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The Swan Silvertones
is one of those gospel quartet groups that no longer exist, at least as an
active singing, traveling, and recording gospel quartet group. However,
the music of The Swan
Silvertones will live on
forever. There is a great deal of information on the Internet about
The Swan
Silvertones.
If you are a fan of gospel quartet
music, you know that
Reverend Claude Jeter
formed the group in 1938 in West Virginia. You also know that they were
initially named The Four
Harmony Kings. You also
know that the group changed its name to
The Silvertone Singers
after moving to Knoxville, Tennessee, because there was another group with the
name The Four Harmony
Kings. And you know
that Swan
was added to their name because Swan Bakeries was the sponsor of their weekly
radio show.
Their albums are collectors items and hard to find. People that own any of
The Swan Silvertones'
albums are very reluctant to part with them, and rightfully so. To own one or
more of The Swans' recording is to own some of the greatest gospel music ever
recorded.
From time to time, someone will issue a CD with recordings of the Swans. Many
can be found on the Internet. One of the best we have found is the CD released
by Calvin Records. According to the information contained in the liner notes,
this recording represents the Swans tenure with the HOB label. The CD is one in
the series issued by Calvin Records. Apparently, Calvin Records have acquired
the catalogue of the HOB label. They have issued CDs on
Pastor Shirley Caesar,
The Dixie Hummingbirds,
The Five Blind Boys of Alabama,
The Harmonizing Four,
Reverend James Cleveland
and others.
The CD that is the subject of this review is titled This Is Gospel - Happy
With
Jesus Alone. You may also find the same CD titled This Is
Gospel Volume 5.
According to the tracks listings there were to be 20 songs on the CD. However,
each copy that we have seen has 18 tracks. The tracks on the CD are "If
You Believe Your God Is Dead, Try Mine," "He's Sweet,
I Know," "Happy With Jesus Alone." "Jesus Made Me,"
"A Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King," " Marching On To Zion,"
"In My Heart," "I've Got Myself Together," "Tell
God," "He's All I Need," "Leaning On Jesus,"
"Lord Have Mercy," "Mary Don't You Weep," "He's
My Friend," "Til He Meets me," "No Secret,"
"The Fault's In You," and "Stand Up and Testify."
The two (2) tracks that are listed on the CD cover, but are not on the CD,
are "Amazing Grace" and "Breathe On Me."
In spite of the absence of two (2) tracks, this is a great CD. The re-mastering
of the CD is one of the best. You hear
The Swans like they sounded in their
early days.
The sound is crisp, very clear and phenomenal. Yet, none of the roughness that
you would expect if you played an album or 45 from the era is lost. In other
words, you could very easily be listening to the album or 45's from the sixties.
There is no way to single out any one or two songs from this CD. After all, this
is THE SWAN SILVERTONES
and you would expect nothing less than excellence from them. The message in each
song is spiritual, powerful and just as timely today as when originally
recorded.
The liner notes do not indicate the group members that are on this recording.
However, viewing written material on
The
Swans one can deduce that Reverend Claude Jeters, Louis Johnson, John H. Myles, Paul Owens and William Conner are the
primary members of the group on this CD.
If you ever wanted to add a recording from
The Swan Silvertones
to your
collection, this is the one. You will definitely find yourself playing this CD
over and over.
You may not be able to find this CD
in your local record store. You should be able to purchase it by clicking
on
Happy With Jesus Alone. We give
The Swan Silvertones'
This Is Gospel - Happy With Jesus Alone a 9.5
out of 10. Click on the title to hear “Stand
Up And Testify."
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