Soul of the Church – TV Gospel Time for Everyone!

Soul of the Church
Hollywood Select Video/Infinity Entertainment Group (2010)

The early Sixties were a particularly tumultuous time for African Americans. Marches in cities such as Birmingham and Selma were met with fire hoses, snarling dogs and wooden clubs. Freedom riders, voter registration volunteers and peaceful protesters were knocked down by insanely rabid mobs that made the twentieth century seem like the middle ages. But every Sunday morning, one could put aside the troubles of the time by turning on the television and watching, via the local NBC affiliate, one half-hour of the biggest gospel artists of the era sing praises to encourage the weariest of souls.

Debuting in late 1962, a smidgen before “Jubilee Showcase” took to the airwaves, but running for only three years, “TV Gospel Time” blended local flavor with the era’s top gospel stars. Having disappeared for decades, with only a few bootleg copies of episodes floating about among intrepid collectors, “TV Gospel Time” – seven marvelous hours of it – is now available commercially on Soul of the Church, two DVDs of episodes culled from the original Kinescopes by Infinity Entertainment Group and Hollywood Select Video. The collection is a must-order for anyone who loves traditional gospel music or appreciates history.

“TV Gospel Time” differed from “Jubilee Showcase” in that instead of the same host every week, it turned MC duties over to a variety of gospel artists, such as Marie Knight, Archie Dennis, James Cleveland, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Georgia Louis (not all are included in this set, however). Also, rather than use only one studio, the program traveled from city to city to feature local choirs and groups without the expense of transporting them to headquarters, which the liner notes say was Chicago but it was always my understanding the show originated from the east coast.

What is especially significant about these episodes are that they include some of the only commercially available videos of all but forgotten singers, such as the baritone James Lowe and the Tears of Music of NYC, who appear on an early episode hosted by James Cleveland.

Other artists included in the two-DVD set include the Barrett Sisters with accompanist Roberta Martin, the Highway QCs, the Caravans, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and the Thompson Community Singers.

Interspersed among the episodes, produced by Howard Schwartz with music direction by Washington Temple COGIC’s Alfred Miller, are a dozen segments from “Mahalia Jackson Sings,” a short-lived program that in 1961 was among the earliest efforts to bring gospel music to a national audience. More vintage “Mahalia Jackson Sings” episodes are scheduled for release on DVD next week by Infinity Entertainment Group (TBGB will post a review of this set in a few days).

The Soul of the Church DVDs were made from Kinescopes, so the images are soggy and the music comes through in all of its lo-fi wonder. No matter. It’s a very small sacrifice to see so many gospel pioneers and legends performing during their prime and to have them be part of your video collection. That these episodes were saved at all is a miracle, and that they are now available commercially is a blessing.