What makes the goal of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project so challenging? Consider Revival Records.
Ecorse, Michigan. Late 60s. Felton Williams, an electrician, builds a recording studio in a basement. From 1967 to 1981 Double U Sound records and commits to vinyl sermons and church services, gospel, garage, punk, soul, jazz, and funk and issues them on the Solid Rock, Cass, Compose, and Revival labels.
Double U Sound goes bust. Nothing much happens to anything they recorded.
It it weren’t for Numero Group, a Chicago-based label that has released some tracks recorded at Double U Sound, the music might have languished. And if you give even the most cursory listen to the snippets on their web site, you’ll know that would have been a crying shame.
So Revival found its savior. But who knows how many other similarly small and obscure labels are out there and what musical gems they captured? Robert Darden and the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project are trying to find that out and make sure the music is properly preserved for posterity. These recordings are a piece of American history and deserve nothing less.
==
Image courtesy of Robert Marovich, a black gospel music historian, collector, and dj. Robert’s blog is a must for any serious gospel music fan.
Numero Group has a nifty blog, too. Check it out.