Hymn Time Music Blog

Today's selection is a true rarity. It may end up being the rarest album I share on this blog. This comes from my father's collection of tapes. To the best of my knowledge, this is a demo for an unsigned band from Minnesota. The tape below is all I have on this record (along with a hand written insert in the cassette case with the song titles.) No year, no band members, but I was told this was a band that features Lyndon Finney, who also was featured on the ABI Quartet tape I shared in the last blog post. So that puts this album likely somewhere in the late 80's or the early 90's. I just don't know if it predates Lyndon's work on the ABI Quartet or comes after.

(So, for those keeping track, that makes this tape three degrees of separation from David Huff. Lyondon Finney was in the ABI Quartet with Scott Hackler. Scott Hackler is the brother of Aaron Hackler, who is in The Upper Room Experience. Many of The Upper Room Experience albums have been produced by David Huff.)

This tape also features a song written by David Huff, "I'm A Fanatic."

And, because the only copy I have of this is the tape pictured below, I designed the cover used for this blog post. I hope you enjoy.

To the best of my knowledge, this album never made it to a label and never saw an official release. Which is a bit of a shame. This isn't revolutionary music, by any means. Unearthing this lost tape isn't likely to bring fame and fortune to the members of this group. If I were to guess, this probably won't get downloaded too many times because it's not an album by anybody really well known in Pentecostal music. But this is a good tape all the same. I've certainly heard worse in gospel music. This is a "easy kind of feeling" music with some southern gospel touches. It's good for a road trip compilation or for an afternoon prayer session.

Enjoy the album HERE!

After spending some time in the 80's and 90's, I am going back to the roots of United Pentecostal music with this marvelous gem from the 1950s.

Honestly, I am not sure when or where I got this album. This was one of the earliest records I found when I was thinking about starting this blog. (And this blog has been in the planning stages for quite some time.)

While tihs copy is in fairly clean condition, but it's a bit scratchy. Still, it's in remarkable condition for a record that is nearly sixty years old.

Some of the information for the people involved is a bit of a challenge to find (and authenticate that they match the people on this record) today on the Internet due to the last names being used on many listings. Yet, it's not impossible. For example, we have samples of the ministry of G.H. Hill and also Larry Hill and his wife on this record.

G.H. Hill pastored the Nettleton Pentecostal Church for 50 years in Nettleton, MS. He retired in 1995.

In 1997, John Armistead of the Daily Journal of Tupelo, MS wrote

When he retired two years ago, the Rev. G. H. Hill had served as pastor of one church, the Nettleton Pentecostal Church, for 50 years. Now 84, Hill is curently pastor emeritus of the church.

“I’ve married as high as three generations,” Hill said. “It was all a blessing. A great blessing.”

Hill began preaching at 15, and for two years of his seven-decade ministry traveled with his pastor doing revivals. “Back then Pentecostals didn’t have too many churches. We just gathered the people where we could.” Before long, Hill was conducting revivals on his own.

In between meetings, he often returned to his home church in Bethel Springs, Tenn. On one such occasion, a woman preacher was conducting a revival at the church.

His wife of 63 years, Manie, remembers one particular night of that revival. “The preacher called him up onto the rostrum,” she said of Hill. “I sure didn’t know this was going to be my husband.”

They married. Both were 20.

“I took a church in Tupelo,” said Hill. “It was in the old ice plant on Elizabeth Street.”

Many of the congregation worked at the cotton mill. “When it went on strike, most of our members left,” he said. The church folded and Hill returned to the evangelism road, was pastor for a year of a church in Apopka, Fla., then began his ministry in the Amory-Nettleton area.

“They (Pentecostals) were all up and down these roads,” he said. “We preached in brush arbors and wherever we could.”

For a while, Hill was pastor of both the Amory church (where his son the Rev. Coy Hill is in his 30th year as pastor) and the Nettleton church. Then, he settled into his 50-year ministry at Nettleton.

“He never gave up preaching until his health completely failed him,” said another son, the Rev. Larry Hill, who recently became pastor of First Pentecostal Church in Tupelo after a 21-year pastorate at First Pentecostal Church in Booneville. “Dad just never would give up.”

What was the secret of his father’s staying-power at the Nettleton church? “Compassion and love,” said his son. “There might have been people that disagreed with Dad, but no one ever questioned that he loved them.”

Larry Hill recalls how important the people were to his father. “He was on call 24 hours a day. Many times if we were on vacation and somebody got seriously ill or died, we came home at once.”

The church and the town of Nettleton became like family to the Hills. “Both Dad and Mom emanated love,” Hill said. “God and God’s work were first place in Dad and Mom’s lives and they taught us that at an early age.”

