Most often, the records I choose for this blog have strong ties with the United Pentecostal Church.
Sometimes not so much.
Part of it may be due to lack of substantial information found online to give detailed information about how the record and the recording artist connected with the United Pentecostal Church. Another part of it is because maybe only one or two of the musicians involved in the project had a connection with the United Pentecostal church. I already have featured both.
This record is a bit of both.
Verle Pilant is the lead force of creativity on this project. There is more found online about his music projects than his denominational church connections. I suspect the main reason for that is the groups he has been involved in are typically marketed towards the broad market of the church, not one denomination. Best to leave messy things like doctrine out of the music message when trying to appeal across denominations. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
It was actually his wife, Marjorie, that has connections with the United Pentecostal Church. A memory shared on her obituary page online stated that she started out playing piano in a United Pentecostal Church in Memphis, TN (located on Parkway and Dunlap.)
By the time this record came out, there is no mention of any church denomination on the back cover. While her hair certainly still has that "PhD" style to it, it is unknown if she was still attending a Pentecostal church at this time. From what I can find, her and her husband left the UPC and went on to a Baptist church.
Still, she has roots in the UPC, so that is enough reason to share this record here.
But it doesn't stop there.
Looking at the rest of the names on the back cover is a virtual who's who of early names that were instrumental (no pun intended) in bringing the sound of the United Pentecostal Church to vinyl. James Goss, along with his brothers Lari and Roni, worked with countless Pentecostal musicians in both producing and releasing their records. Same with Maurice LeFevre and his label LeFevre Sound.
James and Doyle Blackwood's family has roots back to the beginning of the Pentecostal movement in this country. In 1918, the Blackwood String Band played at a brush arbor meeting. It was the first time the Pentecostal message had been brought to the impoverished sharecropping community in Choctaw County. Carrie Blackwood, James' and Doyle's mother, received the baptism of the Holy Ghost that night. Within a year, the rest of her family was saved as well.
So there is some rich Pentecostal heritage involved with this record. And it is a very well produced and beautiful recording. The copy I had is clean and one of the clearest of vintage recordings I may have brought to you so far.
Perhaps Marjorie Pilant and her family were not major names in the United Pentecostal Church, but as anybody knows, this blog isn't about only sharing the major names. Sometimes even the small contributions, even if they didn't stick with the church for their entire life, are worth while to look back upon.
You can download this great record HERE!