go on at a steady pace (My Sisters & Brothers - Sensational Nightingales)
Posting the Sensational Nightingales's version of "My Sisters and Brothers" on social media gave me an idea for #covid19quarantine. Fire off a post every now and then to talk about the music I love. So, let me expand on the Sensational Nightingales.
I was reluctant to get into the Grateful Dead, I didn't have any high school or college friends who liked them; what I had been exposed to - mostly American Beauty - didn't really tickle my fancy. In 1989, I started working with a Deadhead and was quickly folded into her musical family. I thought it was crazy that they traveled all over the place and for months on end to go see the Dead and Jerry Garcia Band shows. I was still content to wait for a band to come to me, which, in 1989/90, in Nashville, was no big thing. Everybody came through Nashville, except the Dead. I was still very blues-focused, and nothing compared to the Allman Brothers Band when you were talking jamming blues-based guitar. At this same time, The Dead started a massive push into reissues. One of the first that made me sit up and take notice was Jerry Garcia Band, a 2CD live set from Jerry's primary side project. I was really intrigued because there was only one song written by Garcia and it was stuck in the middle of a bunch Motown, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley, etc. I was curious and once I popped it in my CD player I was enthralled. The band was so soulful; the organ player and background singers were churchy, the rhythm section was super tight, funky, and free. Then there was Garcia! He was lighting it up on the guitar, and his singing was tender and fun and deep. I mean, he was digging deep into those songs and pulling out everything the songs needed. I could go on and on about this album but "My Sisters and Brothers" was a song I'd never heard and it grabbed me. His version was heavy on organ and long, which impressed me. It was patient. Jerry and his band were taking their time getting to the point. And the lyrics were so hopeful. It was a call to arms:
The Sensational Nightingales are one of those gospel combos, like Blind Boys of Alabama or Dixie Hummingbirds, where members change through the eras but the name and vibe stay in place. This group has been around since the 40s, has gone through changes and has had various levels of success. "My Sisters and Brothers" is the lead song on their 1974 album by the same name and honestly, it's one of the weaker songs on the record. It doesn't share the same fire or groove as many of the other songs on the record and, in my opinion, Jerry Band did it better. Charles Johnson is the lead voice on the song and it is a great voice but the energy is low. The tones are very light; brittle guitar tone, calliope settings dialed in on the organ. It's missing that bass & organ groove that you hear on most of the other songs. The harmonies are tight but tired. I can't say what happened on this track because the rest of the album is inspired.
Jerry Garcia heard something in this song and he was able to consistently take it to the next level. I thank Jerry for introducing me to the Nightingales but I'm gonna stick with his versions of this song.
I was reluctant to get into the Grateful Dead, I didn't have any high school or college friends who liked them; what I had been exposed to - mostly American Beauty - didn't really tickle my fancy. In 1989, I started working with a Deadhead and was quickly folded into her musical family. I thought it was crazy that they traveled all over the place and for months on end to go see the Dead and Jerry Garcia Band shows. I was still content to wait for a band to come to me, which, in 1989/90, in Nashville, was no big thing. Everybody came through Nashville, except the Dead. I was still very blues-focused, and nothing compared to the Allman Brothers Band when you were talking jamming blues-based guitar. At this same time, The Dead started a massive push into reissues. One of the first that made me sit up and take notice was Jerry Garcia Band, a 2CD live set from Jerry's primary side project. I was really intrigued because there was only one song written by Garcia and it was stuck in the middle of a bunch Motown, Bob Dylan, and Bob Marley, etc. I was curious and once I popped it in my CD player I was enthralled. The band was so soulful; the organ player and background singers were churchy, the rhythm section was super tight, funky, and free. Then there was Garcia! He was lighting it up on the guitar, and his singing was tender and fun and deep. I mean, he was digging deep into those songs and pulling out everything the songs needed. I could go on and on about this album but "My Sisters and Brothers" was a song I'd never heard and it grabbed me. His version was heavy on organ and long, which impressed me. It was patient. Jerry and his band were taking their time getting to the point. And the lyrics were so hopeful. It was a call to arms:
I wanna say to my sisters and my brothersI knew if Garcia's version was this good then the original gospel version had to be super hot. So, I started my search. I'm not the kind of record collector who hunts, I keep a list and I check the list when shop. This song required quite a bit of research because I didn't know gospel the way I knew blues. The song was attributed to one of the most recent singers of the Sensational Nightingales, Charles Johnson, but I couldn't find the record. This was before the internet meant anything as far as source material, so I was satisfied with the info I had. About 10 years ago, I found an album with the song but I didn't have a working turntable so I had no idea if that was the right song. Just a couple of months ago I set up a newly inherited stereo system (a-whole-nother story) and this was one of the first records I pulled out of my stash.
Keep the faith
When the storm flies and the wind blows
Go on at a steady pace
The Sensational Nightingales are one of those gospel combos, like Blind Boys of Alabama or Dixie Hummingbirds, where members change through the eras but the name and vibe stay in place. This group has been around since the 40s, has gone through changes and has had various levels of success. "My Sisters and Brothers" is the lead song on their 1974 album by the same name and honestly, it's one of the weaker songs on the record. It doesn't share the same fire or groove as many of the other songs on the record and, in my opinion, Jerry Band did it better. Charles Johnson is the lead voice on the song and it is a great voice but the energy is low. The tones are very light; brittle guitar tone, calliope settings dialed in on the organ. It's missing that bass & organ groove that you hear on most of the other songs. The harmonies are tight but tired. I can't say what happened on this track because the rest of the album is inspired.
Jerry Garcia heard something in this song and he was able to consistently take it to the next level. I thank Jerry for introducing me to the Nightingales but I'm gonna stick with his versions of this song.
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