too.

[ Odetta: December 31, 1930 — December 2, 2008 ]