The legacy of his preacher-father is a great source of strength. “I preach all over the nation, and I still get compared to my father,” Hill said. “That’s the highest compliment I could get.”

To have this record to share with their contribution to the Church and all the other singers, preachers, and choirs on this record brings me great joy. These songs and messages may sound dated but they are timeless all the same. Some of these sermon samples could be preached today and still be powerful and effective.

In my search for rare records from yesterday, I often search for genres and general terms online rather than by artists or album title. As a result, there are a handful of records I found that share the same cover art with other releases. Personally, I am fascinated by this. Is there another genre that has album covers that share the same album art across different releases and record labels? Why didn't these records have unique artwork for each release? Here is a collection of images of other records that share the same album art as this album (and, as far as I know, none of these records are United Pentecostal. If they are I could not find a reference to them being Pentecostal, so if you have information otherwise, let me know!)

You can download this treasure of the past HERE!

Last month, I shared the debut album by The Upper Room Experience. David Potter was a creative force in that band, and I understand he also was in The Apostolic Voices before he formed TURE.

Granted, this album does not involve him. So I am not sure if he became a member of this band later on or if he formed a new band with the same name. If you, dear reader, has any information (or more Apostolic Voices titles to share) let me know! Please comment below or email me! ( RevNormanBurns@comcast.net )

The talent behind this album features the nonpareil work of Rev. Will Cohorn and his wife, Shirley. (You can find more of Shirley's music on this blog here!) Michael and Sharon Splechter also complete the quartet.

This is a fun, buoyant album of bouncing Southern Gospel songs and inspiration. Stand out tracks are "I Feel Like Shoutin',""Repent, Believe, and Be Saved,""It's In the Book," and "I'm Going to a City."

This is a great gem of vintage United Pentecostal music! You can enjoy it HERE!

Rev. Spencer McCool and his wife Joyce were early pioneers and surely one of the cornerstones of Pentecostal music.That said, there is not much information about them online, unfortunately. About all I know is they were involved with the Greater Life Ministries Church in Utica, MI.

Gathering bits and pieces here, I learned that their son, Cory McCool, passed away in 2009. The message board Apostolic Friends Forum also indicates Cory was a cousin of Rev. Carol McGruder.

Rev. Cory McCool also recorded an album with his wife (Intercession.) It is sad he will not be able to continue the music ministry that his parents started.

You can enjoy a track by Cory here:

This record is also interesting because of the same thing I pointed out on the Pentecostal Elders LP: The cover art has been used on several other gospel recordings, and usually from different studios. I really find this interesting. Maybe the records were not intended to be sold in stores? I know from vintage magazines and denominational newsletters, many of these records were sold by mail. They may have been sold exclusively at church and camp meetings. Maybe the other labels did not think somebody else might see the other records for that reason? Or it could be there was not much money flying around for these releases to hire artists for each release so using public domain artwork was a way of saving the church a lot of money.

Whatever the reason, I think it is interesting. Here are a sample of other records that shared the cover with this release:

While I may not have much information to share about Rev. Spencer and Joyce McCool, that is where you, the reader, comes in. Drop a note in the comments section if you have a memory or story about the McCool's. Your story or testimony will be appreciated. Especially share your story if you came across this blog solely by searching online for this record and not by another link from my Facebook page or a shared link to my Facebook page. I would appreciate it!

Please enjoy this classic recording HERE!

First off, I apologize for not posting on here sooner. I really tried to get this record ready to share towards the end of August, but this turned out to be a bit of a hard record to transfer to digital. Skips and pops make for a much more time consuming transfer time, especially when I have to re-record tracks that skipped and literally keep my finger beside the needle to keep it from skipping again. Then I have to "splice" the best parts together in my editing program. Then there's removing excessive pops and clicks. The process can take up to an hour per song, depending on the quality of the recording.

Then there were car problems...but I won't get into that! But just some general over all life stuff happened. So, if you're wondering if I am still going to keep this blog going, the answer is a firm YES, expect a lot more! I have stacks of wax to share! Hopefully, this blog continues for years upon years, should the Lord tarry, and this becomes a reference point for many Pentecostal records.

Up today is The Denny Family trying to be of good cheer. Oh, the cover...what can I say about that cover? I have to be honest: It was the cover that drew me to this record. I was searching "family" on "Religious and Devotional" records on Ebay and saw this. My spider-sense told me it was Pentecostal and it had an image of the back cover. I saw "United Pentecostal Church" on the back cover and SOLD!

This is a cover that likely would be on a "bad cover" website. It looks like it could be the poster art for the classic Nicholas Ray movie, Bigger Than Life. The poor kids look less than of good cheer, at the very least! Of course, we all know this family was a very loving and good family, and a strong standing pillar in the Pentecostal community. Here they are in 2009 truly in good cheer and still sharing music:

Now, Rev Carl Denny has since gone to be with the Lord. He passed away on February 16th, 2012. Here is a memorial video honoring his life.

