Hidden Gems: Jake Hess and The Imperials – “I’ve Got It”

In the long, storied history of the Imperials, you can be sure that there are many “hidden gems” just waiting to be rediscovered.  One of the more forgotten eras of the group, strangely enough, is the period with Jake Hess.  This particular tune comes from 1967′s To Sing Is The Thing, which was Hess’s last as a regular group member.  Personnel on this song are Jim Murray – Tenor, Jake Hess – Lead, Gary McSpadden – Baritone, Armond Morales – Bass, and Joe Moscheo – Piano.

While the next album, New Dimensions, went farther in pushing the Imperials toward the contemporary edge of Gospel music, this cut was a nice foreshadowing of what was to come.  The preceding cut, “To Be With God” was a soft, smooth ballad featuring McSpadden.  What comes from the grooves next is a stinging electric guitar with heavy percussion that sounds like something off a British Invasion group’s LP from a couple years prior.  Hess sings a lyric that talks about getting saved and having similar faith to Biblical heroes.

In these later years the thought of Hess singing a pop-ish tune seems far-fetched, but in fact liner notes to an old Statesmen album make the claim that Hess could have had a career in popular music, and this song proves that claim true.  There’s some nice harmony from the group on the song, and Jim Murray’s smooth tenor helps sell the tune, along with some nice step in bass lines from Morales.  The song ends with Hess repeating “I’ve got it!” with some harmonized “oohs” from the other vocalists while the electric guitar plays some nice licks while the track fades out.  If you’ve got this LP, or the CD version that Armond and the Imperials re-released several years ago, pull this track up.  It’s very atypical for this era of the group, and it’s a lot of fun!

Southern Gospel Shows Up In The Most Unlikely Places

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time at all, you will know that I am a big fan of jazz music.  I was ripping a Buddy Rich jazz LP from 1972 to mp3 when a familiar tune came on.  Sure enough, the song was “That’s Enough” which was recorded back in the mid ’60s by Jake Hess and The Imperials.  Jake later recorded the song with Terry Bradshaw and also with the Talley Trio.  This recording by Buddy Rich and his big band actually features a female vocal trio, led by Buddy’s daughter Kathy.  It’s a pure big band jazz arrangement, and it’s VERY VERY good.  You just never know where a SG song will turn up!

Classics Corner: The Statesmen – On Stage

Recorded in late 1959, this RCA Victor album captures the Statesmen Quartet in a live concert at the Ryman Auditorium with their still fairly new tenor, Rosie Rozell.  Jake Hess, Doy Ott, “Big Chief” Jim Wetherington, and Hovie Lister round out the personnel on this particular recording.

Tracks:

