The Pilgrim Travelers, "Look Up"

VSOP 62

V.S.O.P. #62

THE PILGRIM TRAVELERS

"LOOK UP!"

featuring:

J.W. Alexander

Jesse Whitaker

Lou Rawles

George McCurn

Ernest Booker

Sam Cooke, only on "Motherless Child"

Program:

1. Jesus Met the Woman At The Well (J.W. Alexander, Kenneth Morris)

2. Talk About Jesus (Don Robey)

3. Go Down Moses (Arr. Jesse Whitaker)

4. Come Home (J. W. Alexander, Jesse Whitaker)

5. Motherless Child (Arr. Jesse Whitaker)

6. He'll Never Let Go Your Hand (Lucy Mathews)

7. Daniel Saw the Stone, Pt 1 (Arr. George McCurn)

8. Daniel Saw the Stone, Pt. 2 (Arr. George McCurn)

9. Walk Around (Arr. Louis Rawles)

10. The Battle of Jericho (Arr. Robert Blackwell)

11. Pool Pilgrim of Sorrow (Arr. J.W. Alexander)

12. Yes, Indeed (Sy Oliver)

13. A Soldier's Plea (J. Whitaker, B. Barber)

14. I Could Do Better Than That (Jesse Whitaker)

15. I Remember the Time (George McCurn)

Recorded at Radio Recorders, October, 1957

Producer, Robert Blackwell

Cover Design: Robert Dranko

Cover and Session Photos: William Claxton

Bill Claxton photo of the Pilgrim Travelers taken for preparation of the album cover artwork. Left to Right, Edward Booker, Lou Rawles standing, Jesse Whitaker, seated, Bumps Blackwell to their right , George McCurn behind him, and J. W. Alexander at the right end.

Bill Claxton photo of Pilgrim Traveler's session accompaniment.

Session photo with Jesse Whitaker on left, Ernest Booker's back, George McCurn behind the mike and J W. Alexander with his arm

around Ernest Booker. Lou Rawles is next on the right.

Extract from Opal Louis Nation's article on Jesse Whitaker:

"During the summer of 1957 Andrew Karres and John and Alex Siamas of Rex Productions formed the Keen and Andex labels. Bumps Blackwell, who took Sam Cooke to the company from Specialty, was put in charge of musical direction, and Bob Keene (after whom Keen was named) was designated principal A & R duties. Blackwell brought the Pilgrim Travelers to Andex. The group at this juncture was composed of James Alexander, tenor, Ernest Booker (from the Alpha-Omega Singers on Peacock), tenor, Jesse Whitaker, baritone, George “Oo-pee” McCurn, bass plus a young lead tenor who had sung in the Kings of Harmony & their Queen, Holy Wonders, Highway Q C’s and Chosen Gospel Singers by the name of Lou Rawls. It was Whitaker more than anyone who kept the old familiar Pilgrim Travelers sound alive, and both he and Rawls shouldered the lions share when it came to laying down the lead-work. The Pilgrim Travelers cut six singles for Andex, many of which were culled for their one album entitled “Look Up” (Andex 5001; also Famous LP 513.) Whitaker had a hand in writing if not simply arranging at least eight of the twelve charts. These included a remake of “I could do better than that” (the original surfaced for the first time on a CD Lee Hildebrand and I produced at Fantasy Records in 1994) on which Whitaker sang lead, a song made popular by the Famous Blue Jay Singers entitled “Jesus met the woman at the well,” the soulfully touching “A soldier’s plea,” the upbeat chart best recalled as sung by the Golden Gate Quartet called “Daniel saw the stone,” the suitably arranged traditional standards “The battle of Jericho” and “Go down Moses,” the song which launched the Soul Stirrers’ recording career, “Walk around,” plus the liltingly beautiful “Come home,” otherwise known as “Softly and tenderly.” “Come home” is perhaps Whitaker’s most exquisitely arranged song.” The Pilgrim Travelers were fortunate in having Sam Cooke as supplementary back-up singer on their recording of the traditional “Motherless child.” The Pilgrim Travelers’ album “Look Up” was reissued three more times, first under the guise of the Alabama Singers on the Italian Joker label, then on the San Francisco Bay Area-based Solid Smoke label (8034) and finally on V.S.O.P. out of Washington, D.C. in 1988. However, none of the six singles releases sold in impressive quantities."