When you hear the name – The Jackson Southernaires, you immediately think of a group that is a legend.  You also think of the Late Frank Williams.  And, one certainly cannot forget the Late Roger Bryant.  And of course there are the retired members of the group, like Luther Jennings and Rev. Charles Polk.  When the history of gospel quartet music is actually written, it will be clear that The Jackson Southernaires represented one of the cornerstones for the period of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and the beginning of the twenty-first century.  It is fitting that a group so rich in gospel music history would give us a video that is full of their history. 

The Jackson Southernaires’ new recording is titled “Reality.”  This is probably one of the best projects by this group in recent times.  That does not mean their recordings from the 90’s were not good.  To the contrary, it just means that this is a very good project.  Along with the CD, the Southernaires did a video that contains four of the songs from the CD.    

If you are interested in the history of The Jackson Southernaires, this video is for you.  This history video by The Jackson Southernaires actually takes place in the studio as the group records songs from the project Reality.  Not only are their great interviews with the current group members, there is also an interview with Rev. Polk.  Also, the group family members are in the studio.  They help give the studio sessions the feeling of a live recording.  In addition, there are interviews with the family members.  You will really learn a lot about the group from this video.

Since this is a video of the studio sessions, there is no slick production.  Just great signing and a great look behind the scene, such as it is, of the recordings.  There are many close-up of the group members and the musicians that make up the sessions.  By the way, the current lineup of group members are Huey Williams, Maurice Surrell, Sr., James Burks and Larry Brown.  However, Mr. Brown does not appear in the video. 

One of the most extraordinary aspects to this video is how the group has incorporated pictures from their past.  In fact, you get a great pictorial history of the group.  History buffs will reminisce over the wardrobe and hairstyles.  What a fashion show.  Many of the group’s album cover photos make it into this video, including the Prince Dixon With The Jackson Southernaires’ album photo.

The songs on this video are “Keeping It Real,” “Reality,” “Hard To Get Along,” and “All I Need.”  The Southenaires are at the best on each song.

Although the video is only a about 32 minutes in length, it is definitely worth having in your collection.  We give the video The Jackson Southernaires' "Reality" a 9.5 out of 10.  Click on the picture above to view a clip from the video.***  To purchase your copy of the video click here. 

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***The quality of the clip IS NOT indicative of the quality of the video.  Often, resolution in the picture quality is lost during placement of the clip on the Internet.  In addition, the type of computer you are using to access the Internet and the video player you are using may drastically impact the quality of the clip.