In the last couple of days I’ve worked on the Checker albums I have by the Soul Stirrers. They are now digitized and available for purchase, either as physical albums (CD-r’s) or as downloads. The complete set of four CD-r’s is temporarily available for €30 (usually €50). A complete set of downloads is temporarily available for €20 (usually €30). These offers can not be combined with other discounts. For more order details, see CD-r’s, under For Sale.
Here’s what it’s all about:
- Resting Easy (Checker 10021, 1967)
- The Gospel Truth (Checker 10027, 1967)
- The Golden Gospel (Checker 10038, 1968) w. the Harold Smith Majestic Choir)
- Soul’s In… But Gospel’s Out Of Sight (Checker 10056, 1969)
The Soul Stirrers were most famous as the group of R.H. Harris, Johnny Taylor and others and especially as the group of Sam Cooke. The group’s Specialty recordings are among the best from the golden age of gospel. Sam Cooke left the Soul Stirrers in 1957 to pursue a secular solo career, and died in 1964, prior to the Checker years (1965-1975), but his influence can still be heard. From the original group only J.J. Farley remains. Other members include Willie Rogers, Arthur Crume and Martin Jacox. Their sound heavily leaned against soul music of the late 1960’s, and the group appeared to be well aware of the need to do so, in order to maintain their success. However, I don’t know how successful they actually were in these years, probably less than what they hoped for, but still good enough to keep their recording contract with Checker. LP 10056 addressed the issue of gospel against soul music, aptly titled Soul’s In… But Gospel’s Out Of Sight. The back cover even states: as they [the Soul Stirrers] put the Soul in and sing Gospel out of sight. Due to the Harold Smith Majestic Choir and maybe because of the title, The Golden Gospel is the closest to gospel of these four albums, but all can be filed under gospel soul.