The record notes indicate that Rev. Denny was a pastor of Walnut Ridge, AR. A quick Internet search uncovers a fun fact: He started his ministry with the 1st United Pentecostal Church of Kennett, Missouri.

A great musical legacy has come from that church. It started in the 1930s when pastor J.A. Nochta formed what is allegedly the first choir formed in the Pentecostal church (hey, their website says so!) and he also formed a music school. I probably do not know the full depth of all the music that has come from that church, and maybe never will, but I sure will try to find out! For now, I know of The Denny's, Mac and Norman Luna, and (of course) Rev. Carroll McGruder and all the music he was involved in.

I do not know Rev. Denny made any other records than this. I would have to suspect yes, especially given the rich musical legacy that has come from the Kennett, MO church.

This record came from the Christian Record Club. Oh, look at the classic records on the back cover! I was very fortunate enough to find a copy of Vesta Mangun's A Little Light after I came across this record. I need to find out more about this record club and their releases! I really need to find a copy of Murrell Ewing's record "Out of the Depths." (If you are reading this and have a copy in great condition, send me a message on my Facebook page or email me!)

Another notable thing about this record, even if minor...notice how the track numbers are listed on the back cover? Side two doesn't start over with track one. I found that to be just a little interesting, but that could be because I am a record collecting nerd and have not noticed that kind of thing before.

One last thing, and I may bring this up in the future. I notice that I am running lower and lower each month on free digital downloads on Bandcamp. I get 200 free downloads per month. I never thought it would be an issue. It seems as more people find out about this blog, the more people are downloading, which is great! And I think seeing this blog become more popular is a welcome problem to have! But what should I do if I run out of free downloads? Start charging per download instead? Even if it's just like a dime? I am not in this to make money, as anybody knows. I toyed with the idea of donating any proceeds from sales to a charity, but really was not sure about the legalities of that and tax reporting purposes and all that. So let me know in the comments or by email or on Facebook...keep the downloads free or start charging if this site becomes more popular? If we run out of free downloads for the month, people can still stream the music. But I would hate to see anybody not able to download it. It's kind of a hard choice to make. Let me know what you all think!

This is a great record! And it's been lovingly digitally restored to bring to you today. Please enjoy it HERE!

Most records I come across have very little information on the back covers. This one may be the total opposite. There's a wonderful background bio for the Evangelist Albert R. Skaggs to start. Rev. Skaggs also lists the names of everybody involved.

The "Silence Sisters" are his wife (Carolyn Skaggs) and Vickie Silence. I note that Ernest Silence is the point of contact for record orders.

Since a lot of information is already available on the back cover for you to read, I would like to mention that Rev. Skaggs sadly passed away on March 14th, 2014 at age 69. He was a licensed minister with the United Pentecostal Church for 45 years. His credits include starting out as an assistant pastor at the Brownstown First Pentecostal Church in Indiana. He was a foreign missions ambassador out of The Tabernacle in Seymour, IN. He also served on the board for the Urshan Graduate School of Theology in St. Louis, MO.

He owned several construction companies, provided jobs to many, and invented the Turtl Access Crawl Space System. This enabled him to come up with the Church In A Day program, which helped construct multiple churches across North America.

His obituary, unfortunately, does not talk about his contribution to Pentecostal music. So that's where I step in. Lest we forget all this wonderful man contributed to his journey through this strange land, here is at least one of his albums I've been fortunate to come across. And try searching for his music online...search engines think you've made a mistake and will pull up results for Ricky Skaggs.

Even the page on Amazon.com, where I found this album, is gone.

So here, restored digitally and preserved for future generations to find, is a great classic album of strong Pentecostal music that the Internet has forgotten. Lest we forget...

Download and enjoy HERE.

This may be one of the first vocal groups known to cut a record in the history of Pentecostal music. I by no means am saying it is the first, but I do not know of any others at this time.

However, they are often attributed to being the "original" Galileans. There have been other bands to call themselves The Galileans. I guess copyrighting and trademarking names for Gospel groups was not considered in the early days of vinyl releases. This unfortunately makes it hard to come across records by the true originals. I happened upon this copy because the seller had another Pentecostal record I was interested in. I figured if they have one then go through the rest of their inventory-somebody may have traded in more! And sure enough, I found this!

Mary Jo Glass is the indelible "accompanist" for the group. I think she's the backbone of the group. It's simple enough music-piano and harmonies provided by Don Hudgeons, Wayne Jetton, Larry Estes, and Eddie Robinson. But let's face it: those guys wouldn't be that much to listen to if it wasn't for Sister Glass' contribution to this music. She also joins in the vocals!

