The Blackwood Brothers Quartet

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet became famous for that gospel group's RCA Victor records starting in 1951, but before their major label acceptance, they issued singles on their own label - and continued doing so for a few years even after RCA gave them a contract.

Here are two 78s with the Blackwoods' imprint, which I believe represent two incarnations of the famous quartet.

The first comprises "A Land Where Living Waters Flow" and "If You've Never Learned to Pray." My best guess is that this group includes Bill Lyles, R.W. Blackwood, James Blackwood, Roy Blackwood, Doyle Blackwood, and pianist Hilton Griswold. This is the group shown on the label above. The photo below, from the informative site Grand Old Gospel Reunion, identifies the members.

The second single, however, has a somewhat different lineup. The label identifies the soloist on "My Desire" as tenor Bill Shaw, who joined the group circa 1952. (He is audibly a different tenor from the first record.) By that time, pianist Jack Marshall had replaced Griswold and the group had moved from Shenandoah, Iowa to Memphis. (The label for this release continued to use the old photo and Shenandoah location.)

The outstanding selection on these two records, for me, is the strongly rhythmic "Working on the Building," which points ahead to the approach that would lead the Blackwoods to tremendous popularity in the years to come.