For a lot of people, religion is out of fashion so gospel music probably is too. Which is too bad because gospel music is not only beautiful on its own, it really is the root of a tremendous amount of American music. You don’t have to look too far to see Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and the influence they have had, not to mention Elvis Presley and Hank Williams who also sang gospel. And James Brown drew a tremendous amount from the Dixie Hummingbirds including a lot of his stage persona.
A lot of people first heard of the Dixie Hummingbirds when Paul Simon covered their song “Loves Me Like A Rock” in the 1970’s and had them singing backup.
But the group was started in 1928 and has performed since, although obviously not with the original members for some time.
The classic Hummingbirds had amazing vocal power and harmony and Howard Carroll was an outstanding guitarist.
This clip features three songs. The first is one of their finest called “Standing By the Bedside Of A Neighbor.”
Video doesn’t fully capture the brilliance of this song so here’s an audio version. The members who recorded this song were superb musical talents.
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