Mary is, of course, the wife of Rev. Charles Glass of the First Pentecostal Church of Sherman, TX. She started playing piano at age 11 and singing solos in her father's church. In 1952 she married Rev. Glass and they went to the Apostolic Bible Institute in St. Paul, MN. After evangelizing for some years, they located to Sherman, TX, founded the First Pentecostal Church (now just First Church) and The (original) Galileans grew from there.

Don (or Louis Donald-he apparently went by his middle name) Hudgeons was born May 1, 1930. He went to be with the Lord Jan 21, 2011. He was a trustee and board member of the First Church for 40 years, a Sunday School superintendent, worked in construction, and helped with several community projects through Tatchio & Associates.

Larry Estes, born Aug 31, 1944, died on November 3, 2015. He was a lifetime member of the First Church. He was a director of the music department and also served on the Board of Trustees. He was a youthful 16 years old when he founded The Galileans. According to his obituary, they were the first to record a long play record ever in the United Pentecostal church. Apparently, they released four records.

I am sad to say there's nothing I can find about Eddie Robinson or Wayne Jetton.

This is a great historical record. I am not sure if this was their debut record or what year it was released. The faithful reader of this blog may wonder why I did not include a picture of the back cover. The simple answer is the back cover is just pure white. No text at all. No year at all printed on the album jacket or the record label. And because there are other bands called The Galileans (I even purchased one hoping it would turn out to be the venerable UPC quartet, but it was not), finding the true original band is a bit harder in the Internet age when these records are not chronicled and catalogued very well.

Well, here is hoping I help change that! Here is one of four! It is a start! Onward and upward to find the rest!

Download and enjoy HERE!

Back in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Lefevre Sound was a wonderful record label that featured some incredible acts. A good number of those musicians they signed were from the United Pentecostal Church.

It is hard to find the true origins of this group on the Internet today. There is even a group called "Calvary Four" with Henry Thiessen as a member. His book, "Lectures in Systematic Theology" is anti-Pentecostal. (Side note: Thiessen's Calvary Four group released an album called "Sing Praises" with the Pentecostal hymn "Down From His Glory" included in the track listing. Oh, irony...)

So for what we know: This group is from Indiana. Search "Indiana" in any gospel music archive and you will find a treasure trove (and then some) of gospel music. So much of the best American gospel music has come out of Indiana. Also, Robert McFarland was the district superintendent for Indiana at the time of this release.

Rev. McFarland was born in Akron, Ohio on September 23, 1923 (he passed away in 2002), went to Apostolic Bible Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a pastor in Baronett and Spooner, WI, and moved to Richmond, IN in 1944 after marrying Marjorie Guinn. He became the district superintendent in 1975.

I know that Calvary Four released two other albums: "Climbing Higher and Higher" and "Walking in the Light." I personally do not have vinyl copies of either record, but I continue to search for them. I know that Bro. Steve Richardson (whom I will write more about later on in this blog) sang with the group on "Walking in the Light." Delton Smith, Mike Jordan, and Don Cunningham made up the quartet on that recording.

I have audio recordings of both of those records that I got from Apostolic Archives International, Inc. I am grateful for the recordings, but they did not include album art or track listings. Furthermore, the digital transfers are horrible. I mean horrible. It took hours to repair the audio in Audacity and even then there are songs on the albums that skip very bad. So I probably won't be sharing those records until I come across better copies.

I do not know who makes up the quartet on this recording. It's is clear Don Cunningham is involved since his name is on the back cover. However, I do not hear Bro. Richardson's wonderful baritone on this recording.

It took two copies of the record to bring this post to you. And I am very grateful to find two copies considering how rare their recordings are! They were for sale at the same time on Ebay. I bought one that turned out to be so-so in condition. So I bought the second copy for a little more. Side one of one record was in better condition than the other, and likewise side two was in better condition on the other copy. So this blog posts is actually transferred from two vinyl copies, taking the best quality of the tracks from either record to make the best transfer I could manage.

You can download this historic goodness HERE.

Steve Richardson was born October 9th, 1947. If he had lived, we would be celebrating his 69th birthday. Instead, we are taking a moment of reflection with a twinge of sadness to remember this man's life and all that he contributed while he traveled through this pilgrim land.

