The Swanee Quintet - The Complete Nashboro Releases 1951-62 (2016)

The Swanee Quintet are one of the premier vocal groups in the history of gospel music, and have been singing in different guises since 1939. They are noted for having a powerful and impassioned style, introducing more adventurous vocal arrangements during the 1950s as gospel moved into the commercial arena. Their first dozen years or so with the Nashboro label have come to be regarded as very much their golden era, characterised by the bluesey guitar of Pee Wee Crawford, the fine background harmonies of Charlie Barnwell, Rufus Washington and Big Red Anderson, and the distinctive lead vocals of Ruben Willingham. This great-value 53-track collection comprises all their releases on Nashboro through to 1962, including the A and B sides of all their singles, plus all the tracks from their album releases which were not otherwise released as singles. To the best of our knowledge these recordings have never been compiled on one CD before, so this is a rare opportunity to obtain a comprehensive selection of their early recorded work in one collection.