Thursday, December 14, 2023

What's A Gospelodium?

I was pretty excited when I came across a copy of this record in the stacks this year. I think it was something that I bought on my Christmas trip to NYC a few years ago based on the price sticker, but I didn't have any memory of picking it up. I bought so many records in such a short time on that trip, then had to cut it short after getting sick (who knew the weather was really cold in New York in December...). After I got the record recorded, I spent some time researching it on Discogs and was surprised to find a note that mentioned the stereo and mono versions were not the same. My copy was mono so now the race was on to find a stereo copy, but chances were slim. Fast forward a couple months down the road and a stereo copy popped up in, of all places, my own collection. I tell you, I have no idea what I really have here. So I recorded the stereo copy, compared it to the mono copy and found that if there are any differences, they are minor. There may be a couple of different takes on a couple of the songs, but I don't think you can tell the difference just from a listen. I had to compare the waveforms in my software and play them at the same time to tell the difference. I think what had happened was a sloppy entry of some data at Discogs that led to the two track listings not matching. I've since updated both entries to match the two copies I have, and they're the same now. But you can download both copies and see if you can tell a difference.  This is Christmas Gospelodium (Verve V6-5043, Stereo, 1967 and Verve V-5043, Mono, 1967). There's some good stuff on here, enjoy!

1. Robert Banks With The Golden Voices Ensemble-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-The Silent Night Sermon
2. Alice McClarity, Robert Pinkston & Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-Go Tell It On A Mountain
3. Golden Voices Ensemble-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. The Gospel Ambassadors-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-A Blessing
5. Golden Voices Ensemble-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-Christ The Lord Is Born
6. Lloyd Reese And The Solid Rock Chorus-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-Sweet Little Lord Jesus
7. Alice McClarity, Robert Pinkston & Orchestra-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-Sweet Little Boy
8. Lloyd Reese With The Golden Voices Ensemble-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-The Christmas Song
9. Bill Hardy With The Golden Voices Ensemble-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-Glory To The New Born King
10. Robert Banks With The Shockley Sisters-Arranged And Conducted By Robert Banks-So Much To Thank Him For

MEGA (Stereo)

MEGA (Mono)

14 comments:

  1. This is wonderful. You think you get the vibe of the album, then they throw 'Christ the Lord is Born' at you.

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  2. What an unusual item! Never seen it before.

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    1. Neither had I. And on a pretty big label no less.

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    2. Speaking of unusual items, I looked up (or, that is, attempted to look up) your (Ernie's) original question, even breaking it up into word and suffix and doing so, here's what we have.

      Definition of Gospel
      1
      a
      often capitalized: the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation
      bcapitalized: one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
      also : a similar apocryphal (see APOCRYPHA sense 2) book
      c
      : an interpretation of the Christian message
      the social gospel
      2
      capitalized: a lection (see LECTION sense 1) from one of the New Testament Gospels
      3
      : the message or teachings of a religious teacher
      4
      : something accepted or promoted as infallible (see INFALLIBLE sense 1) truth or as a guiding principle or doctrine
      took her words as gospel
      spreading the gospel of conservation—R. M. Hodesh
      5
      : gospel music
      gospelly
      ˈgä-spə-lē 
      adjective
      gospel
      2 of 2
      adjective
      1
      a
      : having a basis in or being in accordance with the gospel (see GOSPEL entry 1 sense 1) : EVANGELICAL
      ordained to the gospel ministry—Christian Century
      b
      : marked by special or fervid emphasis on the gospel
      a gospel meeting
      2
      : of, relating to, or being religious songs of American origin associated with evangelism and popular devotion and marked by simple melody and harmony and elements of folk songs and blues

      Meaning of Odium
      1
      : the state or fact of being subjected to hatred and contempt as a result of a despicable act or blameworthy circumstance
      2
      : hatred and condemnation accompanied by loathing or contempt : DETESTATION
      3
      : disrepute or infamy attached to something : OPPROBRIUM

      HMMM, they don't go together.

      Romans 11:33-36 KJB

      Josh

      Church Podcast: https://www.sermonaudio.com/pleasantviewky
      Personal Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/back-to-the-old-paths
      TIBPF Podcast: https://www.tibpf.sermon.net

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    3. Weird. Perhaps that's why it's not been reissued. :)

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    4. Josh - Great example of parsing the text. That's why the title seems so strange.

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    5. I feel like Gospelodeon might make more sense. Kind of a play on Nickelodeon, but that's just my two cents. Maybe it made more sense back then.

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    6. Ernie - That does make more sense.

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  3. We never did find out what a gospelodium is, did we?

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    Replies
    1. Outside the US it appears to have been called Christmas Gospels. Much less confusing.

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  4. Another one I have in my collection and never listened to! I'm about seven years behind. And now I get to listen to it twice! Thank you!

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