The MG Album Club - #45 - Mahalia Jackson - The World's Greatest Gospel Singer

[Old Uncle Toe]

1955. When Jazz was king. You couldn't have thrown me a worse year. Nothing against Jazz, it's just that I know nothing about the artists. Paging through hundreds of RYM listings of Jazz musicians didn't reveal any I was familiar with. Well, a few. But all of them that dense, unapproachable Jazz that leaves me trying to find a light switch in the dark room. A brief stop at Victor Borge offered an oasis, but not something I'd recommend to the group here. Doris Day, The Inkspots - good but not really remarkable. One of my favorite classical pieces, Má vlast, but I can't find it in Spotify. Les Paul and Mary Ford! Too much Mary, not enough Les. After pages and pages of albums, I went back to the start and figured I'd settle for a second-stringer.

And then God looked down and thought "That poor little lost sheep. I need to throw him a little light, a small star to follow" and up from the bottom of the window scrolled Mahalia Jackson's The World's Greatest Gospel Singer. And it was good.

Mahalia Jackson - The Worlds Greatest Gospel Singer



I just love the way she sings. IMO, you don't have to be Christian or like gospel music to enjoy that voice. She has power, control and you can hear the passion she has for these songs. Once again IMO, this is Aretha if she had stayed only singing in church. Allmusic.com rates it 4-1/2 stars, ending the review with "One of her best."

Spotify doesn't have the album. If you link over from Allmusic.com you get to some remaster which only has one or two of the tracks listed on RateYourMusic. I put together a playlist that has all but two of the songs. It'll have to do.

And I just realized, I'm offering a gospel album in the month of Christmas. That's purely a coincidence. (Well, maybe not to him.)

And I can't seem to embed this spotify link. The playlist is public. Please let me know if you can't get there.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jCyNZsEOKjEUKcApbr4iP

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

^
Glad to revisit this. I agree - I really don't listen to much gospel music, but turn to Mahalia not infrequently the same way I would turn to Ella Fitzgerald or Aretha. You said it - her voice, her control is just sooo good

 

[Ojai Sam]

This is a great pick, OUT. I looked for her in my cupboard but it's bare. Your playlist works fine for me.

Gotta do some investigating....

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Catching up on some of our album club noms - great choice, OUT. I don't listen to much gospel - when I go to Jazz Fest in New Orleans though, I always start my Sunday AM in the Gospel tent because of the power of the voices and the passion for the music. Mahalia was the best - what a voice. You're right - something there even for the non-fan. Thanks for the pick!

 

[Nickyboy]

I had hear of Mahalia Jackson, but had never heard her before (not knowingly, anyway), as gospel music isn't really a part of my listening world. But thanks for posting this one, because now I have heard her, and she has got some pipes! Not something I would necessarily spin once a month, but nice to know she is there when the spirit moves me.

 

[Ojai Sam]

View album 24
I tracked down a copy of the complete original album as part of a twofer and offer it here for your listening pleasure.

Wiki does a good job of summarizing Mahalia's stellar career. After she achieved success with her fiery recordings on the small Apollo label, Jackson migrated to Columbia Records when she landed a show on the related CBS Network. One would normally have expected a major label to water down her rootsy power, especially with Mitch Miller in charge of production. But The World's Greatest Gospel Singer, her first Columbia release, fairly bristles with tension and energy.

The liner notes tell us it was recorded in 1954 over the two nights before Thanksgiving. Backing Mahalia is the Falls-Jones Ensemble, consisting of Mildred Falls (piano), Ralph Jones (organ), Jack Lasberg (guitar), Frank Carroll (bass) and Bunny Shawker (drums). With a voice as big as hers, they wisely stay out of her way for the most part, but there's more than a little rock and roll in the thumping rockabilly bass on her version of "When The Saints Go Marching In". The unusual pairing of organ and piano liberates both keyboards from the stylistic restrictions that tend to make religious music so formulaic. With this record, Jackson seized the baton from Sister Rosetta Tharpe by updating the gospel tradition with the emotional freedom of 1950's R&B.

TOE, thanks again for bringing this essential album to light.

on the Sam-O-Meter.