1. I Wanna – The album gets off to a rousing start with this popular uptempo song that features Chief.  This song has become a classic, being redone many times, but none measuring up to Chief here.  Some have said that Chief goes a bit overboard here, but the performance is impeccable, especially the last chorus when the Statesmen kick in the modern harmony.  It went over well enough to demand an encore.
2. Thanks To Calvary – This is Vep Ellis’ classic, not the Gaither song that the Cathedrals made so popular.  This is a midtempo song that features Jake Hess and Chief in the chorus.  Jake sings the verses with some magnificent background harmonies from the rest of the group.  For those who are only familiar with Jake through his Gaither video appearances, this is a great song to show what a great lead singer he was in his prime.  The last chorus features some harmony inversions with Rosie taking the lead occasionally.
3. Something Within – Another song that has been covered by everyone from Take 6 to the Dove Brothers.  This song features each of the Statesmen, starting with Jake, then moving to Big Chief.  Doy Ott steps up for the next feature, followed by Rosie.  They set a pretty bouncy tempo for this song, and Rosie skies on the tag.  This is a great song to introduce each of the members of the group.
4. Room At The Cross – This hymn is, according to Hovie’s introduction, the most requested song the Statesmen sing.  Rosie sings the melody on this very pretty version of the timeless hymn.  The song is done slowly, but not so slow that it drags, which is a big plus.  The Statesmen show that they can slow the tempo down just as well as they sing the uptempo numbers.
5. The Amen Corner – One of Rosie’s signature songs comes up next as he gets a chance to show off his ability to sing the spirituals.  Chief does a lot of vocal bass guitar runs during the song that I personally love.  The crowd absolutely eats this up, as a song that barely clocks in at a minute is encored several times, so much that Rosie’s voice falters a bit on the last time through.  Even the host of the concert “persuades” Hovie to encore it “one more time.”  Of course, the crowd eats up the whole thing.
6. He’s Already Done – This song starts off with Chief singing a slow, broad intro with the quartet behind him, and smacks a nice low note on the end of the intro.  Jake Hess then takes the lead on a slow, methodical verse that you just know is building up to something else.  This is a great example of Jake’s stylistic means of singing lead.   At the end of the verse, Rosie takes the lead and the tempo picks up and begins to swing in a typical spiritual rhythm.  This is a great song for the Statesmen.  Jake reclaims the lead for the tag.
7. Wade On Out – An incredibly fast paced song from Mosie Lister’s pen that features the quartet on the first verse, Doy on the chorus, then  a key change and Jake on the second verse.  Chief sings the melody on the second chorus until the end where Rosie takes the melody for the tag and hits an incredibly high note at the end.  One of my favorites on the album.
8. Gonna Open Up All The Doors – Sometimes called “Light Of Love”, the Statesmen go right into this song with no introduction.  This is quintessential Statesmen and is encored.  Another one of my favorite cuts on the album.  This again has been redone many times, but no one can match the Statesmen.
9. It’s Worth More – Slower paced song that features Jake Hess, and features some nice modern harmony in it as well, which showcases the immense talent of the Statesmen.  Hess’s performance is great, and the harmony behind him is spot on.  The last couple lines Jake inverts up for a nice powerful section.  Rosie takes the tag and brings it back down with some nice harmony.
10. He Set Me Free – This isn’t the same song that was redone by Greater Vision in the 90s.  This one features Jake singing some nice vocal embellishments.  A lot of lead singers should listen to Jake’s performance here to learn how to embellish a song without going overboard.  Jake was a master stylist as a lead singer and this song definitely shows off that ability.
11. Hymn Medley – Each one of the Statesmen step up and sing a verse and chorus or so of their favorite hymns.  Chief starts off singing “O How Much He Cares For Me”, then Doy steps up with “He’s My Friend.”  Jake then sings “Jesus Is The Sweetest Name I Know” and Rosie sings “Standing Somewhere In The Shadows” very sweetly.  Hovie then sings “Jesus Is The One” and the group builds up to a power tag.  Hovie encores his part after the rousing applause.  This is Southern Gospel music at its best.  Classic.
12. Get Away Jordan – After the slow paced hymn medley, Hovie then sets the stage on fire to end the album with the Statesmen’s (arguably) most popular song.  This is THE version of this song by which all others are judged.  As has been pointed out, this is a much faster version than the studio recordings of the song.  If you were to ask the average SG fan about the Statesmen, this is probably one of the songs that comes to their mind first, along with Rosie’s “Oh What A Savior.”  At the end of this song, as the audience is applauding, you can hear some laughter rippling through the audience.  Maybe one of our resident historians can shed some light on what the laughter was about.

If you ask me what my favorite Statesmen album is, depending on the day I’ll either say Through The States or this album.  This really captures the Statesmen in their heyday.  Hovie’s MC work is masterful, and he has the crowd in the palm of his hand practically from the first notes of “I Wanna” and leaves them standing with “Get Away Jordan.”  The concert is paced very well, and there are some classic moments on this album that every true SG fan needs to hear.  Obviously this album is not commercially available, but it’s worth scouring yard sales, record stores, and the internet to find a copy.  This is one of the Statesmen’s finest LPs and a must listen for any SG fan.  Quartet fans will most likely fight each other over a nice copy of this one.

Hidden Gems: Jake Hess and The Imperials – “It’s Worth More Than Anything”

From 1965′s Slaughter Writes, Imperials Sing album on Heartwarming you will find this bouncy little tune.  Personnel on this recording were the original lineup of the group:  Sherrill Nielson – Tenor, Jake Hess – Lead, Gary McSpadden – Baritone, and Armond Morales – Bass.  Jake is featured on the lead throughout the song until the tag, where Sherrill takes the melody after a key change and some group vocals.  There are two things about this cut that make it stand out.  First, Jake’s lead vocal is quintessential Jake Hess.  If someone who only knew Jake from the Gaither videos wanted to hear what made him so popular, this would be a perfect cut to play for them.  Secondly, the background harmonies that surround Jake’s lead vocal are impeccable, there’s a lot of modern harmony interspersed throughout the song that really make it musically interesting.  This is a very short song, about 1:55, but it’s definitely a gem.  Spin up your copy and see if you agree!