VSOP #120 THE STARS OF BETHLEHEM: ABOVE MY HEAD

Richard Wallace - Willie Jones - Roosevelt Jones - Ollie Jones - Nathaniel Green - Odell Thompson

• Recorded October 29 and November 12, 1960 at Third Street Studios, Los Angeles,CA.
• Session Engineer: Dino Lappas;
• Non-Vocal Arrangements: Gaynel Hodge ;
• Cover Photo: Dino Lappas;
• Cover Design: Ben Baker.

• ABOVE MY HEAD (Arr. Richard Wallace);
• NOBODY KNOWS (Arr. Roosevelt Jones);
• TRYING TO LIVE RIGHT (Ollie Jones);
• MEET YOU IN THE MORNING (Willie Jones);
• (THE) BIRDS (Richard Wallace);
• I KNOW SOMEBODY (Willie Jones);
• (THE) MINISTER (Richard Wallace);
• STRANGER (Richard Wallace);
• GOSPEL TRAIN (Willie Jones);
• EV'RY ONCE IN AWHILE (Richard Wallace);
• FAMILY PRAYER (Roosevelt Jones);
• JESUS REMEMBER ME (Arr. Richard Wallace).

Formed in 1953, The Stars of Bethelehem were one of the more popular gospel groups in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, although they did not enjoy a national reputation like The Soul Stirrers, The Pilgrim Travelers or the Five Blind Boys, all of whom, recorded, performed and were based in Los Angeles at the time. Previous to this recording date, Andex Records had released recordings by The Prilgrim Travelers, The Gospel Harmonettes and the Five Blind Boys, in sessions produced by Bumps Blackwell. By 1960, Sam Cooke was moving on to RCA, with The Pilgrim Travelers' J.W. Alexander as his manager, and Bumps Blackwell was also moving on.

This recording brought together Rex Productions' engineer Dino Lappas and Gaynel Hodge of The Turks, both of whom had been working with Herb Alpert producing singles for Keen Records throughout 1959 and 1960. Richard Wallace was to become the most famous member of the Stars of Bethelehem, when he joined Joe Ligon and they formed the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the same year this album was recorded. All of the selections on this album were either composed or arranged by members of the group. This very rare album is one of the finest gospel albums of the period.

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