Chicago Group Revolutionized Gospel
“Since the early ’50s, the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers have used their hard, rockin’ gospel music as a powerful means of testifying their faith, love, and charitable hope that humanity will find a way to bring itself closer to the kingdom of heaven,” Sandra Brennan writes on Allmusic.
Over its long history, the group has undergone numerous personnel changes. The first incarnation originated in the 1940s on the Mississippi Delta by Elgie and Theopholis Graham, but the most famous version of the Pilgrim Jubilees began in Chicago, 1952, when younger Graham brothers Clay and Cleve resurrected the group. Since then, these two have remained the group’s spiritual and musical core.
While growing up in Mississippi, all four Graham brothers were trained to sing. It was Theopholis who left the first group to live in Chicago; the rest of his brothers followed in 1951, and all four briefly sang in the group. the Pilgrim Jubilees toured quite a bit (when not working their day jobs, which for the Graham brothers meant working in their separate barber shops), and this proved too much for the older brothers, who gradually dropped out.
Shortly thereafter, Clay and Cleve invited baritone Major Roberson and lead singer Percy Clark (both from Mississippi) to join. They also took on guitarist Richard Crume and bassist Roosevelt English, and began recording; through the 1950s, they released sides and albums for assorted labels, including Peacock, Chance, and Nashboro.
Soon after signing to Peacock in 1960, the band gained national exposure with their label debut, “Stretch Out.” Its success allowed the Pilgrim Jubilees to finally go professional. Crume eventually left the group to join the Soul Stirrers, but the other three have remained together and carried on into the ’90s.
The Jubilees come to our attention this week because pannellctp has just uploaded a batch of their awesome songs recorded live in Chicago in 1979 to YouTube. Let’s take a listen.
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He Went That Way
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Hand In Hand
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My God Is A Good God
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The Old Ship Of Zion
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I’ve Got Jesus
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Stretch Out
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About pannellctp:
“Traditional Gospel Music channel dedicated to my loving Mother who passed away 2 August 2013, to my baby sister, Alice Marie Bruce, who went home to be with her Lord on 02/20/2011 and my elder sister, Ruth Ann Taltoan, who went home on 11/11/1990. I wish to thank my brother, Rev/Dr. Richard W. Pannell for his spiritual and financial support in maintaining this channel.”
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Alan Young, The Pilgrim Jubilees:
“In 1960, four young men went into a Chicago recording studio and revolutionized the sound of African American gospel music.
“When they made that groundbreaking recording, the Pilgrim Jubilees had been singing together for more than 10 years. Today they are still singing, and they are still at the forefront of gospel music.
“The Pilgrim Jubilees is their story, told in their words. From their beginnings in rural Houston, Mississippi, through the good times and the hard times of more than half a century traveling the ‘gospel highway’ they have played a pivotal role in shaping an entire musical genre. Today, based in Chicago, they stand as senior statesmen of gospel music.
“The Pilgrim Jubilees know the pitfalls and hardships of their calling. They tell of arriving in a distant town so short of money they can’t afford to refuel the car, then discovering their concert has been canceled. They recall singing their hearts out, then finding that the promoter has absconded with the money. They remember the days when racism meant that even a gospel singer could land in jail simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And they recount the joys of the gospel life – the elation of having a record at the top of the charts, the companionship within the group and with the people to whom they sing, and above all, the drive to keep spreading the Christian message that has sustained them through the hundreds of thousands of miles they have traveled.”
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Comments welcome.
Posted on October 22, 2013