June has been designated as Black Music Month.  What better way to celebrate the music than to take a look at a project that delivers some of the best video clips from the early days of gospel music, How Sweet It Was - The Sights And Sounds Of Gospel's Golden Age.

When we received the MultiPac, How Sweet It Was, the DVD was immediately placed in the player.  That started an afternoon of being mesmerized by some of the finest music from the Golden Age of gospel music.  The MultiPac comes with a 32 page encyclopedia (described as a booklet).  We chose to watch the DVD before reading the encyclopedia. 

So, it was an afternoon of hitting the reverse button on the remote, with comments like –

“Wait a minute is that Charles Johnson with the Nightingales?”  “That’s James Davis, Beachy Thompson, and Williams Bobo.”  “Jimmy Outler singing lead – wow.”  “The Raymond Rasberry Singers – play that again!”  Hold up – that’s Clarence Fountain, George Scott and Johnny Fields.”  Notice that although many of those mentioned have transitioned to the other shore, they were being mentioned in the present tense.   

The project really brings the performers ‘to life’ in a manner that is rare for vintage recordings.  Yes, there are clips abound on YouTube and other video sites online, but they cannot compete with How Sweet It Was.  

There are 27 performances on the DVD.  Among them are The Consolers (The Grace of God), Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air), Brother Joe May (Must Jesus Bare The Cross Alone), Inez Andrews and The Andrewettes (Let The Church Roll On), and Professor Alex Bradford (I’ve Been Dipped In The Water - What You Gonna Do).   

The CD contains 26 songs.  None of the songs from the CD are repeated on the DVD.  On the CD there are artists like Sam McCray and The Fairfield Four (No Room At The Inn), Mahalia Jackson (Medley: Going On With The Spirit/Didn’t It Rain), Reverend Robert Ballinger and The Gospel Chimes (John Saw), The Georgia Peach and Lois Russell (I’m Waiting For Jesus), and Imogene Green And The Famous Davis Sisters (Stand By Me).   

There is even the very rare duet with Dorothy Love Coates And The Original Gospel Harmoneettes and Claude Jeter and The Swan Silvertones singing "Coming Home."  Ms. Coates and the Harmonettes really work this song, with their signature yell, shoals and screams.  Then for the last 2 minutes of the song Reverend Jeter, with vocals in the stratosphere, and the Swans’ awesome woos in the background, brings the song home.     

If you have an interest in the history of quartet gospel, this project is for you.  If you have never seen (with clarity) many of the groups and singers from the Golden Age of Gospel Music, this project is for you.  And, if you just want to appreciate some of the best gospel singing ever, then this project is definitely for you. 

And by the way, we mentioned the booklet that accompanies the MultiPac.  The 32 page historical lesson by Anthony Heilbut, a gospel music historian, serves to elevate your listening and viewing pleasure of the entire MultiPac. 

There are numerous compilation projects about the Golden Era of gospel music.  But, none that we have seen that matches the depth of talent and raw performances represented by How Sweet It Was.  

We How Sweet It Was a 10 out of 10.  To order your copy of the DVD click HERE.