He passed away January 7th, 2012. He was not a prolific song writer, but the few songs he contributed to gospel music are beloved by many. Of course, there's "Daystar," one of his most often recorded songs, but he's also remembered for "Just To Walk With Him,""Mercy Seat," and more. His songs have been recorded by far too many than I could recount here, but some of the biggest are The Bill Gaither Vocal Band and The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

I have a handful of his albums, but for today, I would like to bring you this rarity from 1992. This record comes from my father's collection. As far as I can recall, and know, Bro. Richardson released this album himself, not on any label, and I do not recall it ever being sold in the Pentecostal Publishing House catalog. I may be wrong, but I never saw it available in there.

What I recall, Bro. Richardson personally sold copies of this album at conferences he performed at. What I remember of him, he was approachable, kind, generous in spirit and in action, and a humble man. I feel of all the music in the Pentecostal church, Bro. Richardson's songs are closest to the psalms of David that were after God's own heart. These are not just songs of praise, they are songs of the heart.

He was a fantastic singer/songwriter. This project is instrumental. While I will share his vocal projects in blog posts to come, I decided to start with this record because it may be one of his lesser known, and it's incredible praise and worship music. It's a perfect soundtrack for your prayer room or prayer closet.

You can download and enjoy HERE.

Today's selection comes from 1984. Back then, Carouthers and Company was one of the best known music ministries in the United Pentecostal Church. They are the first group I remember listening to. Their albums "Let it Continue" and "Songs We Heard From Under the Pew" continue to be personal favorites of mine.

I realize they left the UPC some years ago, and maybe some would choose to not listen to them anymore. I think the music can still minister, and it was a huge part of the musical portfolio for the church in the 80s and 90s. So I think their music still matters.

I don't know their complete discography. I believe I have all the CDs they released in the 90s. This is the only album I've found from the 80s so far. I know there has to be more out there because they have other included on the Harvestime compilations I shared back in May. You know me: I will keep looking for other albums by them. If you have any leads where I might find more, or titles you want to share or let me know about, just let me know in the comments section or drop me an email.

Also noteworthy on this album is they collaborated with Dan Dean. Since this album comes from a cassette copy, and not an LP with liner notes or back cover art, I don't know if he contributed to other songs on this album. I know he collaborated with Mark and Lori on "He Won't Give Up Easy." Of course, we all know Dan Dean of Phillips, Craig, and Dean fame. This particular song has been covered a number of times by other acts. Curiously, online records indicate the song was written in 1986, but here we have a recording from 1984 that shows otherwise.

As I mentioned, this comes from a cassette copy. Personally, I prefer LPs for sharing because of the hiss present in some of the tracks on a cassette. Then again, there are no pops and clicks to worry about on a tape, so there's always that! But if I ever get a better sounding copy on LP, I will upload the new transfer and let you, the dear reader, know.

Download or stream and enjoy HERE!

This is another record I found by chance. A seller on Ebay had a record I wanted and I found this in their list of other items. I figured since they had one record I wanted, they may have more! And what a great find it was!

As with most records from the past, there's no year on here to even guess when this was made. The church only has a Facebook page, and I cannot find the year their building was constructed (the record appears to have been produced to fund the building of the Gospel Tabernacle according to the back cover.) We know that Rev. James Lumpkin served as District Superintendent for the Arkansas District from 1974-1996, but that is as far down as I can place this. Guessing? I would say the mid 1980's or so. I know the opening track is also covered by the Church of Pentecost Choir from 1986-1987. I don't know what year Rev. Anderson wrote that song, but my experience tells me that these songs typically are covered more frequently when they are new.

(If you want to hear more of Mike Anderson's work, here's a great song to keep your feet tapping and your hands clapping! Now I have to find the full album!)

I also love records like this because it's just not cover material. There's some original tracks here and they are wonderful!

I wish I had more to say about the record, but it is what it is! I am just grateful to God I was in the right place at the right time to find this on Ebay. I won't disclose how much I spent on this record...I just prefer to think about all the cheap deals I got to offset it! But I am delighted to bring this to your home and ears!

By the way, look forward to more choir music in November!

Download and enjoy HERE!

I promised you more choir music, and I got your choir music right here!

This comes from the inedible Christian Life Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Pastored by Rev. Ron Libby, the music department was under the direction of Laird Sillimon for thirteen years. During this duration, he helmed a number of releases. I have a handful in my collection, and this is the earliest one I have. It was released in 1987.

Laird has gone on to considerable success in gospel music, and also produced albums for the CLC Choir in Stockton, CA. His music has been recorded by world famous choirs: The Pentecostals of Alexandria, Edwin and Walter Hawkins Music Art Love Conference, The Passion in Praise Conference, and more.

This is an archive of his humble beginnings. (Though he did not start in Rev. Libby's church. His home church is the Apostolic Outreach Center in New Orleans. I do not know if he produced any records or tapes for them.)

You can download and enjoy the music HERE!

