''The World's Greatest Gospel Singer'' is

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...

's debut album on the Columbia label, recorded in 1954.

Overview

Original record sleeve, written by

George Avakian George Mesrop Avakian (; russian: Геворк Авакян; March 15, 1919 – November 22, 2017) was an American record producer, artist manager, writer, educator and executive. Best known for his work from 1939 to the early 1960s at Decca Re ...

: "The recordings in this collection were made in the course of two consecutive evenings at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. For Mahalia's debut on the Columbia Label,

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

had asked her to prepare some new songs for single record release, and I had hoped to get a start toward making an album of spirituals and gospels songs of her own choice. Mahalia surprised and pleased us mightily. In a few hours, she made half a dozen single sides for Mitch and almost an album and a half for me. The only reason we quit was that there was limit to the amount of material we could absorb all at once."

Recording session

November 23, 1954, Columbia,

, with The Falls-Jones Ensemble: Mildred Falls (piano), Ralph Jones (organ), Jack Lasberg (guitar), Frank Carroll (bass), Bunny Shawker (drums), and

(vocal). Columbia CL 644; Originally Released March 14, 1955.Columbia Record CL 644: ''The World's Greatest Gospel Singer''

Track listing

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worlds Greatest Gospel Singer, The 1955 debut albums Albums produced by George Avakian Columbia Records albums Mahalia Jackson albums Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio