The Swan Silvertones/ Saviour Pass Me Not

Swan Silvertones, The

album cover

A Cornerstone of Gospel Singing

On these twenty-three hymns and revival tent standbys, the Swan Silvertones sing like they know the job description calls for more than singing. They expect to reassure the faithful, rescue the wayward, galvanize the undecided, and along the way generate a little something for the collection plate. If, in the course of doing that, they wind up creating group singing that has the spontaneity of jazz and the raw feeling of soul, well, consider that a bonus from the Great Beyond.

As Claude Jeter, the lead singer, begins telling about "How I Got Over" or envisions "Peace in the Valley," his cohorts gather around him in clusters of deep-toned brotherhood, dispensing uh-huhs and amens that spur the discussion forward. On "Mary Don't You Weep," for example, Jeter moves from the familiar verses into deep elaborations, using slight blues-singer inflections for emphasis. Every now and then he tosses out a few extemporaneous lines, at one point singing, "I'll be a bridge over deep water if you just trust my name." Years later, that aside inspired Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Jeter formed the Swan Silvertones in Coalwood, West Virginia, in 1938. Recordings started in the mid-1940s, first on the King label, and within a few years the gospel circuit was abuzz about the Swans, which one gospel radio DJ, Joe Bostic Jr., once described as "smooth as polished glass." That's largely attributable to the voices— Jeter and usually Solomon Womack handling leads, with two tenors, a baritone, and a bass who changed several times over the years—and part was the work of arranger Paul Owens, who added wide Four Freshman–style harmonies. By the time the Swans recorded these two classic albums, the group expanded to include a guitarist, the great Linwood Hargrove, as well as a rhythm section anchored by jazz bassist Bob Cranshaw that maintained an easygoing swing.

Be prepared to hunt for this title. Vee Jay went bankrupt in 1965, and since then the catalog has been in and out of print. It was pressed most recently by the reissue label Collectables and subsequently allowed to again go out of print. Rest assured: This music is worth the search.

Genre: Gospel
Released: 1959/1962, Vee Jay (Reissued 2001, Collectables)
Key Tracks: "Mary Don't You Weep," "Peace in the Valley," "Saviour Pass Me Not," "Amazing Grace."
Catalog Choice: Love Lifted Me.
Next Stop: The Caravans: The Best of the Caravans
After That: The Blind Boys of Mississippi: The Original Five Blind Boys.
Book Page: 757