Of all the covers I've seen in United Pentecostal music, this may be the most visually stunning. It is a fantastic work of art. It's vibrant, exciting, and invokes the more hippie style records of the Jesus music era.

Only this wasn't a Jesus music era record. As far as I can figure, this was released in the late 1950's to early 1960's. And the music on this record is fairly dull and bland. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a fantastic little record, even if the production on the recording leaves a lot to be desired. It is a great artifact from the past worthy to be saved and shared. But considering the much more lively spirit-filled music that permeated from the United Pentecostal Church over the coming years, this is a fairly standard effort.

But that was the 1960's for you. It was before Lanny Wolfe came along and introduced music styles into choir music that he gleaned from soulful secular music.

Rev. Donald Haymon currently serves as bishop over the Calvary Apostolic Church of Denver. He started services in a vacant stand free store front in 1956 and this became the seed of this vibrant church.

He would go on to pastor this church for 50 years until his son took over pastor duties. He and his wife can still be found ministering at the church to this day, however.

According to the album notes, they make the claim that until this record no church attempted to produce a choir record for entertainment purposes. Their purpose was to capture the music they produce in service as the Spirit moves. The result is this album. Is this truly the first church choir record produced in United Pentecostal music, as they seem to claim? I guess the world may never know for sure since so much of the history of this music is hard to chronicle. However, I take it at their word. This not only makes this record a great artifact from the past, but an essential record to preserve and to share.

You can enjoy their music HERE!

Continuing with choir music, this may be one of the strongest offerings I have to bring to you. This album was released in 1977 (at least the date under the picture of the orchestra indicates this) under the direction of W.C. Gleason. His daughter, Pam, takes vocal duties on two ethereal tracks ("Shepherd of Love Medley" and "Life in Jesus Name".) Stan Gleason, son of Rev. Gleason and brother of Pam, also takes vocal duties on a track as well. Rev. Robert Sabin is the orchestra director and his son, Nate Sabin, plays guitar on this album. And, of course, we have S.G. Norris and his granddaughter, Ann Grant, joining in on the record as well. This is quite the family affair!

It is said that Rev. Norris, the president of ABI at the time, wanted every saint to either play an instrument or sing unto the Lord. Add this vision with the amazing talents of Rev. Gleason and Rev. Sabin and you have a powerhouse album of choir music.

You can download the blessed music HERE!

There are records in the history of the United Pentecostal Church that were released simply to raise money for one cause or another. This record was released to raise money for the UPC headquarters in St. Louis and to help with a new facility to meet the needs of a great generation. That's as the indelible Rev. Stanley Chambers states it on the introduction to this landmark record.

The names here are an unbeatable who's who of the United Pentecostal Church in the early days of their foray into music media. Rev. Stanley Chambers is the fearless leader here. The United Pentecostal Church was formed on Sept 24th, 1945 when it was voted that Pentecostal Church International and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ would join and become the United Pentecostal Church. Rev. Chambers became the first general secretary of the UPC in 1955.

This record raised money to help fund the famous world headquarters of the church in St. Louis, where it would remain until 2015 when the decision was made to sell the building and move. The move in 2015 was due to space concerns, a declining neighborhood, and the higher costs of maintaining an aging building.

Other names of note here:

Thomas and Sue Jackson wrote The Acts of the Apostles for the Pentecostal Publishing House in 1970. The book served as a youth study guide.

Cleveland M. Becton (CM Becton) is famously known as being one of the great voices of Harvestime Radio, though he held several positions in the United Pentecostal Church over the years, including general secretary from 1982-1998. Though most of his ministry was not musical, he had a great interest in music at an early age. He learned how to play piano when he was ten years old. Then he picked up the accordion and played both instruments in church. When he was 15 years old, he played with The Stamps Quartette. That was until, in 1945, he decided that was not the life for him and he went to the first year of The Pentecostal Bible Institute in Tupelo, MS. The rest, as they say, is history.

If you don't recognize the name J.R. Ensey, I will say thank you for visiting my blog to learn more about the history of the United Pentecostal Church. I take it you're new to the church, and that's great! If you recognize his name, well...I really don't need to say more. His books should fill the library of any scholarly Pentecostal student. It would take too long to note all his accomplishments and contributions to the church, but mostly in books. This is a rare audio recording of his music.

The same can also be said of Daniel Segraves. This is the first album I've seen where he's made music. Before I found this record, I only knew him as an author.

Donna Fisher, and her husband Donald Fisher, went on to work at the Jackson College of Ministries. Her husband served as vice-president. Of course, this is where Lanny Wolfe led the college choir and released some of the most amazing United Pentecostal records, either as a trio, the college choir, or more. She also worked in the Youth Department, Foreign Missions, and for the Word Aflame Press. After leaving JCM, she and her husband went to the Conquerors Bible College in Portland, OR, where they served as president of the school.

