Light Records Gospel Legacy Series

Before the urban music explosion hit, Light Records, who first opened their doors in the late sixties, was the label home to orchestra leader Ralph Carmichael, The King Family, and The World Action Singers, all catering to an easy listening, inspirational audience. Then the Contemporary Christian music scene opened wide in the seventies with innovating singer/songwriter Carmen, Jamie Collins, and The Sweet Comfort Band. At about the same time, Andrae Crouch & the Disciples was lending one of many voices in black gospel music, along with Danniebelle Hall, and various members of the Hawkins family. As the eighties arrived, another famous gospel family, The Winans, along with Vickie Winans, and Commissioned continued the building blocks for Light Records to operate as a major force in the black gospel music community.

The Light Records Gospel Legacy Series celebrates these moments with the aforementioned, plus several vocal bands, including a quartet that has kept the gospel fires going since the late forties. Here’s a capsule of the compilation highlights:

Vickie Winans – It’s almost hard to fathom why this riveting alto voice was hesitant to step out in a solo platform after singing with her famous family. Vickie launched her recording career on Light Records in the mid-eighties, including the intense reading of We Shall Behold Him. Her career pinnacle came over a decade later on the Live In Detroit I & II series, pouring her heart out, the old-school church way with the Reverend James Cleveland classic, Long As I Got King Jesus, and a stirring reading of Bill & Gloria Gaither’s signature hymn, Because He Lives.

The Winans, comprised of brothers Ronald, Marvin, Carvin, and Michael, began at Light Records after being introduced to Andrae Crouch. This CD, blending smooth R&B grooves with worship, concentrates on their pre-Qwest Records moments, when they began expanding their musical territory with new jack swing and the like. The must hears are The Question Is, Bring Back The Days of Yea & Nay, and Restoration.