Sup folks! Tap your neighbor on the right shoulder and say “It’s almost Friday.” I don’t know about you but it’s been a longgggggggggggg and difficult week for a lot of us and quite frankly today I just needed to laugh. I was talking to some coworkers about how quicky the holiday season had come and they were asking me for Christmas CD recommendations. (Everyone knows I play Christmas music all year round…)

So anyway I was going down my list and had to share what is probably my FAVORITE Christmas song performance of all time but I have to set it up for you before you listen. In my family’s dining room, we had this piece of furniture that appeared to be a a beautiful wooden console or “serving” table. And for most of the year, that’s what it was used for. But every year at Christmas it would transform and revert to it’s original intent…. that of a vinyl record player! It was (and still is) our family tradition to pull out old Christmas records and play them on this old record player while we cooked, ate, opened gifts or participated in our favorite family pastime: SCRABBLE!

Well, from as long as I can remember, I have held an extremely special place in my heart for a song that was on an album called “Gospel Songs at Christmas.” It included songs from Shirley Caesar & the Caravans, Rev. James Cleveland and the Swan Silvertones. But the songs that stuck out for me and made my heart 10 different shades of happy was “Oh Lord Your Name Is Ringing” from The Harrell Singers.   In all my years (prior to youtube) I had never heard any group of singers quite like this… I know back in the day, recording technology wasn’t nearly as sophisticated as it is today, but the kind of singing this group was doing was on another level of shall we say “special.” They were obviously ahead of their time and not afraid to break all the rules. And I mean every musical rule you can think of. Trust me, they broke ‘em!!! Broke I say!!! They truly did their own thing. And although after all these years of living I still don’t know what that thing was supposed to be, I love this song just the same and play it whenever I need a pick me up and a little chuckle. It worked when I was I was 9 years old and works to this day.

Ladies and gentlemen without further ado (churchy, lol) I present you to one of the most “unique” Christmas songs EVER recorded and with the week I’ve had THANK GOD IT PLAYED (because I needed it): “Oh Lord Your Name Is Ringing” by the Harrell Singers! (I guarantee you you’re not ready for the priceless ending!)

Torrence

TAGS: Rev. James Cleveland, Shirley Caesar, TGIP, The Caravans, The Harrell Singers, the Swan Silvertones

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