You can download or stream this wonderful piece of Pentecostal history HERE.

Anybody who has been reading my blog for a while now knows I typically share older vintage Pentecostal music. That's not to say I do not have more current music or will never share it. But let's admit it: there's something about the old time gospel songs, isn't there?

So today I share something a bit more modern but still hearkening to the classics of the past. This album comes from 1994. This is one of the favorite treasures of my collection. The new songs presented here feel like old standards, but they are all written by Rev. Lott and his wife. Kevin McManus produced the record and no doubt his technical and musical expertise brought out the amazing results we hear here. This isn't just studio music. You can feel the Spirit of God permeate these tracks and no doubt they brought church to the recording the studio the days they recorded these songs.

If his name is not familiar, Kevin has produced countless albums for the United Pentecostal Church, but he may be most recognizable for his work with The McGruders. He has also worked with Bill and Gloria Gaither, The Melody Boys, Gold City, The Kingsmen, JD Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, among so many others. He may be to southern gospel music what George Martin was to the Beatles.

Rev. Lott is from the Calvary Tabernacle church in Trinity, TX. His roots in the district go back to the 1950's when, as a young man, he recalls placing ceiling joists in the first tabernacle at the United Pentecostal Campground in the Texas District. He also serves as a board of trustees member for the Urshan Graduate School of Theology.

Those are the few tidbits about his ministry I've been able to find online. What's less known is about his music. Is this album his first? It seems hard to believe, but who knows? If he devoted his life to the ministry instead and never recorded his songs before, that is possible. If you know of any earlier records by him, please let me know.

In the meantime, it's my delight to bring this treasure to you today. Already going on 23 years old but it's as timeless as the day it was released.

Download HERE.

Would it be Christmas without a Christmas For Christ album?

Not that this is a Christmas album, but usually uninformed record shop sellers will put this in their "Christmas" section rather than in the "Christian,""Religious," or "Gospel" sections.

Today, Christmas For Christ is still going, but I am not sure when they stopped putting out records. There are none for sale at the Pentecostal Publishing House.

And I think it is a shame. These compilations are marvelous collections. And I know if there are more, I will be sure to find them and share them here for as many I can find!

Yeah, I don't have a lot to say about the record, but mainly because I wrote more about the ministry last year. I will say the singers chosen for this collection may be the best ever among Pentecostal music. For most of them, I have other records to share by them, so I will write more about those individual singers in later blog posts.

And, wow, I really have some great and rare music to share in the coming year! "Stay tuned" as they say! Some of the most recent records I found even took me by surprise! God is good and I know He helps me find some great stuff to share here!

You can download the holiday greatness HERE!

I do not know how many albums J. Hugh Rose and his wife Nila released. I continue to look for some in my searches high and low for obscure gems of Pentecostal music. But this collection compiles a good number of tracks from the early days of vinyl. And if there's one great thing about the Harvestime radio ministry, they certainly did keep some of this music preserved.

I believe this was released sometime around 1993 or 1994, but I am not positive. I think the audio quality on this album leaves something to be desired. I did my best to "clean up" the tracks in Audacity. Not exactly pro audio editing techniques, but I feel the end result of what I am sharing with you here is actually an improvement from the original release. Still not as clear as I would hope the music could be but certainly an improvement from the original tracks.

J. (Joseph) Hugh Rose was born November 21st, 1934 in Jewett, Ohio. He served as the indelible announcer of the Harvestime radio ministry for forty years. His music entertained and ministered to many through his time on this planet. His signature songs "The Lord's Prayer" and "Down From His Glory" (a classic -and a personal favorite of mine- covered by a number of Pentecostal artists) blessed saints at weddings, funerals, church dedications, and at camp meetings.

He did not stray too far from home and pastored in Jewett at the Harrison Hills United Pentecostal Church. He also served on the Ohio District Board and the Board of Education for the United Pentecostal Church.

He passed away on September 23, 2010.

I mentioned that I do not know how many records he released, but I do know of two from images I found online. I will continue to look for these albums and will be sure to share them here, especially if they feature more tracks than what was on this album. He had a record on the Lefevre Sound label and what looks like a cassette album in the 1980's.

The album I bring to you today may not be a Christmas record, but "Down From His Glory" is an amazing Christmas song to celebrate the season!

You can download his wonderful music HERE!

This month has been one of lessons and surprises, for sure.

First, a couple of records I tried to digitize and share were of lesser quality than expected. Then one tape I bought in 2015 turned out to be completely warped and horrible sounding. All that time spent transferring the files ate up any time to find a record I could share. (And, to top it off, because I bought the tape in 2015 I had no recourse to get a refund for it. Oh, well...that's life.)

