Dorothy Love Coates and the Original Gospel Harmonettes - Get On Board

As I've mentioned before, I have been exploring the Gospel genre when I can and have recently picked up a book on the subject (more on that once I have finished it) which has given me some tips on acts to explore. One of them was Dorothy Love Coates, who appears here with her group, the Original Gospel Harmonettes. This collection, with liner note's from the afore-mentioned book's author (Anthony Heilbut), contains the combo's hits as well as a number of unreleased tracks, gives a good overview of their sound.

While my favorite gospel numbers are a bit more raw and bluesy, these group harmony tunes are very well done and still have a bit of edge and energy in their performances. This sound is probably what most people think of as traditional gospel - a lead, belting vocalist, with group harmony singers "answering" in the background. You can easily see where the soul singers like Aretha Franklin got their styles - and they will freely admit it, I'm sure.

Most likely, some of this is due to my unfamiliarity with the genre, but there is definitely a sameness to the tunes here. Regardless, this is still a fine collection of strong performances that are powerful and representative of this style.