Description
Motown Unreleased 1962: Gospel is a multi-artist digital-only compilation released by Motown Records in 2012, a division of UMG Recordings.
Motown Records wasn’t unusual in being an R&B record label with a soul gospel division to take advantage both the secular and sacred music preferences of its African-American core demographic. But, before the changing over of management and ownership hands however many times that has led to the current Motown Gospel operation under the Capitol/Universal umbrella, the Divinity imprint among Berry Gordy, Jr.’s Hitsville U.S.A. empire lasted only a brief while in the early ’60s.
A couple of Divinity’s acts released an album each on Motown’s Tamla division – onetime home to Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, among others – but there was still apparently gospel aplenty that went unheard by the public. Until a few years ago, that is, when the 26 selections comprising Motown Unreleased 1962: Gospel saw the light of day, at least as a digital release without physical counterparts. The compilation’s existence only came to my attention when a track from it was played earlier this year on a radio show that should be on every soul gospel lover’s radar, Sinner’s Crossroads on Jersey City, NJ’s WFMU-FM.
The difference between any other R&B specialist label and Motown was Gordy’s conscious aim to not cater primarily to Black listeners and work at pop crossover selectively or haphazardly. If “The Sound of Young America,” without ethnic distinction, wasn’t already used as a Motown marketing slogan at the time of recording of this material, it soon would be. Did the same Detroit savvy employed to reshape popular music extend to Motown’s offerings deriving from the church?
Sometimes, at least, it sounds like it did. As with many of the operation’s early general market stars, its gospel talent was largely or exclusively native to Motor City. The bluesy approach occasionally lent to The Burnadettes’ seems almost appropriate for a Saturday night at a juke joint as it is for Sunday morning jubilation. The Latin and jazzy undercurrents given to some of what’s heard here by the acts who would have their contracts transferred to Tamla upon Divinity’s dissolution, female vocal ensemble The Gospel Stars* and singing choir-director Rev. Columbus Mann (who is represented most on Unreleased with nine tracks), could pass for some of Curtis Mayfield’s production for soul crooners such as Major Lance, if a bit less fulsome than what The Impressions’ leader worked behind studio controls back then.
However, much of this collection is polished and purely gospel as what was emanating from the best of bigger contemporaneous African American sacred music specialist labels like Peacock. The male quartet closing out the album, the awesomely-named The Pronouns, should appeal to listeners who already have a liking for The Soul Stirrers after their heyday of Sam Cooke’s lead vocal tenure. Similarly, the other choral leader present, Rev. Chas Glover, isn’t far removed from James Cleveland’s conducting and singing from the same period. Still, there’s enough originality in both The Pronouns’ and Glover’s output to keep them from being categorized as entirely derivative.
Apparently, Motown Unreleased 1962: Gospel was only issued as a set of downloads to satisfy copyright law and keep the music from going into the public domain. If the current handlers of one of the world’s most famous record company names won’t allow all this godly goodness to see release on compact disc and/or LP, they would do well to allow another label to license the master recordings to produce the album in at least one physical format. Should that day never arrive, this is nonetheless an intriguing peek at a short-lived aspect of a nascent colossus that left some largely theologically sound, overwhelmingly effecting songs. [Jamie Lee Rake, The Phantom Tollbooth, March 2018]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/motown-unreleased-1962-gospel/585361950)
Album tracklist:
01. The Burnadettes – Don’t Give Up – 3:22
02. The Burnadettes – He Never Fails – 2:44
03. The Burnadettes – Power In the Blood – 2:30
04. The Burnadettes – Step On Out – 1:56
05. The Burnadettes – Wonderful Jesus – 3:17
06. The Burnadettes – Lord I’ll Never Turn Back – 4:15
07. Rev. Chas Glover – Waiting and Watching – 2:48
08. Rev. Chas Glover – Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand – 2:48
09. Rev. Chas Glover – Don’t Stay Away Sinner – 1:42
10. Rev. Chas Glover – Lord I’m Satisfied – 2:44
11. Rev. Chas Glover – Lord I Want To Be a Christian – 3:04
12. The Gospel Stars – Jesus Is His Name – 3:05
13. The Gospel Stars – Keep On – 1:45
14. The Gospel Stars – Deliver Me – 2:02
15. The Gospel Stars – He Will Bring Everything Out All Right – 4:07
16. Rev. Columbus Mann – One More Chance – 2:52
17. Rev. Columbus Mann – Shall I Meet You – 2:24
18. Rev. Columbus Mann – It Was Love That Lifted Me – 5:05
19. Rev. Columbus Mann – Talking About Jesus – 2:38
20. Rev. Columbus Mann – How Glad I Am – 3:58
21. Rev. Columbus Mann – Jesus the Sweetest Name – 2:51
22. Rev. Columbus Mann – Do You Know the Lord Like I Do – 2:36
23. Rev. Columbus Mann – Hallelujah To Jesus’ Name – 2:49
24. Rev. Columbus Mann – Wash Me Thoroughly – 4:21
25. The Pronouns – Redeemed – 2:47
26. The Pronouns – Sit Down and Rest a While – 2:36
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