''The King of the Gospel Singers'' is the sixth studio album by Little Richard. A gospel album from sessions he recorded for the

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it i ...

label, it is generally regarded as being a better recording than his two albums with the Goldner label.White, Charles. (2003). ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press.

History

The tracks making up the album were recorded in New York City with an approximate recording date of June 1961. Recalling the sessions, producer

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

noted: "I had the pleasure to record with Little Richard "Joy Joy Joy" and "He's Not Just A Soldier" for his albums ..It was truly a joy working with Little Richard in New York; though he was still very religious I noticed that he never lost his feeling for Rock 'n' Soul."White, Charles. (2003). ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography, page 103.'' Omnibus Press. A further twelve gospel tracks were recorded for the Mercury label at an unknown location in March 1962. Of these additional tracks, only two were released at the time, with "Change Your Ways"/"He Got What He Wanted" an April 1962 single, which scored in Europe. The remaining tracks were issued on a bootleg around 1980; then issued on an overseas CD around 2014, of undetermined provenance . After this period Richard continued his commitment to gospel, recording eleven tracks for Atlantic Records between June 1962 and April 1963. Finally, he was enticed back into the

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

genre full-time, during a tour of the UK. Soon after returning from that European tour , 24 November 1962, he cut six secular numbers for the Little Star label , under his band's name. He cut five or six tracks for

Specialty Records Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Pr ...

between March and April 1964.

Legacy

''The King of the Gospel Singers'' would indirectly lead to the resurrection of Richard's rock 'n' roll career, as the touring schedule saw him sharing bills with

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

and become inspired by his old sound. Richard himself observed of the album that it was "the thing that really put me back in business. It was just the kind of music I had always wanted to record. After it was released the offers for gospel concerts started pouring in."

Track listing

Personnel

* Little Richard – vocals *The Quincy Jones Orchestra *The Howard Roberts Chorale *Plus unknown instrumentalists

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King of the Gospel Singers 1962 albums Little Richard albums Albums produced by Quincy Jones Mercury Records albums