On my mp3 ID tags, or whatever they're called, I forgot to include the label's matrix numbers--7829 and 7830. I did, however, include the all-important RITE matrix number that's scratched into the "dead wax," which dates this at approximately 1962. There appears to have been any number of groups called "The Crusaders Quartet," and this is the Naked City. (Wait...) This particular Crusaders Quartet hails from Shipshewana, Indiana, and I bet you couldn't tell "Shipshewana" is an Indian word. The city had a population of 658 in 2010. It has an Amish and Mennonite museum. And a big flea market I want to be at, except it's too hot out today. Here, I mean. Probably there, too.
These guys being from Shipshewana, we might expect a conservative kind of sound. And we'd be correct. No accompaniment, even--a cappella all the way. And I love hearing traditional hymns sung in a more or less from-the-hymnal fashion, because in church everyone sings the melody in unison--women, in a female range, and the men, in a male range. "Unison" means "same note," and not "at the same time," as so many folks seem to think. Even if it's the same note an octave apart, it's still unison. That is, we don't get to hear four-part harmony in churches, unless there's a choir, and then they're singing someone's Gaither-style arrangement which the church had to pay a user's license to perform, when it could have simply sung from the hymnal for nothing. And amateur choirs love to tackle arrangements that only sound good when Nashville studio pros are singing them. One of the weirder features of human nature.
These guys are pretty good, and it's a nicely varied playlist. I've been wanting to put up more African-American gospel, but everything I have in that regard is either available on CD, or available in digital-download form, or both. However, please regard this quartet's fine version of I Shall Not Be Moved as my tribute to the great John Lewis.
Varied "close" harmony on these tracks, with no set pattern in terms of who does melody duties--sometimes it's the first tenor, sometimes the second. And one track starts with the bass singing the main part, only to have the baritone pick it up. And, for all of the different definitions of "close" harmony out there, I personally think "close" means just that--close. You've got four parts packed into the male tessitura, and so you have overlap. This is why Barbershop-type singing is typically notated in treble-and-bass-clef fashion, with the upper clef to be sung an octave lower. Of course, the "correct" way to do this is to put an "8" under the treble clef, to designate the octave drop. But old tunebooks and songbooks always took the quirkiest routes available, just to confound people of our era.
Sound quality is decent for a low-budget production--no too-early machine shut-offs or thumping sounds between tracks. It's always nice to not have to edit out such stuff. This is a thrift gift from Diane--thanks, Diane!--and she did a great cleaning job with her record-cleaning machine. The a cappella singing is either a welcome thing or a turn-off, depending on your ears' point of view--I find it refreshing, but you're not me. But, hey, I'm not you, either, so we're even.
No time to do my usual author/composer checking, save for two numbers--After and O Happy Day, on which the refrain has traditionally been credited to one Edward F. Rimbault, 1854. Text is from the 18th century. There are two other famous O/Oh, Happy Day numbers, but this is the one with the "How dry I am" melody. And reliable-sounding internet sources tell us that After has 1932 words and music by N.B. Vandall.
And remember--I'm just reporting history, not making it up. I had no part in any of the events documented here, save for sound-editing the waveform. Now, go ye to Go Ye. And how often do I get to say that?
DOWNLOAD: Crusaders Quartet--Go Ye (approx. 1962)
Lee