Seven Of My Favorite African American Gospel Choir Videos

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases seven of my favorite Gospel videos. This selection differs somewhat from a listing of seven of my favorite Gospel songs. In large part that is because I'm focusing not only on the song's lyrics & arrangement but also how the video captures the performance of the song and the congregation or audience's responses to the song while it is being sung.

As clarification, in this post I'm focusing on mass (large) choirs or on church choirs and not on smaller Gospel groups like the Edwin Hawkins Singers or Walter Hawkins Love Center Choir (both of whom I love). Such groups will be the focus of another post.

Without any further introductory comments, presented in no real ranking order (meaning my favorites vary depending on my mood), here are this post's featured videos:

Video #1: Detroit Mass Choir - "The Storm Is Passing Over"



Marcell77 | February 16, 2009

Detroit Mass Choir sings the Donald Vails classic The Storm Is Passing Over
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This song is often given the title "Encourage My Soul".

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Video #2: Mississippi Mass Choir-"When I Rose This Morning"



malacomg,Uploaded on Feb 2, 2011
-snip-
This song features Mother Moise Burke.

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Video #3: Rev. James Cleveland & Albertina Walker - (If I Perish) "I'm Going To Meet The King"
dpdaniel2 | March 27, 2008

Classic footage of the gospel legend Rev James Cleveland featuring Albertina Walker. Taken from 'The Brothers and Sisters Live in concert' which was a benefit concert for 'Save the Children' in 1972.
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A choir member who sung during the Gospel Break is Loretta Oliver. That singing was unplanned but, in my opinion, greatly enhances this rendition of that song.

[Note: Unfortunately, this video is no longer available on YouTube.]

Here's a sound file of that same song, but without the added energy of the rendition noted above:

If I Perish (Vinyl LP) - Albertina Walker,"Please Be Patient With Me"



pannellctp ; Published on Dec 25, 2012

Albertina Walker (August 29, 1929 -- October 8, 2010) was an American gospel singer.

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Video #4: "God is trying to tell you something." - (The Color Purple)



Uploaded by KAKAU99 on Apr 28, 2008

Cena perfeita de um filme perfeito com uma música perfeita.

A cor púrpura
-snip-
I included this video even though this is a Gospel choir from a movie and not an actual church or community choir. However, the song's words & the choir's performance still moves me and is interesting to watch which are my two criteria for this list.

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Video #5: Georgia Mass Choir "Bye and Bye"



Uploaded by chj333 on Nov 3, 2010

The Georgia Mass Choir sings "Bye and Bye" led by Punch Baldwin.

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Video #6: Florida Mass Choir "All Night All Day"



Uploaded by chj333 on Apr 7, 2009

Florida Mass Choir "All Night All Day" directed by V. Michael McKay

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Video #7: Beverly Crawford- "Just As Soon (I'll Be Shouting)"



Uploaded by matthew5and9 on Dec 3, 2008

Beverly Crawford singing at the National Baptist World Center [filmed in 1997]

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My thanks to the vocalists and musicians who are featured on these videos, and to the composers of those songs. My thanks also to the video uploaders.

Thanks for visiting this page.

Viewer comments are welcome.