So that was my lesson: Check the quality of the tapes I buy right away before waiting too long to digitize them.

Then the surprise: I ran out of free downloads on my Bandcamp page. I get 200 for free for a month and never dreamed I would run out. I figured this blog would remain on the fringe and never really be that popular. If I had fifty followers, I would feel like I had a fairly decent sized audience.

But something took off in the past month, apparently. And I had no idea what would happen if I ran out of free downloads. I guess I figured people would just be stuck streaming the music and couldn't download it. NOPE! Bandcamp automatically changed the sale price of every record on my page to $7.00.

Rest assured, dear reader: I DID NOT RAISE THE PRICES!

But somebody paid for a couple downloads. Bless that soul, their contribution went back into this blog and helped me buy more free download credits to keep the downloads free for the time being.

But what happens if/when I run out again? What do you think, dear reader? Should I set up a "pay what you want" option? That way you could still download for free. If somebody wanted to make a small donation, the money would go into buying more music for the blog. Not that I mind putting my own money into this. But I deplore the idea of Bandcamp suddenly changing the prices on all the albums I shared to $7.00. Needless to say, I am not in this blog to make money. If I could set unlimited free downloads, I would.

But for now, they are free.

And I wrote all of that to keep you updated on what's going on.

So now I don't have much left to say about today's album. Mainly because I wrote about Vesta Mangun before. Also, I have more to share from her, so another opportunity will come to write more about her incredible ministry and legacy.

But I will say this: I intended to have this month to feature some of my favorite female singers in the United Pentecostal Church. So please "stay tuned" for more!

Please sound off in the comments section or send me an email what you think I should do to prevent from running out of free downloads. If I go with a "Pay What You Want" option, I can set the default price at zero and the free downloads can still be had. But for now, the generous person who paid for some downloads when Bandcamp raised the prices on me helped keep it free for a while longer. God bless you, reader, you know who you are!

Feel free to download Vesta's record FOR FREE HERE!

Continuing our month long look at some of the greatest female singers in the United Pentecostal Church, how could such a series be complete without the incomparable Janet Trout?

She was born Janet Varnado on 10-6-1937 in Lincoln County, Mississippi. When she was 13 years old she heard the call of God to minister to His sheep. In July 1955, she became a licensed minister in the Louisiana District.

With her parents, she served as a missionary to Jamaica starting in 1956. Over the next eleven years, along with her pastor father and Bible school teacher mother, thirteen churches were built to continue this wonderful Gospel message.

She married Rev. Wayne Trout in August 1958. They pastored for the next two years in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1961, they relocated to Dover, Delaware.

Over the next seven years, the church family grew and their needs expanded beyond their humble VFW Hall they rented as a makeshift church. In November 1968 they dedicated their new tabernacle. Their needs continued to grow and, in 1975, the Kent Christian Academy was founded with 105 students in their freshman year.

In 2005, Sister Trout established the International Biblical Institute in Jerusalem and Jordan.

Little is said about her musical ministry online, however. Yet we know she developed her love for Jerusalem and Jordan during this period. How? Well, this record, for one. The cover features a photo of her during a trip to Israel.

This record is produced by Joe Huffman. Joe was a co-founder of Mark Five Studios with Otis Forrest. Mark Five was not exclusively Pentecostal music, but they were instrumental (no pun intended) in getting several United Pentecostal musicians' projects released during the 1960's and the 1970's.

He was also a producer for Word Records and Benson Records. Word has released a small number of Pentecostal records, and Benson has released a good number as well. So, while these men may not not have been United Pentecostal, I would like to tip my hat to them in honor for their work to bring this music out for us to enjoy even to this day.

Please enjoy this fantastic record HERE.

One Accord-Something to Give Away

Pentecostal Elders Record For You

The Apostolic Voices-Make A Joyful Noise

The McCools-When the Poor Praise the Lord

The Denny Family-Be of Good Cheer

Ev. Albert R. Skaggs & The Silence Sisters-Old Time Pentecost

The Galileans-Songs by the Galileans

Calvary Four-Sing the Gospel

Steve Richardson-Piano Peace

Carouthers & Co.-Urgent Message

Mickey & Madelyn Shields and the Gospel Tabernacle Choir Sing

Christian Life Center Mass Choir-Caught in the Acts

South Denver Pentecostal Choir-Jesus the Light

ABI Orchestra & Choir-Jesus I Love You

Ship Ahoy!

Clark and Chloe Lott-Grace So Amazing

The Biggest Gift Goes to Jesus CFC '77

Nila & Hugh Rose-Just To Walk With Him

Vesta Mangun-Shoutin' on the Hills

Janet Trout-I've Been There